Remember, Remember the Fifth of November…

Happy 5th of November, everybody! Tonight in the UK it’s Guy Fawkes Night. From Wikipedia:

Guy Fawkes Night marks the downfall of the Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605, in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to destroy the Houses of Parliament, in London, United Kingdom.

Apparently back in the day, Guy and his buddies weren’t happy about the Protestants being in charge, so they decided to let everybody know by blowing stuff up and killing important people. Good times!

In the UK, this event is commemorated with fireworks and food, but we here in the States don’t really treat today any differently. Guy’s legacy has, however, made its way into our culture by way of the “Guy Fawkes Mask”, which you might recognize from the graphic novel “V for Vendetta” and its movie adaptation. The iconic mask has also become an identifier for an interesting group of folks who call themselves Anonymous.

Anonymous is a semi-organized collective of folks who were mostly originally members of the very not work safe 4Chan website/forum. Essentially troublemakers and pranksters, they’re known mostly for their ongoing war  with the Church of Scientology (“Project Chanology”) which involves both above board tactics like protests as well as some shadier methods of dissent like denial of service attacks on the Scientology website, rendering it unusable.

What started out as a loose group of folks looking to cause trouble has turned into a serious effort at disruption. The Church of Scientology has called Anonymous everything from intolerant activists to criminals to terrorists, all of which are probably somewhat legitimate descriptions of the group, but looking at the conflict as a whole, it’s a fascinating peek into what modern rebellion looks like, using tools like the internet and pranks instead of bombs and guns. Wired recently had a great article that covered Anonymous’ origins and activities and it’s well worth the read.

I’m not sure what it would take for me to attend protests wearing a slightly sinister mask, much less engage in cyberwarfare, but I’ve never been much of an activist to begin with. What about you?

Comments

[Kristin Fontanilla]

I've run into a few of those folks on the street. Perfectly nice, if not a little, well, energetic about their "cause". Though, if being an activist means wearing a craptastically creepy mask, count me out and call me apathetic. I mean, if you hate something so much that you feel the need to protest it in public, loudly and with signage, then I think you should show your face. Modern rebellion, sure- but it also smacks of cowardice.