The masks, patterned after the one worn by the shadowy anti-hero from the comic book and movie "V for Vendetta, " gave an almost surreal air to the panel at a conference where black-framed glasses are a more common fashion accessory.
As the society collapses, though the hero, V, aims for anarchism, what he gets is anomie - a society of "take what you want" in which rioters and hedonists take power as centralised power collapses.