There are several fundamental differences between the film and the original source material. Alan Moore's original story was created as a response to British Thatcherism in the early 1980s and was set as a conflict between a fascist state and anarchism, while the film's story has been changed by the Wachowskis to fit a modern US political context. Alan Moore, however, charged that, in doing so, the story has turned into an American-centric conflict between liberalism and neoconservatism, and abandons the original anarchist–fascist themes. Moore states that "here wasn't a mention of anarchy as far as I could see. The fascism had been completely defanged. I mean, I think that any references to racial purity had been excised, whereas actually, fascists are quite big on racial purity." Furthermore, in the original story, Moore attempted to maintain moral ambiguity, and not to portray the fascists as caricatures, but as realistic, rounded characters. The time limitations of a film meant that the story had to omit or streamline some of the characters, details, and plotlines from the original story. Chiefly, the original graphic novel has the fascists elected legally and kept in power through the general apathy of the public, whereas the film introduces the "St. Mary's virus", a biological weapon engineered and released by the Norsefire Party as a means of clandestinely gaining control over their own country.