December 03, 2021

V FOR VENDETTA, Black Lives Matter, and the Dangers of Book Banning

37 minutes

(Note: This episode was originally released under the old podcast title "This is the End: Pop Culture & Collapse." As of July 2025 the show is now titled, "Strange Days, Here We Come: Pop Culture, Dystopia & Collapse.")

In this episode, we talk to Muncie Central High School English teacher Katey O'Connor about teaching V FOR VENDETTA and how her students practiced civil disobedience when their class projects, which drew parallels between the book and real-life issues, were censored. We also discuss the wave of book banning and the hysteria over race, gender, and sexuality that's sweeping schools across the U.S.

NOTE: In our opinion, there are no spoilers for 'V for Vendetta' in this episode. But out of an abundance of caution, here are 3 time marks where something is mentioned that *might* be perceived as micro-spoilers:

9:56 - 10:06

10:21 - 10:30

10:50 - 10:56

Even if you have only seen the 2005 film, there are absolutely no new spoilers for the book (or vice versa).

LINKS:

"School removes student project about fascism after cops complain"

https://www.vice.com/en/article/3abqp8/muncie-school-removes-student-project-about-fascism-after-cops-complain

"Police in schools continue to target Black, Brown, and Indigenous students with disabilities. The Trump administration has data that's likely to prove it."

https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/police-in-schools-continue-to-target-black-brown-and-indigenous-students-with-disabilities-the-trump-administration-has-data-thats-likely-to-prove-it/

"Conservatives are just openly endorsing book burning now"

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/11/virginia-school-board-book-burning

"Texas House committee to investigate school districts' books on race and sexuality"

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/26/texas-school-books-race-sexuality/

"Let's talk about Muncie Central High and V for Vendetta..." by Beau of the Fifth Column (YouTube video mentioned by Katey O'Connor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrHxTU-k47M&t=229s

Leah Moore's tweet about Alan Moore's statement

https://twitter.com/leahmoore/status/1462425010816040963

Student Voices (Muncie Central High School student activism page)

https://www.facebook.com/MuncieStudentVoices/

Muncie students' BLM t-shirt fundraiser on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1617898138587004&id=100011005005621

Muncie students' BLM t-shirt fundraiser on Twitter

https://twitter.com/MrsBoudreau/status/1462645762404323329

(Or make a donation to Elayna Justice on Venmo at @elaynajustice )

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

http://cbldf.org/

"I understood the assignment" TikTok compilation (mentioned by Katey O'Connor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Gy6yA1bvI

Katey O'Connor on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/katey.oconnor.3

Katey O'Connor on Twitter

https://twitter.com/OConnorKatey

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