Why do people-power movements like Anonymous use the Guy Fawkes mask as an emblem?
Asked by
ETpro (
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November 5th, 2011
I’m going to be very, very busy the net few weeks, so will only check in briefly. But I will check responses to this.
Here’s the history of who Guy Fawkes really was. His likeness is parodied in the grinning black & white mask that Anonymous has adopted as an emblem. Does that history make for a positive emblem for non-violent people-power movements?
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10 Answers
I think it’s just because of the movie “V” and the Guy Fawkes connection may not be logical but the Anonymous connection has overwhelmed any other.
Well, Che Guevara wasn’t very peaceful either. It just kinda shows that sometimes you have to use some force.
“‘Remember, remember the 5th of November” warns ‘V,’ the anonymous rebel who sparks a revolution in the 2006 movie “V for Vendetta.’”
“Based on the comic book series and graphic novel of the same name, the film — and especially the mask worn by ‘V’ — has become a symbol of discontent among Occupy protesters.
“The mustached white face, frozen in a wide-mouthed leer, is based on Guy Fawkes, an Englishman who schemed to assassinate King James I in an attempt to restore Catholicism. He was eventually caught on Nov. 5, 1605, when authorities found his stash of gunpowder explosives hidden in the Parliament cellar.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2011/11/occupy-protesters-embrace-v-for-vendetta/
Wow, today is the 5th of November. Cue the Twight Zone music.
Because the costume shop ran out of Sly Masks?
@jaytkay I can see that connection. Most people using the symbol probably know little of the Cunpowder Plot of 1605.
@Blackberry Certainly Ghe Guevera was willing to use force to push of more social equality. He was fightint an international monetary system that has substituted economic slavery for the masses in place of old fashioned indentured servitufe or generational slavery. One many question his preferred solutin, but he wasn’t trying to force his religious beliefs on others through violence, he was trying to right what he saw as a deep moral wrong toward humanity.
@bkcunningham Great answer. I’m sure you’re right. And the date made it seem appropriate to ask today.
folks here in KY even having a Guy F party today.
What are they thinking?? It’s Breeders Cup and I won some dough!
Like @bkcunningham said, because the movie (especially the movie, the graphic novel not as much) totally turned it around on what Guy Fawkes represented to “the people”, especially in America, where Guy Fawkes isn’t even really known.
@ETpro Yeah, well, we can’t really even manage to teach kids World History, American History, or Western Civ, so we really shouldn’t expect them to know the finer points of British History. And now I go and cry…
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