[conspire] We're remembering the Fifth of November

[Rick Moen]

This evening, some time, Deirdre and I intend to watch our BluRay of 
'V for Vendetta', the 2006 political-thriller / dystopian fantasy that the 
Wachowskis adapted from Alan Moore and David Lloyd's classic graphic
novel, in our 'office' room, and there is room for some of you if you
wish to join us.  There will be popcorn.

Why today?  Because it's Guy Fawkes Day, you silly Americans.  It's part
of your history.


Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holla boys, Holla boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
And what should we do with him?  Burn him!


410 years ago, the Gunpowder Plot was a failed assassination attempt
against King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of
provincial English Catholics -- timed for when the constitutional
monarch and Parliament were gathered for the State Opening of Parliament
-- that was to occur by blowing up 36 barrels of gunpowder in the
basement under the House of Lords.  It failed because the conspiracy had
poor security.  During the roundup of suspects as the plot unraveled,
Guy Fawkes, one of the conspirators, who'd been assigned the task of
lighting the fuse to the barrels, was arrested in Parliament's basement,
around midnight on Nov. 4, 1605, the night before the State Opening.

By government decree, the day of the failed Gunpowder Plot became an
annual celebration featuring bonfires, burning of Guy Fawkes in effigy,
wearing of Guy Fawkes masks, and fireworks -- what was to be celebrated
being the survival of parliamentary democracy.


In the 1980s, cartoonist Alan Moore used this conspiracy of would-be
tyrants to overthrow an elected democratic government as a bizarre
metaphor for resistance to tyranny, where a Guy Fawkes-masked anarchist
vigilante waged a violent campaign that became a popular uprising to
overthrow a future tyrannical British government -- that was a
transparent metaphor for the excesses of Thatcherism.

Twenty years later, with Thatcher mostly a bad memory, the Wachowskis
decided to adapt and commercialise Moore's story.  Moore hated it (as
he's hated all adaptations of his graphic novels), but it has the
virtues of its flaws (and admittedly it's a bit of a hot mess, but 
spectacular and with some excellent performances).

Where else are you going to find a lavish film that praises violent
anarchism and blowing up the government?  Especially one released after
the Sept. 11th attacks in the USA and the London Tube bombings?  (Moore
argued that the advocacy of anarchism was so toned down as to be hard to
notice, and he's probably right.)

Telephone me (650-283-7902) if you'd like to come.