Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

E for Equality: A Feminist Reinterpretation of Evey Hammond’s Transition from Comic Books to Film

V for Vendetta, the comic series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd, is a critically acclaimed graphic novel well known for its subversive themes and provocative characters. In 2005 the book was adapted into a film version of the same name, penned by the Wachowski sisters (then the Wachowski brothers) and directed by James McTeigue. The fictional London of the dystopian works presents multiple parallels with our current society, a future ravished by a global pandemic, the fall out of massive warfare including a civil war that tore the United States apart, environmental degradation, and a radical fascist regime. These unsettling similarities are made especially poignant by the movie having been set in a then futuristic 2020. I argue that this is a reason to revisit the work and I do so with a feminist viewpoint as I illustrate both problematic and progressive elements of the piece as they relate to the female lead. This critique studies the character of Evey Hammond as a symbol of feminism, and how that role is impacted by comparisons between the two versions of her story. Several key changes between adaptations create two very different women, with the filmmakers’ Evey emerging as a stronger, contemporary image of female identity and strength. This comparison stresses how several changes between the movie’s Evey and the source material impact her character significantly, creating a stronger, more contemporary image of female identity and strength.