Authoritarian Methods of Control in Brave New World & V for Vendetta
People should not be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people. The right to rule. What gives someone such a power you ask? Well there is a variety of different factors and qualities one must have such as strength and leadership but there is a single item that all need and that is control. Without the obedience and submission of the people governments will fail. The film “V for Vendetta” and the novel “Brave New World” both comment on the issue of misuse of technology and the control of the people.
V for Vendetta is the 2006 film adaptation by the Wachowski’s of the comic book of the same name created by Alan Moore. It is set in a futuristic dystopian world in which Britain is ruled by a totalitarian-fascist party, and follows the events triggered by a masked shadowy revolutionary known only as the letter V. Brave New World is Aldous Huxley’s controversial masterpiece, published in 1932 and is about a futuristic-dystopian world where the government has outlawed free-speech and individuality and uses psychological conditioning to control the people.
Now let me refocus on the theme at hand: control. The Norsefire party in V for Vendetta rises to power by offering the solution after a string of biological attacks on various establishments: a school, water plant and an underground train station. The fear inspired by these attacks was what made people give them the power to rule. The Wachowski’s have compared and likened the Norsefire party to the Nazi’s the world’s most famous fascist regime. The symbol of the Norsefire uses the same colours and a similar symbol to that of the traditional swastika. The Norsefire also had a similar rise to power as the Hitler regime. First Chancellor Sattler was seen as the saviour before revealing his true colours as a villain “fear became the tool of this government”. The Norsefire also engaged in genocide of homosexuals, Muslims, and ethnics. Rather than concentration camps those captured were
V for Vendetta is the 2006 film adaptation by the Wachowski’s of the comic book of the same name created by Alan Moore. It is set in a futuristic dystopian world in which Britain is ruled by a totalitarian-fascist party, and follows the events triggered by a masked shadowy revolutionary known only as the letter V. Brave New World is Aldous Huxley’s controversial masterpiece, published in 1932 and is about a futuristic-dystopian world where the government has outlawed free-speech and individuality and uses psychological conditioning to control the people.
Now let me refocus on the theme at hand: control. The Norsefire party in V for Vendetta rises to power by offering the solution after a string of biological attacks on various establishments: a school, water plant and an underground train station. The fear inspired by these attacks was what made people give them the power to rule. The Wachowski’s have compared and likened the Norsefire party to the Nazi’s the world’s most famous fascist regime. The symbol of the Norsefire uses the same colours and a similar symbol to that of the traditional swastika. The Norsefire also had a similar rise to power as the Hitler regime. First Chancellor Sattler was seen as the saviour before revealing his true colours as a villain “fear became the tool of this government”. The Norsefire also engaged in genocide of homosexuals, Muslims, and ethnics. Rather than concentration camps those captured were