Anonymous and the Guy Fawkes mask.

Howdy Folks,first time in here.I've got a question that has been bothering me.

What effect has Anonymous had on the guy fawkes mask?

edited 5th Nov '11 10:45:53 AM by Ultimatum

Aside from raising the sales of it and creeping people out? Because that is a fucking creepy mask.

I don't see how a movement can have an effect on a costume prop aside of making it a symbol of Anonymous and anarchy. And some people automatically identifying people wearing those as douches.

What I want to know is why the Guy Fawkes mask...

Because it was used in the V movie/comic book by the main character, and V is seen as some kind of anarchist hero.

It's a logo. Also pretty intimidating.

I'm thinking the people who started the trend read the comic book. It's more their style.

But anyway, for an organization called Anonymous, they have some serious disregard for anonymity. Just a plain old regular mask for me today, thanks!

It's a mask from Vfor Vendetta: The dude wearing it overthrows the Government and essentially exterminates the Cabinet. It's also a Guy Fawkes Mask: The dude the masks represent in real life tried to blow up Parliament.

For the most part, Anonymous is a force of good: they live in unrelenting opposition to all authority. These masks represent two messages to power, a boast and a threat: The boast is "we are anonymous, you can't get us, you can't destroy us." The threat is "We are your enemies: Whenever we can, we'll harm you."

edited 5th Nov '11 11:43:26 AM by SavageHeathen

The guy fawkes mask has never really had much to do with Mr Fawkes himself. It's the mask someone in a comic book used to represent him.

Except that in this day and age, the authorities have people who are just as good at tracking people. If individuals do anything truly harmful, there's no longer any such thing as complete anonymity. (Now, the laws regarding the internet are kind of fossilized, and seriously need to catch up.)

Plus, I'm of the opinion that Anonymous is GIFT in a large group. Divorced from the consequences of their actions, a bunch of them are just punks doing shit for the lulz. There may be a few altruists among them who think they're doing the right thing, but for the most part it's internet thugs and weirdos who've bought into their rhetoric.

Few things are more scarier than a nerd with a modicum of power.

They wear Fawkes masks because they're hired guns whose employers want to turn England into a Catholic theocracy, just like Fawkes was, of course.

It's probably elevated its fame/notoriety, and kept us talking about the movie and character more commonly in recent years than we otherwise would have.

I will say that it does tend to subtract from its aura of iconoclastic bravado when you see a guy with a Guy Fawkes mask, an LL Bean backpack, and a Starbucks coffee standing on the corner.

@Savages: "Forces of good"? Uh, I know you are pro freedom and stuff, but Anonymous is a meme and in practice its same as mob of random people gathering to do something random stuff with pitchforks, its not an actual organization or anything... Reason they can't be destroyed is that they don't exist, its group of random anonymous people deciding to do something.

edited 5th Nov '11 1:45:40 PM by SpookyMask

from wikipedia

Since the release in 2006 of the film V for Vendetta, based on a comic book series about a dystopian future United Kingdom, written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, the use of stylised "Guy Fawkes" masks, with moustache and pointed beard, has become widespread internationally among groups protesting against politicians, banks and financial institutions. The masks both conceal the identity of individuals and demonstrate their commitment to a shared cause.

The character first became an internet meme, common on imageboards such as 4chan as well as on video-sharing based websites such as You Tube. The Internet-based group known as Anonymous adopted the Guy Fawkes mask in 2008, following its use by members during Project Chanology's protests against the Church of Scientology. On 23 May 2009, protesters dressed up as V and set off a fake barrel of gunpowder outside Parliament while protesting over the issue of British M Ps' expenses. During the Occupy Wall Street and the whole ongoing "Occupy" protests, the mask appears internationally as a symbol of popular rebellion. In October 2011, campaigner Julian Assange attended the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest wearing such a mask, which he removed after a request by the police.

According to Time in 2011, the protesters' adoption of the mask has led to it becoming the top-selling mask on Amazon.com, selling hundreds of thousands a year. Time Warner, one of the largest media companies in the world, is paid a fee with the sale of each mask, as it owns the rights to the image.

Artist David Lloyd is quoted as saying:

The Guy Fawkes mask has now become a common brand and a convenient placard to use in protest against tyranny – and I'm happy with people using it, it seems quite unique, an icon of popular culture being used this way. The book is about one man bringing down the state but the film includes a scene of a huge crowd – making a statement against a faceless corporation. The masks were useful for the Scientology protests because it prevented individuals from being recognised ... We knew that V was going to be an escapee from a concentration camp where he had been subjected to medical experiments but then I had the idea that in his craziness he would decide to adopt the persona and mission of Guy Fawkes – our great historical revolutionary. Alan Moore stated in a 2008 interview with Entertainment Weekly:

I was also quite heartened the other day when watching the news to see that there were demonstrations outside the Scientology headquarters over here, and that they suddenly flashed to a clip showing all these demonstrators wearing V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes masks. That pleased me. That gave me a warm little glow.

As for the origin of the meme, I was semi-active on 4chan 2006 onwards, and then it probably started with Epic Fail Guy, a stick figure with a V mask. There was also something about this Youtube Magician who wore the mask, but I don't know the timeline exactly.

Checking Knowyourmeme the mask came about without any known reason. It's just one of those things, you know?

Rule of Cool, I guess. It's also memorable image associated with a memorable badass to help it on its way. Plus a dash of Guevara PR and there you have it.

Kinda funny they think hes an anarchist just because he tried to blow up a building. He was liked one of oldest structured groups in the world (Roman Catholic Church) And had served in at least one army. Yup, regular anarchist there.

There's a reason Completely Missing the Point and Did not do the Research are tropes. People will make symbols out of things and people that didn't originally have anything to do with what they eventually are used for. They hear about a guy who tried to blow up the Parliament and decide to use him as their rallying martyr or some shit.

Or you know, the folks just saw the movie or read the comic that was about an actual anarchist who used the mask. Which also would have been a case of the above tropes for that character.

Ace: Nope. Moore researched Fawkes very thoroughly, just like he does everything else.

It seems very The Man Is Sticking It to the Man to buy the masks from Time Warner rather than making your own.

I meant a lack of research on the character's part, actually. Not the author's. Judging by his other work, Moore does a pretty insane amount of research.

edited 5th Nov '11 10:18:47 PM by AceofSpades

So, I guess the Great Storming of Facebook went nowhere? Ah well, I'd figured as much.

Can the spelling and capitalization get fixed? Please?

Edit:Alright, thanks.

edited 6th Nov '11 5:04:17 AM by ThatHuman

Exeliki - that doesn't mean the character of V in any way whatsoever resembles Fawkes or any of the other conspirators except in that they're terrorists who wanted to blow up parliament. Fawkes, in reality, was a sectarian terrorist who wanted to replace the protestant head of state with a Catholic one. He was a career soldier chosen for his military knowledge, connections and loyalty to his ideals.

Also, people never ever remember that there were about 8 other conspirators in real life. That V worked mostly alone doesn't help with that misconception.

Really kills the whole anarchist thing when you realise he worked in a decently sized organisation.