Joel Peterson on "Remember, Remember the 5th of November"

As Christians, we often complain about how our culture is distorted through the lens of Hollywood. Unfortunately, the true nature of historical figures are also frequently warped by the allure of a more pleasing plot. On November the 5th, I gathered with a group of friends to watch V for Vendetta, the story of an anarchist who seeks to follow in the footsteps of Guy Fawkes, who attempted to burn down the Parliament building in 1604. Admittedly, I am a big fan of the movie and there is nothing better than seeing the Parliament building blown to pieces while Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture plays in the background. After watching the movie on November the 5th, I was surfing the Internet when I came across an article on CNN's Belief Blog that reminded me of the power of Hollywood to change history. Dan Merica noted in his article that Fawkes' gunpowder treason was a plot not necessarily to stand up to a corrupt government, but a plot to kill King James, a Protestant, in order to restore Catholic supremacy. For a long time, November the 5th was a celebration of Fawkes' failure, with strong anti-Catholic undertones. I do not seek to undermine Chris Clark's point in his November 11th article. I only seek to point out the errors of rallying around the likeness of Fawkes as a figure of freedom and rebellion. As for the point of Mr. Clark's article, I urge my fellow students to take advantage of the opportunities given by the SGA to seek a more perfect schedule. Since many of us, myself included, are not affected by the current imperfections of the schedule, those affected should take advantage of the student government. But I wonder how we can expect the student body to be involved in their student government when most of my peers did not take the time to request an absentee ballot and vote on the 8th of November in their municipal elections.