this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2026
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[–] merde@sh.itjust.works 38 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

According to Time in 2011, the protesters' adoption of the mask had led to it becoming the top-selling mask on Amazon.com, selling hundreds of thousands a year. Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns Warner Bros. and DC Comics, owns the rights to the image and is paid a fee with the sale of each copyrighted mask.

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[–] NaibofTabr 28 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

Also, notably, Guy Fawkes was in no way anti-establishment or anti-monarchy, and was certainly not an anarchist. Fawkes (and his group) wanted to replace a Protestant monarch with a Catholic one.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Yeah in V for Vandetta he's used as a symbol of British rebellion against the government, because the comic is extremely British. That said, the book is extremely anarchist and V is explicitly an anarchist, and the mask in popular culture at least in America is far more closely tied to that than to the actual gunpowder plot

[–] Yondoza@sh.itjust.works 17 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Very true, but as the movie says it's a symbol. "Symbols are given power by people" and Guy Fawkes as a symbol is no longer tied to his historical actions. It symbolizes the character V, revolution, and the power of people to make change.

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 12 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

In much the same way a swastika means Nazi. Theres always that one guy that will tell you its an ancient symbol that means peace, but show anyone on the planet and they'll say its a nazi thing.

[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

but show anyone in the western hemisphere of the planet and they'll say its a nazi thing.

FTFY

[–] Natanox@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

The guy with the ancient symbol evidently can't mirror or rotate objects in their head…

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago

There may be less confusion over the whole thing if there weren't horribly misdrawn ones all over basically every city

[–] NaibofTabr 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

This symbol says "I want to blow people up for God!"

Symbols should be chosen with more care, and not adopted from movies or comic books.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 7 hours ago (1 children)
[–] NaibofTabr 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

The movie was well produced and I think it delivers the intended message within its self-contained universe, but... considering that the entire story is framed in the context of the Gunpowder Plot, from beginning to end, I think that message is muddled when you understand the actual history behind it.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 4 points 3 hours ago

But the movie is about the fact that a man can become an idea, and once an idea, can no longer be a man. V cannot have love, because he has made himself into an idea and that idea is not compatible with the desires he feels in his heart. Just the same, the idea of Guy Fawkes does not require the consent or approval of the man.