V for Vendetta Written by Brad Burchards

If the title of this article seems familiar then it is because it was the same title of the movie wherein Natalie Portman starred in and shaved her head (just like Demi Moore in G.I. Jane as well as Britney Spears while battling depression).

If you are also wondering why I am putting up V for Vendetta as a title to an article it is not because I have just watched the movie but it is because the mask of Guy Fawkes which was used in the movie has been popping up in most parts of the world as a symbol during protests in New York, London, Sydney, Cologne, and Bucharest to name a few. In the movie V destroys the Houses of Parliament by blowing it up with a train filled with explosives, just as what Guy Fawkes had planned and failed to do in 1605. It was a British graphic novel artist named David Lloyd who created the original image of the mask which has now become a common symbol used in protests against tyranny. Mind you even Julian Assange the founder of Wikileaks had doned the mask when he visited the protest in London but had to remove it upon the request of the police. A brief history about Guy Fawkes on who he really is brings us back to England at a time when most Catholics had plotted to replace King James I with a Catholic monarch but the plan goes up in smoke when an anonymous letter was sent to the authorities leading to Fawkes arrest, torture and execution. Fast forward into the future the mask of Guy Fawkes has given new meaning to fighting tyranny and oppression where by huge businesses are the tyrants and the oppressed are the common citizens who are at mercy of those in power. A few weeks have passed since the "Occupy Wall Street" movement was started and now we see it cascading to different areas such as London and other countries where people have felt the oppression of those controlling the way things are done. Though not violent compared to the past protests in the Middle East (Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, and Bahrain), as people look thru a common symbol or brand of being oppressed they have found one in Guy Fawkes who was in reality was also fighting for change. I would be greatly surprised if the masks would also be scene here in the Philippines but the Filipinos are more into creating huge effigies of their political targets and burning them up in the streets. But in contrast what people in New York (US) and London (UK) are facing is not far from what we are experiencing at the moment, we just have to factor in their way of life to ours less the obvious advance infrastructures their situation is no different than ours. We are more resilient and our survival mode is more honed to out do them who have lived in far more better conditions than us. In the end whether this movement will or will not prosper we can be sure that it will not be the last time we see the famous mask of Guy Fawkes parading on the streets to champion the oppressed by going against the establishment.