What is V?

"Remember, remember the Fifth of November." The average British citizen will know this as the first line of a nursery rhyme about November 5th, Guy Fawkes Night. Also known as Bonfire Night or Fireworks Night, this national holiday commemorates the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a failed attempt to assassinate King James I by blowing up a Parliament building. Guy Fawkes was an English Catholic, famously arrested and executed for his participation in the treason. If the average American attaches any significance to the date, they likely learned of it through V for Vendetta-- either the mid-1980's comic book series, or it's 2006 movie adaptation. The story, by British author/artist team Alan Moore and David Lloyd, depicts a future where the United Kingdom has devolved into totalitarianism. A masked revolutionary known as V plots to destroy this fascist government, and invokes the memory of Guy Fawkes with his acts of terrorism and assassination.

I bring this up, of course, due recent acts of vandalism in and around Frostburg State University. "Remember Remember the 5th of November" was found scrawled on the central sidewalk of the Quad, and the wall by a local elementary school playground was tagged with "Down With Parliament". Additional graffiti, at those locations and elsewhere around campus, all feature the same symbol: The letter "V" superimposed upon a circle. This same graffiti symbol is used in V for Vendetta to represent the street presence of V, and the local support of his terrorist actions. When you take all this, then add in the fact that the vandalism was timed so it would be discovered on November 4th, the eve of Guy Fawkes Night, it becomes obvious that the criminal is making a reference. The bigger question is: Why?

An email sent out by request of University Police refers to the circle-V image as "anarchist symbolism", which isn't too far off the mark. While the original Gunpowder Plot was conceived as a conspiracy to replace the Protestant king with a Catholic one, V uses Guy Fawkes imagery to further his self-avowedly anarchist ideals, and it probably isn't an accident that his mark resembles an inverted version of the real world anarchy symbol, the circle-A. "Down with Parliament", however, doesn't seem like the sentiment of an authentic American anarchist. It is doubtful at best that this vandalism was made in the spirit of true anarchy, or as a prelude to anti-government terrorism to be carried out on the 5th.

Following that train of thought, we have to wonder why any American should find V for Vendetta worthy of emulation. The original comic, serialized in the London-based anthology magazine Warriors before being picked up by American publisher DC Comics, was set in a near-future England, inspired by English history, and evolved out of the creators' misgivings with English politics. Even the title is a play on "V for Victory", the propaganda campaign employed by the BBC during World War II. However, the anti-government themes of V for Vendetta are uniquely British only in origin, not in appreciation. In particular, the American movie adaptation was met with popular acclaim.

In V for Vendetta, the fascist U.K. government comes about after a nuclear war has destroyed much of the world. Paranoia and a need for security paralyze the British citizenry, allowing the government to pass increasingly oppressive laws and customs, eventually crystallizing into a brutal police state. Some American audiences find parallels with this plot and the state of U.S. politics following 9/11, and view V for Vendetta as a cautionary tale on how governments can use public fear to censor human rights. The themes and symbolism of V for Vendetta have been embraced by not just anarchists, but anti-establishment philosophies of all kinds. V's signature mask, a studier version of the paper-mache masks worn by children during Guy Fawkes Night, has been used as a symbol of protest and anonymity in defiance of Scientology, government spending, big business, and Internet censorship; commonly in association with the infamous imageboard site, 4chan.org. Most recently, the Guy Fawkes mask has been worn during Occupy protests at Wall Street and elsewhere in the world.

In theory, the Frostburg vandal might be attempting to support any of the ideas above, or some other anti-authoritarian concept. Their use of vandalism might also be telling-- graffiti is a controversial artistic medium, since it values creativity and expression over traditional concepts of property. On the other hand, is there anything truly creative about blatant imitation? While no doubt flattering, the perpetrator's use of V for Vendetta symbolism, and nothing else, obscures any individual intent or meaning. Without additional information, it's difficult to judge this vandalism as any kind of coherent statement. Most likely, it's little more than an awkward example of fan idolization.