One Line to Rule Them All
V: Would you prefer a lie or the truth?
Few moments in cinematic, or for that matter literary, history have made me feel as strongly as that line does. Sometimes I watch the entire film (V For Vendetta) just for the ecstasy that the above line induces–like a small glimpse of genius fed into my mind through my eyes and ears, invariably altering everything I know and everything I believe for the most infinitesimal moment. V’s line is so much more than purely good screenplay writing, but an indictment upon the character of our being. It strikes to the core of our universe and the thin line upon which we tread that separates us from the obvious truth and the emphatic lies that govern our lives.
The scene is simple; the setting unimpressive. V and Evey are sitting within the Shadow Gallery watching a news cast which reports ominously that a distinguished man within London’s political-media conglomerate has died. They report his death as an accident, an act of God–robbing the dutifully ignorant peoples of Britannia of their prized ‘Voice.’
Yes, the Voice of London he is called. A voice so loud, so rife with misdirection and lies, that the people consume willingly and with little discussion. Yes, he is the voice, and the masses are his ears, absorbing the cacophony of mistruth gleefully. And that voice was permanently silenced by V.
Evey begins to understand the situation and asks V a direct question: Did you kill him?
And he responds coolly, “Would you prefer a lie or the truth?”
The line is perfect for so many reasons. It cuts to the heart of our postmodern dilemma. Would you prefer a lie or the truth? The lie could be anything–it is infinite and ambiguous, boundless and free. Yet the truth is concrete. Rooted in fact and embellished only by perspective and interpretation. Many versus one. The infinite versus the finite. The ambiguous versus the defined. The line resonates with the pulse of our current society. Would you prefer the truth or a lie? Do you want to remain willfully ignorant or do you demand the Answer? Are you satisfied with what you hear…or does the Voice quench your thirst for knowledge?
V isn’t asking her if she wants an answer; he is asking her to allow him to satisfy her in whatever means she desires. Giving her a choice–to which world will she enter. It is so relevant to our condition as a society at large. As people, do we demand the truth and accept it willingly or do we cling to things as petty as our own sense of right and wrong, our own baseless opinions, our own mythological history which compels us to reject contradictory fact in the name of national and social pride? V wants to satisfy her, not crush her under the weight of his own decision. It is a caring and overtly sensitive line.
And Evey, being the strong girl that she is, demands the truth. To which V succinctly responds, “I killed him.”
Evey is shocked, appalled…although she knows the Voice is evil, she is overcome with emotion and blurts out, “Are you going to kill more people!?”
“Yes.”
Perfection.
You see there are many lies…our lives are nothing more than a web of contradictions and misdirections. The very glue of our society is the white lie. We are bound to one another by a veil of secrecy that is both obvious and covert. We, the janus-faced, are actors in the grand play. The stage of our lives. Dancing around the cold truth to stay warm.
Oh yes, there is but one truth. In any number of possible phenomena there is but one truth. Every complex and seemingly impossible situation has but one ultimate underlying truth in which we must face. Why are we here? What is the purpose of this world? Is there a God? Am I God himself? Am I alone? What is love?
Well…would you prefer a lie or the truth?
You must ask yourself how many times you could demand the truth, at possible cost of your own universe–the web of lies and mythologies you have surrounded yourself with and immersed your soul in so that you could survive the day.
I have made a life out of seeking objective truth and what I have found more than anything is my own incompatibility with it. The old adage ‘truth hurts’ was penned for a reason. Truth shatters our world. It reveals friends as murderers. Lovers as cheaters. And even worse…it may reveal the pointlessness of our existence.
So I ask you again, if you could face any question of any relevance, would you prefer a lie or the truth?
I will always take the truth. I will always demand the truth. My resolution, the annual promise of a new and nonexist year, will be to find truth in everything. To be truth. To disseminate it. To believe in it.
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