Today, the fifth of November, has little significance here in the United States but over in England, it’s regarded as Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night.

The British will commemorate the Gunpowder Plot organized by a group of Catholics for the purpose of blowing up the House of Parliament. In America, we most frequently associate it with the movie “V for Vendetta.”

I love any and all action movies, but I believe “V for Vendetta” is one of the finest movies ever filmed. The reason this movie is so memorable is the overall message it carries.

“V for Vendetta” follows a masked vigilante as he fights to exact revenge on the country and people who destroyed his life. The titular character V seeks to overthrow the totalitarian regime governing Britain and awaken the population.

Far from suggesting we all go and work to blow up our governing bodies or become vigilantes killing for personal revenge, I believe what we all need to take away from this movie is the questioning of our government.

Thomas Jefferson once said “Dissent is the highest for of patriotism,” and he could not have been more accurate. Our country’s founding was motivated by the desire to escape unfair governments and live in a way that is fair to all. At the time “fair to all” meant all white male landowners, but that has changed as society has matured.

Fortunately for us, we live in a country where we have access to our policy makers so we don’t have to go to the drastic measures employed by our founding fathers, or V, such as establishing a new country or bombing historic buildings.

But our easy access to our representatives has made us complacent – believing we don’t have to draw attention to a perceived injustice, because someone else will.

But it is our duty as Americans to questions and search for truth. If we fail to do so, travesties such as Watergate might never come to light and we would never learn how corrupt our government has the capacity to be.

The 1997 movie “Wag the Dog” took a humorous look at White House officials and the extent to which they will go to hide truth from the public.

I doubt the government hired a Hollywood director to stage the War on Terrorism, like in the movie, (although that war was with Albania), but I have no trouble believing there are cover-ups happening everyday.

If we learn nothing else from history, let us take away the lesson that power corrupts. There are rare exceptions to this, but it holds true most of the time.

We need only to look to Africa and the horrors being perpetuated there to learn the lengths people will go to in the quest for control.

Today, our country has made great strides along the road to equality. Less than a century ago women were unable to vote, segregation was rampant and equal rights were nothing more than a dream.

But there are still those who are denied rights that all should possess.

Guy Fawkes Night is an ideal time to rally people to stand up and demand change. As Hugo Weaving’s “V” said in the movie: “More than 400 years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you’ve seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you, then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight.”

Look to the spirit of Guy Fawkes and his conspirators and strive to create change.

It is on the noble charge that our country was founded: fighting tradition to foster equality for everyone.

Do honor to our founders and fight to reconstruct society to the advantage of all of us.

Think back to a time when slavery was acceptable and the right to vote belonged only to a few. If it were not for people refusing to accept the world as they saw it, we could still be living in that outdated world.

If you take a look around and see nothing wrong in our society, then sit back and enjoy another day behind your rose-colored glasses. But if you see, in spite of all the progress we have made, there are still those who work to oppress us, then stand up and celebrate the fifth of November as a day for revolutions.

- Megan Otto is a page designer for The Red & Black.