V for Vendetta Study Questions & Thought Experiments

Updated slightly in the era of Occupy

V for Vendetta Thought Experiments in handout/flier format

1. A sustainable society only has to be built once. What unsustainable methods would you support in such an endeavor?

2. How much of a fascist will you become in service to the revolution?

3. Name the 3 worst things our current administration has done. Imagine that somehow these were part of a long term, insanely subversive plot to do good… How good would the good have to be to justify the wrong?

4. What things distinguish the criminal from the civilian from the citizen?

5. Do Hollywood movies ever serve anything like a true revolution?

Recommended Reading List

Seeking a light satirical novel about liberal arts academia, particularly one set at a women’s college; something like Neal Stephenson’s “The Big U,” but not quite so dense with words…

1. Commencement

2. Changing Places

3. Thinks

4. Prep

5. Stoner

Opening Doors at Mills College

1. I want to dive into some man’s thoughtful blog about his experiences as a man, navigating the world of a women’s college, but I haven’t found one yet.

2. It happened again today: I got to a door first, reached to open it out, the woman arriving on the other side took it the rest of the way, & I stalled between the choice of switching feet & holding it for her while she passed through the narrow space left for me, or moving to one side & letting her pass through entirely, or passing through myself & saying thank you.

3. I chose the latter, & felt awkward, which is inevitable & strange.

4. As Sr!n! wrote on a bumper sticker sometime, “America is a slow motion race riot.”

5. An odd moment in the grad lounge, 3 men sitting around the table & me at a computer.  Did the atmosphere change in that moment or did I just feel different?

Treetop Gleanings

1. Waking up at 6am isn’t actually that hard when there’s a two hour nap on a bus to look forward to.

2. Being alert & focused enough to make it out the door by 7:15am, without actually waking up so much that I can’t nap later, is a bit more difficult.

3. Not everyone can sleep soundly on a bouncing bus winding through deep curved hills with a couple dozen burners scarfing donuts & making chit chat all about; I am not everyone.

4. I didn’t get any coffee before Rachel finished the mug so I am going to die.

5. We are all really excited to be here for this collaborative, mutually supportive team building activity.  & we are all determined to be the one who “wins.”

My Game Requires Upgrades

1. Tape the handle

2. Use the gyroscope grip strengthener

3. Sweatbands

4. Anti-fog on the lenses

5. Play & practice lots more

A quest between twilight and the horizon

photos to come later

I Came in with ladies & went out with cowboys
Intended to straddle but lost track of the seats
Tried bluffing to bullets which ought to have killed me
Caught four runners straight to the very last street

A Picnic for Patriots

Honey bees gonna die
Waters gonna rise
Roads gonna crack in the sun

Policemen all gonna cry
Reporters gonna burn their obits
Every warden gonna shit, and quit
And join the accountants as they eat their guns

Counting to sum

1. Begin
2. Don’t finish
3. Start over
4. Get distracted
5. Forget to remember

An Baker’s Dozen of Epiphanies, Two Months Before the Bad Thing.

1. I am the poop whisperer.
2. Loathsome people validate your loathing.
3. The service will cost exactly as much as it earns.
4. It’s not impolite for the host to quadruple up when the drinks are free.
5. 1am is too late to bake bread.

Epiphany at the precarious epitome

From “The Monkeys You Ordered,” a delightful spin on New Yorker Cartoons:

1. “Be sure to turn left when you walk in the door or we will all die.”

2. “The price is low because the house is built on the edge of a cliff.”

3. “You can’t beat the view but there are serious problems with the foundation.”

4. “You should not buy this house.”

5. “I expect this house to move very fast, any day now.”