JMS REVIEWS VENDETTA SCRIPT
"V For Vendetta" has continued shooting in London this week and the crowd scene with everyone in V masks and costumes has been confirmed by onlookers and photographers. Joe Michael Straczynski emailed this column with his own take on the "V For Vendetta" script and the comments made by fan reviewers at Aint It Cool last week.
Joe Michael Straczynski works for Warner Brothers, but that relationship has been a tested one. He, like Alan Moore, has refused to work with DC Comics, but currently writes the majority of his comics work for Marvel. He writes, "I saw this and though everything in me yells against getting into these things, I have got to respond.
"Understand: I work with Marvel, I have no vested interest in defending DC or Alan or anyone or anything else.
"The anonymous individual who sent AiCN his 'review' has his head well and duly up his butt. That he had a copy of the script is obvious; that he understood it, less so. There's an old saying: a book is like a mirror, if an ass peers in, you can't expect an apostle to peer out. This person clearly has no idea what's actually going on in that script despite having read it (or having it read to him). You can take anything -- ANYthing -- and by casting it in a certain light, make it sound stupid. 'Oh, and at the end of Blade Runner, there's this REALLY stupid scene where the android guy's, like, hugging a pigeon and talking about moons on fire.' It's all in how you phrase it. Making fun of something is easy.
"About a month ago, I got hold of the V script, the very same draft that this anonymous assassin cites. As a fan of Alan's work, and the V books in particular, I sat down, eager to read it.
"What I read blew my brains out through the back of my head.
"I think it's one of the smartest, sharpest, insightful and well-crafted scripts I've ever read. It's emotional, evocative, heart-rending, biting, sharp, relentless and just plain garden variety powerful. It's not just a good film, it's an *important* film, and there's a great deal of subtlety and nuance in it that was clearly lost on the idiot that read the script so he could make fun of it and stir the pot.
"So there is no 'consensus.' All you've got is one anonymous guy who takes a few things out of context to make them look stupid, revealing his own mendacity and cupidity in the process. As someone who's not just written over two hundred produced scripts and read hundreds more, someone who is a fan of Alan's work, I'm telling you straight-up, with absolutely no agenda: the 'V for Vendetta' script is a work of freaking genius.
"As will be proven soon enough."
