'Vendetta' mask becomes symbol of Occupy protests

By Verena Dobnik

Associated Press

Published: Friday, Nov. 4 2011 3:10 a.m. MDT

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FILE -In this Oct. 15, 2011 file photo, a protester with the "Occupy Seattle" movement wears a Guy Fawkes mask and takes a photo with a mobile phone as he demonstrates, in downtown Seattle. From New York to San Francisco to London, some of the demonstrators decrying a variety of society's ills are sporting stylized masks loosely modeled on a 17th-century English terrorist, whether they know it or not. The masks come from "V for Vendetta," a comic-based movie whose violent, anarchist antihero fashions himself as a modern Guy Fawkes, the Catholic insurrectionist executed four centuries ago for trying to blow up Parliament.

Ted S. Warren, File, Associated Press

Summary

Look at photos or videos from around the world of Occupy protesters and you'll likely spot a handful of people wearing masks of a cartoon-like man with a pointy beard, closed-mouth smile and mysterious eyes.

NEW YORK — Look at photos or videos from around the world of Occupy protesters and you'll likely spot a handful of people wearing masks of a cartoon-like man with a pointy beard, closed-mouth smile and mysterious eyes.

The mask is a stylized version of Guy Fawkes, an Englishman who tried to bomb the British Parliament on Nov. 5, 1605.

But history books didn't lead to the mask's popularity: A nearly 30-year-old graphic novel and a five-year-old movie did.

"V for Vendetta," the comic-based movie whose violent, anarchist antihero fashions himself a modern Guy Fawkes and rebels against a fascist government has become a touchstone for young protesters. While Warner Brothers holds the licensing rights to the Guy Fawkes mask, several protesters say they're using foreign-made copies to circumvent the corporation.

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