Remember, Remember, Change Comes in November…

Over the course of the day I've been beset by links, ads and now video of the site remembernovember.com - a site paid for by the Republican Governors Association. Without commenting too much on the nature of the site or the politics behind it I immediately noticed some things that a comic book / movie geek should be instantly familiar with.

First off the phrase "Remember November" immediately harkens Alan Moore's excellent series (and the Wachowski Bros. pretty decent movie) 'V for Vendetta.' If you've seen either you know that the main character is modelled after a historical figure - Guy (Guido) Fawkes, who set out on November 5th 1605 to blow up the British House of Parliament in an attempt to unseat Protestant rule. My history is not great so please refer to the wikipedia entries for Guy Fawkes and The Gunpowder Plot for a dash of internet quality knowledge.

Through an act of parliament the day, November 5th, went on to become a holiday - Guy Fawkes Night. A common nursery rhyme related to the holiday begins "Remember remember, the 5th of November; The Gunpowder Treason and Plot ... "

As a lit student I'd have been remiss not to at least entertain the potential connection between "Remember november" and the popular rhyme.

Now, before you accuse me of reading too far into this check out the site's banner.

What's the one letter that's different from all the others? The 'V'. While I realize that the 'V' is meant to represent the voter's check mark it's certainly interesting to re-evaluate it in reference to 'V for Vendetta', the movie that most Americans may be reminded of (like I was) by "Remember November."

Check out the cover of the 'V for Vendetta' Blu-Ray DVD and compare the 'V's as they appear in both. Very similar, no?

Add to these small things videos message of unseating the people in power, the ticking of the counter (masterfully similar to a clock ticking down), and the overwhelming implications in the video cuts and you start to feel the oppression and fear of tyranny that's part of Moore's dystopian future.

I'm not going to accuse the site of attempting to insight violence because I know that's not the goal. It's just interesting to see how sometimes life can imitate art and how we sometimes subconsciously pickup (or putdown) ideas that we associate with.

I'm embedding the video below because I think it's worth looking at if only for seeing another perspective. As I stated earlier I wanted to avoid politicizing this post, it just felt like looking at the site (in it's current form) and comparing it to 'V for Vendetta' seemed to fit some of the things that this site is about.