In the film V for Vendetta the roles of gender most specifically mother and farther is used to dive deeper into the messages of the film and the roles of the main characters, however the film does not portray the main characters as typical gender parts. Because this film is a hollywood movie we would expect the conventional damsel in distress being saved by the built hero, however because this film does not conform to the hollywood narrative it distorts our understanding of the roles and powers held by the characters. The film uses many phallic, yonic and orgasmic imagery. The film also uses hyper masculinity to convey the roles of the characters.
A way the film portrays gender is in the scene God is in the rain 'birthing' scene. This scene compares Eveys rebirthing to Vs, the scene represents how both characters are developing more masculine traits such as Evey no longer fears death or pain and V develops a sense of hyper masculinity and vengeance, all traits that are usually portrayed in men in typical hollywood films. As seen in this scene.
This scene is the pinnacle moment in the transition of her gender ( metaphorically ) .This scene uses phallic, yonic and orgasmic imagery to show gender in this scene. The rain that lands on Eveys face is phallic as the rain is the symbol of her freedom as it enters her which then rebirths her. This is compared to when V is reborn but is seen through yonic imagery as he rises out the fire which then develops his hyper masculinity, this is suppose to tell us that V is now a much more powerful character as he develops more masculine traits such strength and speed. Both scenes use orgasmic imagery such as fire and lightning to represent rebirth as we usually link birth to an explosion of life. This is showing that the role of the male is to not fear and and be free and to act with vengeance against his oppressors.
In the parliament and people revolutions scene, no gender is truly represented as everyone is wearing a mask to protect their identity thus making them gender neutral. However Evey may be seen as a mother to society as she frees them from the clutches of democracy by letting the train go. Although we have witnessed her rebirth as a more masculine character we can still see traits of being a more stronger feminine character as she is showing traits of being a mum.
In this scene we see Evey hold the lever that controls the train, this lever represents a phallic object, it also holds a controllable amount of power that will lead to destruction ( mostly like the power a man can with hold ). We also see soldiers pointing guns at the oncoming crowd the guns are a phallic object, an object of power. However the soldiers are given orders to put down their guns which essentially de maculates them. Another phallic object that we can see in this video is Big Ben being demolished which yet again shows the fall of power and the de masculation of the government.
When we see Evey wake up in Vs safe house and talks to him whilst he is making breakfast it makes us question his gender. This is because he is carrying out traits that we usually identify with females for instance he is cooking, applies makeup to his mask, long hair,wearing an apron and he enjoys art ( from what we can see around the house ). Although V has the build and voice of a man its not unusual for men to accommodate such traits.
In this scene we question the norm. We usually identify a mother to being a nurturer and a farther as being a procreator, but here we see V nurture Evey, as a mother would. V is nurturing Evey whist creating a more fearless and free individual like a farther, this makes us ask is it always a mother who nurtures?
In Dietrichs secret room we are met with both characters portraying their gender, however we are told that Dietrich is actually homosexual but he does not display the stereotyped female characteristics that the usual Hollywood film creates.
From the beginning of the film we knew that Evey was going to try and seduce Dietrich. We don't know if she was genuinely attracted to him or prostituting herself. If she was genuinely trying to seduce him because of her attraction to him it could be because of the Oedipal complex ( where one is attracted to the qualities of their parents that are within someone else ). This would mean that Evey was attracted to Dietrich because he reminds her of her farther and that she wants needs a farther figure in her life.
Finally in the opening scene we see Evey getting dressed. As we can see that she is clearly trying to impress someone ( her boss ) she dresses up in attractive clothing which shows her femininity. Because we haven't seen to much of the film yet we can only assume that she is a vulnerable women who aims to impress others. We see her also turn off the TV this can show that she doesn't care about the issues that revolve around her life, which is the message of the film. This also shows her femininity as its usually the man who takes care of the problem and solves it. This scene also shows V getting ready we could infer that he is a feminine character as he has makeup on his mask, he is getting ready in front of a mirror and he is wearing a wig with long hair.
This scene supports the idea of 'men act then women appear' as Evey is getting ready to impress her boss, this could be that she is enticed by his power and wants a share or because she wants a promotion or to keep her job. This scene uses juxtaposition to support that V to is a feminine character as he is doing almost the replica of what Eveys doing.
Overall the film does not use typical gender roles to communicate its messages as both characters constantly move from one side to the other on the spectrum of feminine and masculine.
