"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." ~ H.L. Mencken
V For Vendetta
"Since V was presented both as a movie and as a political statement, it is appropriate to address its artistic value and its politics separately.... As a movie, I found V to be engaging, often original, visually stunning but ultimately flawed; it was a good ride that could have been great one if the scripting had been better. As a political statement, I thought V was not at all libertarian, as so many have claimed."
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"Whereas the graphic novel was a wholesale cry to rebel against statism itself, the movie rebels against a particular criminal government. This is a key point because opposing a specific state does not make anyone anarchist or libertarian; if it did, then Fidel Castro and Leon Trotsky would be libertarians."
Many of Wendy's comments are convincing (particularly those about torture), but not this one. How can one "rebel against statism itself" without rebelling against an actual, particular government? The problem with Castro was not that he rebelled against Batista, but that he formed an even worse government.
And the fact Guy Fawkes was a papist is interesting, but not very germane to the question. How many viewers knew anything about Fawkes before watching the movie? Was his attempt to replace the Protestant state by a Catholic one explained in the movie? We cannot arrange the past to provide us perfect examples for stories like this; we just have to use what's there, however imperfect.
So, I'd say Wendy is about half right...
yes, the torture angle was hard to swallow, both in the book and the film. something that wasn't mentioned in the article is the fact that alan moore himself is an anarchist.
he's also a wizard.