Ghost of a flea

V for Moonbat

Thanks to the impressive social network skills of A Former Servant of Her Majesty, the Flea was a guest at last night's promotional screening of V for Vendetta. It is difficult to know quite what to say about it as my viewing experience was complicated by an enthusiastic, if somewhat fey, character sat next to me with his sharp intakes of breath every time Natalie Portman was imperiled and febrile clapping of hands every time a throat was slit or a building bombed. That said, his nauseating enjoyment was less distracting than Portman's attempt at an English accent; in matters of inflection, all roads lead to Naboo.

I had been dreading as much as looking forward to the film. After the latest London massacre of last July the thought of a Wachowski sponsored hijacking of Alan Moore's early-80s masterpiece was stomache turning. I can understand why many would choose to idolize the subway bombers but I would not expect most of them to imagine their passage � l'acte was in favour of religious diversity, the independence of women or equality for gay people. When my London stomping grounds were targeted by a nail-bombing neo-Nazi I was spared a comic book adaptation of the event. Though now I think about it the IRA, who thoughtfully left a bomb in a phonebooth outside one of my bars while I was having a drink inside, have been celebrated in all manner of pre-9/11 American celluloid. Small wonder Vendetta imagines Guy Fawkes as a civil libertarian; the stars are now aligned for a biopic and a Wachowski brothers/Mel Gibson red/brown co-production. I will not hold my breath waiting for these auteurs to bring Frank Miller's forthcoming project to the big screen.

Not that I would wish them on Frank Miller any more than Alan Moore. As A Former Servant pointed out, it is difficult create a credible future dystopia, let alone to strike a credible revolutionary pose, when your film is jammed to the rafters with Dell and JVC product placement. One useful heads up though: as soon as avian flu starts killing off infants, the elderly and the infirm anyone left standing may expect to be treated to explanations of how the epidemic was a lab-engineered attempt to keep us afraid. Though quite of what is beyond me. The world is more than scary enough and all the people in it.

Upside-down Update: I cannot quite believe I am reading this in the Village Voice.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at March 16, 2006 09:01 AM

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Comments

Posted by: Ben at March 17, 2006 01:43 PM

Posted by: Ghost of a flea at March 17, 2006 02:17 PM