“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants” — Thomas Jefferson
I bet lots of people watch this film and perceive similarities to the imagined religio-fascism of our current administration. More educated and insightful folks might make comparisons to the anti-com, nucleo-wingnut era of Thatcher and Reagan.
That’s all bollocks, of course. But what is the message of the book and the movie? Obviously not that government is a good thing. Rather that We the People must always be conscious of our duties as an oversight committee for our government. It’s a message of responsibility: “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” It’s the same thing Thomas Jefferson – insano-wackjob that he was – advocates in the passage above. Know what’s going on. Take responsibility for the actions pursued in your name. Even if it only means showing up to the polls to vote for the lesser of two evils, someone has to win and they’re going to act as if the mass of the people supports them so you had better have a hand in their rise or fall.
Plus, as Bampf says, it’s the best comic book movie since Sin City.