Remember, Remember the 5th of November...but do we Really?

For those who don't know, November the fifth (today) is Guy Fawkes day. It basically marks the anniversary of some guy (haha, get it?!?! sorry, I couldn't resist.) getting caught trying to blow up the British Parliament building.  Basically, they found him in the basement surrounded by barrels of gunpowder (not just a large amount, but a buttload of the stuff, enough to easily blow up the parliament building if his plan had succeeded). At least, that's what I've heard about it...

Anyway, I don't really find the fact that many Canadians celebrate it (or at least post a facebook status commemorating it) despite the fact that it is a British holiday strange. I can imagine people keeping track of November the fifth because they have British ancestry, or even because our country has historically been tied to Britain . Not only that, the event is significant in that it represents to many people the spirit of rebellion occasionally necessary to spark social change (although, the sane of us will invariably choose better ways to do it then blowing up all the local politicians and causing our countries to spin into anarchy...).

What strikes me as strange is that a lot of people seem to remember it solely because of a certain sci-fi movie. Remember V for Vendetta? Basically some dude runs around blowing up cathedrals and kidnapping young women, all while donning a Guy Fawkes mask. Of course, the girl he kidnaps (then later imprisons for no apparent reason, except if memory serves, to crush her spirit and remove her innocence) develops what appears to be a pretty bad case of Stolkholm Syndrome, so we get to see V's (aka, the Guy Fawkes look-a-like) better side. Basically his tendency to cause chaos and misery stems from a cruel medical expirament once performed on him that went wrong. What's more, his crimes are all politically motivated. Nothing personal. The movie sounds like it could be a graphic novel because it was based on one, by the way.

Anyway, I think that most people who celebrate Guy Fawkes day do it because of this movie. In it, there's a little rhyme that goes like this:
Remember, Remember the fifth of November
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot
I know of know reason why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be Forgot.
While I think it's kind of cool that this little rhyme has made the offbeat (at least in Canada) holiday stand out, it seems odd to me that people would celebrate it because it was in that movie and not because of it's historical significance. I mean, who knows what would have happened had Guy Fawkes succeeded...

Maybe I just place too much significance on the historical significance of such a date and not enough on it's potential to inspire graphic novels and movies...as always, feel free to let me know what you think!