Is ABC’s ‘V’ About Obama?
Nov 4, 2009 by Vic HoltremanThe original V series that aired back in the 80s was basically about the threat of Communism and Soviet Russia, so I anticipated that ABC’s …
The original V series that aired back in the 80s was basically about the threat of Communism and Soviet Russia, so I anticipated that ABC’s remake would have some sort of political undertone as well. What suprised me in the pilot was the apparent target of the show’s political undertone: President Barack Obama.
The episode opens with the standard TV pilot mechanism of briefly showing us a a minute or so of each of the characters we’ll come to know over the course of the series. We have the handsome newscaster who is not taken seriously and wants to get ahead, the single mom FBI agent, a priest and a man with an obviously shadowy background trying to make a fresh start in life.
Soon enough huge spaceships appear over major cities in a scene reminiscent of Independence Day (the writers are quite aware of this, actually pointing it out on the show itself). The ships turn into mega big screen TVs in order to deliver a soothing message by series star Morena Baccarin, who plays alien visitor Anna. She says they are overjoyed to find life on another world – and that they never expected they would find any (then why build a massive video/PA system in to the exterior of your starship?).
They come promoting goodness, peace and light – they’re here to help us with their technology, including setting up healing centers where they can easily cure over 60 incurable diseases. The world is “hurting” according to one of the characters, so it seems the vast majority of the population accepts them on their word without much questioning at all. There are small protests breaking out everywhere, but those folks are looked at as rabble rousers who need to get with the program.
The aliens are all good looking and about hope and change (their words, not mine) and interestingly when reporters begin to ask hard questions upon Anna’s arrival, the newscaster mentioned above accuses them of being rude(!). Later Anna decides that she wants him to be their PR conduit and he is taken aback when prior to their first interview (which could skyrocket his career and fame) she instructs him that he is not to ask any questions that could show the Visitors in a bad light. He balks, but acquieses – and she rubs his nose in it by saying (when the cameras are rolling) that he should feel free to ask anything he likes, they are an open book.
During the interview the phrase “universal health care” is actually used in describing what they are offering and why they should be accepted.
There’s an underground group that knows what the Visitors are up to, but they are looked upon as nutjobs and terrorists even though they are in the right and know what the Visitors are really up to.
Interestingly there is a priest on the show who is skeptical of the Vistors’ intentions despite the Vatican quickly coming to the assessment that the Visitors are good – and he worries about happiness about the Visitors’ arrival turning into devotion and worship.
I’m sure that those who don’t like what the current administration is doing will see a clear connection and those who agree with what Obama is trying to accomplish will either laugh off any such connection as ridiculous or will read more nuanced meaning into the show to demonstrate it actually supports this administration.
What do YOU think?
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@Daniel
Of course taxes are high in Scandinavia, but you can’t have sound society with law taxes — that belief is the “opiate of the mass” that all right and right-centered politicians use throughout the world to convince the people to vote for them, and it almost always works. Unfortunately.
Strong fiscal policy is extremely important for keeping the good life standard. Not having rigid loan policy and strong central bank, plus having lowered the taxes — led to World financial crisis in the first place…
I only got the comparison as soon as the phrase ‘Universal Health Care” was used. I don’t think they (the writers) are mocking the President, since the original was the same premise. Of course, I could be wrong.
I fully support anti-Obama sci fi!!!
They Live is more relevant than ever as well, same with Brazil, Orwell and the Lives of Others
I’d wager those left leaning creators could not have dreamed their films would come alive in the form of a charasmatic Liberal trojan horse ridden proudly by most of the media and dumb coffee house pseudo-intellectual bloggers. (especially Gilliam with Brazil and the choking socialist bureacracy he alluded to) TOLERATE or ELSE!! GO GREEN OR ELSE!!! HEALTHCARE FOR POOR MINORITIES OR NO HEALTHCARE FOR ANYONE!!!! JOIN THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY OR ELSE (UNIONS)!!!!. THIS MEDIA IS OK BECAUSE THEY KISS MY ASS AND ARE MY PROPOGANDA ARM, THAT IS NOT!!! Fascism comes in all shapes and colors of the rainbow.
@Big Dentist, I think the obvious reason they have big PA systems on their ships is because they’re agenda is to enslave worlds.
One point I believe this show is focusing on is how naïve and gullible the masses are. (Read between the lines on that obama fans)
“We didn’t think there was any life here?”. Then how do they know our language and power structure?
To openly accept ANY aliens trust would be the biggest mistake in mankinds history. Trust is a man made construct. I doubt aliens would even have a word for trust…
Well, you know, the VULCANS are pretty cool.
Vic
@Economist:
You are a blind fool !!!
Have you considered that our government has allowed our heathcare system to deteriorate to this level so that they could one day step in and take over?
^
You say:
“Universal health care could help bring down some strong and influential pharmaceutical monopoly.”
^
You are living in a dreamworld if you actually believe that Economist.
Big Pharma is pushing for national heathcare. Hell obama owns stock in Baxter. They’re the ones making Billions on the poison swine flu vaccine… They also created it to begin with… (Swine flu is a bioweapon)
^
Why would anyone with an intellect welcome and give up their heathcare rights so a fascist corrupt group of elite scumbags can then decide what doctor you will see and what medication you will take, not to mention dictate to the middle class and poor what surgeries will be allowed… Oh and do what your told as there’s no option unless your rich… this is a huge conflict of interest! How can anyone not see this?
^
Sadly Economist, your as ill informed as the completely brainwashed masses that support this criminal legislation…
We don’t need Government run heathcare. We need to honestly clean up the corruption in the Big pharma/Fed regulated heath insurance industry.
We need accountability not more government.
Sadly we have neither right now as our government is complety corrupt to the core!!!
@Economist,
The global elite bankers, Rothchilds, Rockerfellers, etc, have manipulated this world financial crisis…
Turn off CNN and do the research…
The show has been in development since 2007, before Obama was elected.
Also, let’s run down why people are saying it’s about Obama real quick: Bad economy, useless wars, unhappy people, suddenly a person(/people) with the answer, promising change, recruiting the youth, being charismatic.
Does it sound like Obama? Sure. What does it also sound like? Oh yeah, 1933 Germany. The original was so much about Communism/Soviet Russia as it was a retelling of World War II type progressions. Even the Visitor’s symbol in the OG series was very reminiscent of a swastika.
I’m not comparing Obama to Hitler or anyone to anything. Just saying that people are reading a message in the language of the times. This episode, word for word, played in 1980 would be about Nazis. Today, because the world is so far removed from WWII, it’s about whats current.
No, V is not about Obama.
@Patty anne,,,
Again I ask, what has obama done that qualifies him as a good leader?
He’s gone against all his campaign promises,,, he’s positioned himself within the UN as chairmen. (Illegal btw). His first day in office he signed an executive order closing the book on where he was born. He’s not ending the illegal wars like he promised over and over. He still hasn’t resended the Patriot Act, he’s allowing the charges against bush’s illegal wiretapping to be thrown out of court. He’s gone against new technology by supporting the Carbon tax,,,
Should I continue ???
Tell me ONE good thing he’s done, tell me ONE campaign promise he’s kept.
Shouldnt be too hard if he’s such a great leader…
^
“To Demonize a Good Leader”, there’s the title of your new book Patty Anne, see you at your book signing.
U R without a doubt totally clueless to reality…
Interesting how ballsy and “tough” everyone gets when they can hide behind the internet. “e-thugs” are quite pathetic.
Ummm…the premise of the show, the aliens’ motives, their promises, etc. (right down to their lame excuse of coming to Earth for “water”) are all lifted directly from the original — which, if you want political overtones, served as a closer metaphor to the rise of Naziism than Communism, although there are similarities to both.
All to say, the new incarnation of “V” has no more to do with Obama than the original had to do with Reagan, who was president at the time.
People say that scifi fanboys need to get a life, but after reading much of what’s been said about “V” at various internet sites, it’s pretty clear that Beck/Limbaugh fanboys need to get a life. Your Obama obsession is showing.
It’s a story about alien lizard people, folks. And the basic elements were conceived and written 30 years ago, long before Obama was a glimmer in any politico’s eye.
@RobertFure says:
“The show has been in development since 2007, before Obama was elected.”
So when was the script written or even revised? 5 maybe 6 months ago? ^
The term, “Dawn of a New Day” was taken directly from obamas 2008 campaign speeches. Word for word,,,
Irony, coincidence no way,,,
Following most of the “logic” I’ve seen about “V”, it’s clear that the character of James T. Kirk in JJ Abrams’ “Star Trek” was a reference to George W. Bush — the drunken neer-do-well son of a war hero who gets a chance at redemption after a major attack by evildoers.
Heck, the character of Spock in that movie must be an Obama reference, since he’s an intellectual half-breed who rises to power but can’t handle it.
Obviously, the entire film was about how Republicans are better than Democrats. I’m really surprised that no one has picked up on that.
/sarcasm
790, yeah, I know that’s the visitors’ agenda – I was just saying that Vic’s line (and your own fine point about “how do they know our language and power structure?”) should have been the human race’s very FIRST question. The Vulcans would have caught them out in that little logical falsehood the second those self-effacing words left Anna’s lizardy lips!
@790
The term ‘dawn of a new day’ has been around for a good while before Obama used it in a speech.
@Joshua P. Allem – You’re way off the mark on the parallels of the original V. The original V was a corollary to the rise to power of Nazi Germany. Take a look at the symbol used on the banners of the Visitors, it’s a modified swastika. The vertical banners outside Visitor headquarters are displayed like the swastika banners in Germany. Additionally, the Visitors indoctrinated humans, making them part of their movement while using them to police and inform on their fellow humans.
And if we want to really geekify the entertainment parallels with the Obama government, it is more similar to the 4th season of the TV show “Angel”. During that season, we saw the rise to power of the Demon “Jasmine”. Everyone who gazes upon Jasmine instantly begins to worship her, except for certain individuals who see her for the demon she is. These people are hunted down as “mentally unstable” because they won’t accept the “universal peace” Jasmine offers as she is destroying the world.
Not saying Obama’s a demon. Just pointing out the blind worship of his supporters.
And Bush didn’t have blind supporters? People were being called whack jobs and unamerican among other things if they voiced their disapproval.
I just wanted to jump in and answer the question about why an alien race would turn the bottom of their spaceship if they didn’t ever expect to find other life. Of course the obvious answer is that they’re lying about that. (and yes I get that you were being sarcastic with that quip, but hear me out.) I’ll bet we get to see that giant Video/PA system is used as an urban pacification/crowd control/propaganda spreader, either on the visitor’s home planet or on other worlds. I’m hoping that with the advent of digital SPFX that this new series can open up the world they’ve created here and actually show us things that the original series couldn’t: other worlds, the visitor’s home planet, new aliens…etc.
And come on everybody… we’re all science fiction fans here. We all know that science fiction makes it easier to address topics that are either socially or politically relevant. Why wouldn’t the writers toss in some bits about the current political climate. It just makes for good storytelling and even better internet discussion.
Uhhh, nooooo, Bush was not seen as charismatic, nor was it seen as “not politically correct” to oppose him or make fun of him… Those things were pretty much what you’re expected to do… lol. It was the “hip” thing to do!
Their ships are flying tv sets.
How ironic, and symbolic,,,
Politics aside that was a very underwhelming debut episode.
@Mihovil
You’re delusional. Blind supporters? You’d love to think that we went through some kind of McCarty-esque period during Bush’s presidency where everyone jumped on the pro-war bandwagon and special committes hunted down un-American activity, but we didn’t. Everywhere you turned during the Bush administration, the Hollywood whackjob left was after him. Or don’t you remember “Death of a President”? Show me someone in Hollywood today that would dare make a film depicting the assassination of Obama. It’ll never happen.
@Dar, if anyone tried they would be considered a racist extremist, harassed and or possibly arrested…
More fringe groups can now be targeted as threats because they’re playing the race card defense as an excuse to take away civil rights.
How ironic, obama is the perfect infiltrator. $$$
I’d like to correct a false statement from Daniel here.
“In Canada you can literally die from the wait that is sometimes required when attempting to get an operation done.”
WRONG. Speaking as a Canadian and having lived here my entire life, I have NEVER seen or even heard of anyone dying from waiting to get an emergency operation. Furthermore, if you are unhappy with public hospitals, you can always go to a private one. Yes, the OPTION is there even though most of us would rather choose the public system (it’s free).
Guys, guys! Can’t we all just be friends? And go back to doing what we love. Complaining about movies and tv shows.
@Anakin, do you guys up there have to pay a fine of over $1000 if you don’t subscribe to the National Heath Care plan?
Yeah I didn’t think so, your not in the US so don’t pretend to understand what’s happening here.
You and Economist are out of your league,,,
Don’t comment on the US heath care initiative until you’ve read the draconian implications…
You are truly blind to the dark side,,,
@790: We have to pay a fine if we don’t want free health care in Canada? Really? Well, that’s news to me. lol
I don’t believe this to be true as I’ve never heard of any Canadian ever refusing free health care here. But then again, why would you POSSIBLY refuse FREE health care.
For the record, I’ve NEVER payed such fine nor does it exist. But hey, what do I know, I’ve only lived here my whole life.
@Anakin, you’ve totally read me wrong…
AMERICANS will HAVE TO PAY a FINE (penalty) if they choose to opt out of the National Heath Care plan…
My comment was aimed at how would you feel having to pay a fine if you didn’t want government heath care.
If you totally embrace your government and don’t believe there’s a prob, don’t respond to this ,,, thanks for your time eh…