Reviews tagging 'Grief'

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore

6 reviews

multimindz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

The movie is one of my fav so I read the graphic novel and then watched the movie right after.

I liked the movie waaaaaaay more than the book. The movie storyline was more succinct whereas in the book, I sometimes had problems following the different storylines. The book made sense but it felt more like White Guy Meandering & Mulling About Society whereas the movie got straight to the point.

What knocked my score to the 3's (I wanted to give it a 5 because it is V for Vendetta alone but that's not fair) is the use of Black People As Society's Canaries trope, where there are no active Black characters talking, living, etc in the forefront. Nope, we're in the background being .... murdered and treated poorly and all the White folks who star in the work do is go "Wow, look at how poorly the Black people are being treated, they're always the first to go." They do nothing but wait for all or most of the Black folks to be eradicated before doing anything, while all the while going "This world is sick, look at how they treat the Black people [and how I do nothing because why have genuine human compassion for Black people, who are also human (News Flash, it's true), until they die. Which works best for me because at least they're gone, I just have to act sad about it]." There are smarter & more humane ways to say or depict the issues of totalitarianism, facism and wide-spread prejudice. The movie handled it better, at least removed the "Black People as Society's Canary" trope. 

The sexism is wowser in the book. You have the daft-but-cute 16 yr old Evey Hammond (aged up in the movie and good thing, that!) who seemed to be an easily led, doe-eyed lamb that constantly trailed out things that made V look impressive, how she would go "oh, I'm so weak and frail but you're so big and strong" (I'm paraphrasing here). It clearly didn't look like some super meta-cognitive move to quip on society's sexism by Alan Moore, it just looked like standard White Straight Cis Man Makes Comic Books And Includes Gender Beside "Man" behavior. He triiiiiiiiied? 🤷🏿‍♀️ And flopped. Even had a Lady Macbeth type character that I almost expected to say "Out, out, damned spot" at one point." I get the whole "messed up ppl like power" thing but that all could have been told way better, when it came to the women. It instead read more like "What I, a straight man, believe a woman gunning for power would act like." The movie was a bit better, had it's drawbacks (thanks to the source material, they can only do so much) but the book was more heavy handed & leaded with the built-in sexism.

It's like Alan Moore was trying to say very poignant things about society but because it's clear via his work he doesn't really interact much (if at all) with whole slices of society (*koff*AnyoneNotWhite,NotMan,NotStraightAndEspeciallyNoCombos/Intersections*wheeeeeeeeze**koff*) it comes off as very "White Man Muses About Society, Ignores His Own Glaring Blindspots", which, bro, is already so many books, dear gods. We already have 1984, Brave New World, the list goes on and on and on and! At least the movie was good. I think if Alan Moore widened up his friend circle (at least to the point a group picture wouldn't look like something the National Front would hardly blink at) before and during the time he created this graphic novel, it would have been a super knock-out, probably.

Perhaps I'm also just tired of "White Guy Muses About Society, Ignores Own Blindspots" works. Been hearing and reading them since I was a kid (usually not by choice, at least this time was), it's lame, myopic af and they miss a lot.

Those two things I mentioned mostly knocked the score to 3.75. I recommend the movie over the graphic novel. At least the movie is thrilling

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Abandonment, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Racism, Xenophobia, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, War, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Torture

Minor: Rape

bearystarry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Medical trauma, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Torture, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Colonisation, Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Cursing, Lesbophobia, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Classism, Blood, and Biphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

yaboiellis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Bullying, Classism, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Blood, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Body horror, Death of parent, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: War, Alcohol, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Torture, Xenophobia, and Violence

Minor: Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual violence

xenia_li's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Police brutality, Violence, Torture, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, and Genocide

Moderate: Mental illness, Infidelity, Rape, War, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Murder, Gun violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Incest, Medical trauma, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Violence, Grief, and Religious bigotry

dudebell's review

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

An absolute classic for a reason. Stripping the comic of sound effects and thought bubbles was a revolution in itself, creating a noir-ish feel without ever verging into the cinematic. This dystopic world avoids the pitfalls of many others by remaining grounded and feeling real, feeling contemporary - it was shocking to read the words “make Britain great again” in a comic that was not only pre-Trump, but pre-Thatcher. The Storm Saxon panels illuminate the kind of propaganda that we consume daily. All around brilliant, subtle world building.

The world of V for Vendetta is one in which fascists in Britain have successfully eradicated all visible ‘minorities’ from their country, leaving behind only those less visible - those who are queer. Characters are forced to make the decision: to be visible, or to move invisibly. For Valerie, this is her “one inch” that she will not give up. For Ruth, this is price she is willing to pay for her ‘freedom’ — a freedom that is simply a different sort of prison. It’s interesting to me that, in the afterword of the edition I read, Moore describes an earlier version of V as “transsexual” — and it’s true. Firstly in the sense that V is both everything and nothing, he is a man and a woman and both and neither, he is an idea, and anyone can be an idea. He represents anarchy and freedom and the queerness we can associate with that, and we see this as

Evey dons his mask and becomes him; a woman becomes a man. I can also very easily see V as Ruth, as someone who decided one prison and got the other one anyway, who is fuelled by remorse for what she did to Valerie, who takes her lover’s initial in an act of defiance but still feels the need for invisibility, the need to mask her face and lie.

The world of V is also one in which love has been replaced with power, and for me this is the strongest element of the novel. All romance is a power play. Sexual intimacy is girls on a stage, is rape. Susan (and there’s something to be said about genderplay with that name as well) is ruling a world so devoid of love that he falls for a computer (here again — a non-sexed ‘entity’ who is addressed as a woman and has the voice of a man). There’s an incredible scene where, almost in a trance, Susan whispers “I love you” to Fate, while Creedy trembles in the background, unsure if he’s the object of this affection. Lost love is depicted as queer joy, as a celebration of Blackness. And this is something that has been sacrificed for uniformity and control.

There are some issues I take with the comic. I think the film’s decision to make Gordon a queer man was the right one, as his role in the book is a little cloudy. I also wish the two leads were less opaque. While I understand this decision to make V more myth than man, I wish there had been moments to humanise him and make him feel more real.

But the biggest offence for me is Evey’s under-reaction to her torture and captivity at V’s hands. What V does is insurmountable, strangely motivated, unclear in its outcome. In my opinion it would almost be better if it were lost entirely.

Overall, a classic comic, one of the greats. Definitely an important read for anyone interested in the medium.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Police brutality, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, and Antisemitism

shivapriya's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I feel this graphic novel is one that would benefit you in re-reads to come. The ideas were neatly simple and remarkably complex simultaneously and even as a graphic novel, it's dense content and I may or may not have survived a full fledged novel with the same themes. And yet, it's the visuals that likely do make it a profoundly visceral experience in this case in tandem with the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia