Throughout
both V for Vendetta and Children of men there is a clear theme of justice and
discrimination, however they show discrimination towards different identities.
The prejudice in V for Vendetta is shown at the beginning of the film when
Lewis Prothoroe, "the voice of London", describes Muslims and
homosexuals as terrorists in a tone of disgust. His title of the "voice of
London" suggests that he is very important to the public and therefore his
racist opinions are likely to influence the viewers, this is an example of
propaganda which is also used in Children of men. Children of men shows the
influence of advertising, while Theo walks through London and uses the public
transport there are constant adverts playing. One example of the advert is a
terrorist suspicion ad, it shows only people of different ethnicities on screen
with the word terrorist next to them suggesting they are the usual suspects. The
media in both films is used to create fear and panic in the public.
Evey
compares V to everyone "he was my father and my mother, my brother, he was
you, he was me, he was all of us." We see the comparison between V and
Gordon first when both of them say that Evey wouldn't be the worst thing they
would find in their homes. Evey is also curious when Gordon makes her
"eggie in the basket", as V had also made her the same breakfast. We
discover that Gordon is gay, however he has to hide his true identity due to
the current society. He says "you wear a mask for so long you forget who
you were beneath it" this could be him suggesting towards wearing V's
mask. This shows how V is everyone. To show more discrimination they have used
Victoria and her letter, as we see the events from Evey's perspective we
emphasize with the emotions she has when reading the letter. The letter was
also given to V when he was in the same cell. When Evey enters the balcony in
the rain she opens her arms and the camera changed to V when he came out of the
prison, they have the same expression and body language implying the bond
between them. The camera shows Evey and V getting ready and doing similar
things, for example Evey puts on her black dress and it follows with V putting
on his black clothing.
Both of
the films are dystopian, they represent a warning of how the future could end
up as if we allow the government to take our rights away. There is a fear of
the government and they are not trusted. Black bags are used in both films to
symbolise people's rights being taken away and they are used to kidnap people
however in Children of men they're used on Theo to inform him on the corrupt
government. Bexhill and Larkhill detention centre are similar as they are
similar to concentration camps used in the war by the Nazis. Overall the
governments in both films compare to fascist governments. Children of men
suggests the warning that the world could become polluted and 'unfertile' if we
don't change our own ways where as in V for vendetta it puts the most of the
blame on the government. The films ay suggest to the audience that a revolution
needs to take place to regain our rights in society as at the end of both films
an uprising takes place. The boat that Theo uses in the end of Children of men
is named "tomorrow", this symbolises the revolution and the new
generation.
The
majority of children of men is about the child innocence is lost in society, as
there are n young people and therefore it is not a nice world. In V for vendetta
they use Evey to portray how children's innocence can be taken away (and by the
government) as the priest is a paedophile. Ideally a priest s supposed to be religious
and therefore innocent however he takes away children's innocence and is then
protected by the government. The heroes in the films can also be described as
villains as they are going against the laws and rules, but they have good
intentions. The settings of them both are very dull and dark, V for vendetta
uses a lot of red implying blood and maybe communism power which could also
foreshadow the uprising to get rid of the party in power.
