Remember, Remember...

I love this day. Enough that I tattooed "Freedom Forever" and "V" on my wrist so that I wouldn't forget the importance of it. And it isn't just because V for Vendetta is a bad ass movie. (Which it is.) But I love this day because it marks a decision to live without fear.

Although I may complain about the government, especially when nutty conservatives are concerned, I don't think this movie and this message is purely political. To me, I can't help but see the forces in my life that would control me through fear. Fear of being jumped by bigots and killed for being gay. Fear of going to hell. Fear that one day I will end up lonely and alone. The list could go on and on of things that I shouldn't do simply because of fear.

And the celebration of November 5th and the tattoo on my wrist are reminders to me that I can live without fear. There is no need to fear anyone or anything because I am free. And I find it amazing how once you take the fear out of decision marking, the right choices in life become so much clearer.

As V points out in his televised speech, fear was the ultimate tool of the government. It was used to control the people and the citizens gave up freedom due to all the horrors they feared. They allowed gays, lesbians, Muslims, anyone different to be rounded up and murdered. What I love about V is that in a nation of people accepting this sort of lack of humanity, he stood up and said no. He knew that certain death would be a by-product of the revolution he was starting...and yet he did it anyways.

And Evey, after being imprisoned, learned to live without fear like V. She looked at her own death in the eye, was given the opportunity to betray V, but boldly stated "I'd rather die behind the chemical sheds." I think that scene is one of the most powerful of the film. Evey becomes truly and completely free.


Valerie though... Valierie is perhaps the scene where I can't help but shed a tear in. She died without fear, and did it with a heart full of love.
"Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us, but within that inch, we are free. I shall die here. Every inch of me will perish. Every inch but one. An inch... It is small, and fragile, and it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us. I hope that, whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and things get better. But I hope most of all that you understand that even though I will never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you, I love you. With all my heart, I love you."


So on November the 5th I remember the V, Evey Hammond, and Valerie...and I remember the idea of freedom. And ideas are bulletproof.