V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian political action film directed by James McTeigue. It is based on the 1988 DC Comics limited series of the same name. The film is set in an alternative future where a Nordic supremacist and neo-fascist totalitarian regime has subjugated the United Kingdom. It centers on V, an anarchist and masked freedom fighter who attempts to ignite a revolution through elaborate terrorist acts, and Evey Hammond (portrayed by Natalie Portman) a young, working-class woman caught up in V's mission. V for Vendetta has been seen by many political groups as an allegory of oppression by the government; anarchists have used it to promote their beliefs. The Guy Fawkes mask
… Read more has now become a common brand and a convenient placard to use in protest against tyranny. As a film about the struggle between freedom and the state, V for Vendetta takes imagery from many classic totalitarian icons both real and fictional, including the Third Reich, the Soviet Union under Stalin, and George Orwell's 1984.
Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby reducing their standing among their fellow citizens. It is often manifested through policies such as human rights violations, surveillance abuse, police brutality, imprisonment, involuntary settlement, stripping of citizen's rights, lustration and violent action or terror such as the murder, summary executions, torture, forced disappearance and other extrajudicial punishment of political activists, dissidents, or general population. Political
… Read more repression is often accompanied by violence, which might be legal or illegal according to domestic law. Violence can both eliminate political opposition directly by killing opposition members, or indirectly by instilling fear.
Political conflict strongly increases the likelihood of state repression. Civil uprisings are a strong predictor of repressive activity as states so often engage in repressive behaviors in times of civil conflict. When their authority or legitimacy is threatened, regimes respond by overtly or covertly suppressing dissidents to eliminate the behavioral threat. Repression suppresses dissident mobilization by reducing the capacity of challengers to organize, yet it is also feasible that challengers can leverage state repressive behavior to spur mobilization among sympathizers by framing repression as a new grievance against the state.