I’m not sure I catch your drift. The people did nothing, yes, but what does that demonstrate? They didn’t lift a finger to oppose their tyrants, they didn’t commit any of the acts of terrorism/freedom fighting, they didn’t build or plant the big bomb to blow up Parliament.
All I saw them do was spray paint a few V signs, and show up for the fireworks show. In the real world, they would have all been mowed down with machine guns or just clubbed into submission, Tianenmen Square-style. It was a leftie fantasy of revolution, where they could keep their pacifist ways, and let someone else do the dirty work for them.
You are right, they would have been killed. The real message of the film is that removing the powerful leads to freedom not running in the streets. IE
The real uprising were all the assasinations done by V. For by cutting the head of the government off, the troops had no leadership and therefore freedom ensued.
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That is why the fillm is so powerful.