This movie is not about a terrorist.

Rating: Null/10 (25 March 2006)

*** May contain Spoilers *** This movie was a pleasure in a great many ways. One of my indicators for the greatness of a movie is how it does when I think about it after the fact and my fondness for this one only grows with the passage of time.
There are many things worth saying about this movie, but much of it has been well said by others. I want to say something in response to those that seem to miss the mark when considering the underlying point to be gleaned from this.
First, this movie is not an attack on U.S. policy. To think that it is is to take a garment off the rack and claim that it was specifically cut to fit just one customer. This is about regular people living under an increasingly oppressive and tyrannical regime and one man being the catalyst to try to get them past their fears enough to stand up for what they believe is right.
Second, I do not see that this movie is about a terrorist. I see a terrorist as attacking the innocent along with those perceived as guilty. "V" did not do that. He attacked icons of the administration and those that were specifically known by him to be guilty of heinous crimes.
His efforts were to free people from their fears. This was done on a group level with the city as a whole, and an individual, "Evey." He also did not press his ideas on the unwilling. He left ideas to those who could respond to them. In all cases he wanted people to be freed from their fears and he had no desire to simply replace one set of fears for another. He wanted them to be free. Hence, he left them a choice, which is necessary for there to be freedom in the first place. Terrorists do not want to free you from slavery. They want you to change masters. Terrorists do not want you do be without fear. They want you to fear them. "V" made his building bombings a spectator sport. They were not done to cause fear in the people, just in the government.
This is a wonderful film and I think that some that have seen it should reconsider their idea on its point.