How does V for Vendetta get across its message and beliefs through its themes?

Set in the near future, V for Vendetta portrays a dystopian society controlled entirely by the government , in which the civillians like myself follow to their rules blindly like sheep. Alas, one man, simply titled "V", donning a mask and cloak, must represent and free the minds of the people and take control of their own civilization. Behind this film, there are many underlying themes that help display the idea of freedom against a government controlled lifestyle (amongst many other ideas). This includes the theme of Religion's influence on people and society, vigilantism, revolution, dictatorship and textual control by the media. All helping the messages and beliefs in V for Vendetta

One of the themes in V for Vendetta that I believe helps drive the messages and beliefs within the story is the idea of Religion and it's relevance in society. This is shown in the scene where the Bishop and Evey meet. The bishop arranges for her to be locked in the room with him so he can use her to his advantage without her escaping. He is told that she is underage and she is dressed to exaggerate this (pigtails, puffy pink dress and stockings, partially resembling a schoolgirl). This plays on the stereotype of of religious figures such as bishops, priests and popes being sexually intimate with children and minors. This scene is in place for us to consider challenging the idea of having religious figureheads and religion in general to prevent the justifying of acts which are considered to be immoral and illegal. It leads us to question what these "idols" provide to society except controversy and wars. This can also show the messages and beliefs that we do not need to follow religion like sheep just because of media influences and people in power being in favour of it. We can be free to support and enjoy whatever we like. This can also be seen as another display of Anarchy in the film as V is not a religious man, but decides to introduce atheism into the society, making them freer; which could be biased from the writer's perspective

Another theme in V for Vendetta that supports a message or belief in the story is dictatorship and the repercussions a totalitarian society can have. In the scene where we learn about Larkhill. It is a scientific research facility which is made to try and produce a "cure" for those who are diagnosed from a "natural" disease (when really, it was an organisation who placed it in order to gain political power and votes). This then puts this organisation into power, with Shutler at the chancellor role. He appears on screen very large in a closeup half of the time, giving him the image of "big brother". This shows that totalitarian society is not a good idea as new, oppressive schemes and laws are put into place (eg: curfew) that changes people's lifestyles completely. The film shows that this is not a good idea by giving a bleak outlook on the entire story, dark and saturated until the explosions of both the Old Bailey and Parliament are seen, introducing colour and light into the shots. This can only be described as a warning, the film is warning us that if a dictator is introduced, the states of our "normal" lives will change completely.

A message or belief in the story can be shown through the theme of textual control be the media being a current or near-future thing that can change our perception on the world. A scene that shows this is the "Dietrich's secret life scene" in which he shows Evey his secret collection of textual contraband, including paintings that were said to "cause an uproar", the Qur'an and images comparing the new political party to those of the Nazis.

In conclusion, the themes of religion and it's stereotyping help us reflect on our current society and the role that religion plays in our lives, leading us to question why we have religious figures making decisions for us and why we have religion as a whole. Atop this, we also have themes of dictatorship being a warning to us as to not having any benefits, only repercussions and that we should try to avoid it as much as we can, as well as textual and media control being a present thing by those in power to alter our perception of ongoing events and life "as we know it" to their advantage. This acts as another warning or cause of alarm to this, so we know that it is a happening event. The entire film can be considered "eye opening" to current ongoing events that are pushed under the carpet for the use of a government that we pray will never been totalitarian

Cross-Cutting

"Cross cutting" - Cutting between two events happening at the same time, meaning there's gonna be a relationship between characters