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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@ Economist
You:
About taxes: See any Scandinavian country for example. There is no poverty, no racism, everybody has health care, taxes are highest in the world (that, of course, didn’t happen over night — people became richer and had to pay higher taxes, thus building the society with highest standards and best life conditions in the world). The only turndown in North of Europe is cold climate.
Me:
But dont you see? All the wonderful things you mentioned came at a VERY high price! You seem to be in the thinking that the more a person makes the more they should be taxed, which is inherently communist, which is perhaps why the high tax rate that helps pay for all these things (no free lunch) doesnt bother you much.
I dont know about you (well yeah i do actually) but id like to keep as much of the money that i earn in blood sweat and tears in my pocket, and OUT of the hands of politicians. I would like to decide whether i want healthcare or not, i DONT want it forced on me by the govt.
Furthermore all is not perfect in Scandinavia…certain parts have a high unemployment rate. While you may see Scandinavia as a socialist utopia the fact that all these “benefits” you speak of are being paid for on the backs of the populace probably means that the people there dont smile as much when they get their paychecks.
You:
And lets have a look now at USA: low taxes (Bush) led to biggest deficit in modern human history. I don’t know if you are aware but USA have the biggest debt in the world right now, I think it was more then one billion billion dollars in 2008., but I must check on that.
Right now that debt is significantly lower — and why is that? Because of the financial crisis, which started from USA but spread through the world, bringing every economy down, thus stronging American weakened economy.
ME:
youre forgetting that tax cuts become negligible when government is expanded (the formation of the homeland sec dept which required its own budget to operate on) and also on the fact that Bush spent massively on the Iraqi war effort.
The reason we’re in this deficit is because of RECKLESS spending NOT because of tax cuts. Spending beyond your means and borrowing money from other countries in order to keep the dollar from bouncing once the “final notice” bill comes in to the White House.
You’re also forgetting that under Obama our deficit further skyrocketed when he signed into law the stimulus bill, which committed over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS towards creating more jobs. Who do you think is going to pay the bill? Not the rich…they already pay almost 100% of the tax base…not the poor, they dont have barely anything. its the middle class..THE VERY PEOPLE THE STIMULUS WAS SUPPOSED TO HELP…that are going to pay for this bill as a majority…and not just them, but their kids as well because the debt is so massive further generations are going to be required to pay for the S bill. The stimulus was touted by the White House as having created a quarter of a million jobs and yet unemployment is approaching 10%…higher than before the S bill was proposed. Obama has spent more in one stroke of a pen than Bush did on all of Iraq combined.
Our debt is higher than its ever been. I have serious doubts you know much about our economy..what socliast Country are you from?
@Economist:
You:
And one more thing. Karl Marx is a must read author in all countries of the world (yes, even USA) when studying or working about economic. He is not the founder of communism as he is not the founder of capitalism, but you could say that he heavily influenced both.”
Me:
Karl Marx should NEVER be a must read in any school anywhere in the world, ESPECIALLY in the US, unless he’s used as a representative of ineffectual impractical economic policies. He didnt discover communism but he became the posterboy for it. Find me one society that has PROSPERED from communism where all its citizens have the kinds of freedoms that we are guaranteed. Ill be waiting.
@Ken J
“That’s funny, I know a lot of people from Canada, and they all say the wait in public hospital ER’s can be as long as 48 hours…”
First, the argument here was not HOW long the waiting is but whether or not people are dying or passing out from waiting in line. That’s never happened in Canada my friend. Or if, by the off chance it did at one point in time, it was (and still is) extremely RARE that such an occurrence would ever happen.
I think the same could be said of Canadians complaining about having a universal health care. They are rare. (unless they’re from Alberta. lol let’s face it, these guys have always been more American than Canadian) I think us Canadians complain more about how we need to improve our health care system (as we should) and not so much on whether or not we should keep it.
Second, YES the waits in Canada are long if you’re waiting to be treated. 48 hours, however, that’s extremely rare. For example; the most anyone in my family or my friends have waited is 24 hours. Usually it’s 3 or 4 hours so 24 is pretty unusual and anything above 24 is rare. But the point is that you eventually DO get treated. And when you do it’s FREE. I mean how can you beat FREE?
Also, remember that if it’s an emergency you do NOT wait in line, they take you in immediately. The waits are for all non-emergencies.
http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/81/l_ee55d9513e564de6a3f85a02f8e439e7.jpg
lmao
I just watched the first episode of V. Thought it was pretty good, a good start to the series in my opinion.
Too bad I can’t say the same for the latest episode of Stargate Universe, just as crappy as the rest. And seriously, can they go one episode without showing Lt. Scott making out or humping someone, please???
**Slight spoiler**
Anyway, it’s too bad about that guy they killed off in the first episode. Won’t say who though, lol. I know I had the spoiler warning, but sometimes you accidentally read part of it so don’t want to mention who it is, but if you saw it too you’ll know.
**end spoiler**
Interesting analysis. Shame I can’t say the same about most of the comments being posted, but then again it is the internet.
It seems to me though that while there are definite parallels between Obama and the V’s from the show, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an inditement of the current administration. One of the reasons for Obama’s popularity is that he seemed to be speaking to the needs of a lot of people. This is a good strategy whenever you’re trying to convince someone to follow you, regardless of your motivations.
However it should be noted that, much like the V’s resemblance to humans, the similarities are only skin deep.* The V’s make some of the same promises, and use some of the same language, but to be fair why wouldn’t they? You don’t tend to get many people to invite you onto their planet if you show up and immediately announce your nefarious intentions. When the V’s offer universal health care, I can only assume the goal is to breed both trust and dependency. It also provides an excellent platform for any number of typical alien experimentation tropes, but that’s neither here nor there. The Obama administration’s goal is to raise the standard of living and care in the US to match those of other industrialized countries. Now the methods and the methods are the same, but the results are obviously drastically different. The former results in the enslavement of mankind (and possibly the depletion of our oceans) while the latter results in fewer cases of the flu. And none of this changes the fact that universal health care is only being offered by the V’s because it is a good thing that we as a species are in desperate need of. In fact, one could almost see the V’s use of the same language as Obama as a form of approval: they use it because it’s the kind of behavior everyone expects from the good guys. To summarize: it may quack like a duck, but it looks and smells like a lizard.
Furthermore, the comparison falls apart on another level. The V’s are aliens – outsiders in every sense of the word. They live on their ships, they have a planet of their own. And at any time they choose, they can leave Earth behind and return to it. Obama, on the other hand, is not an outsider. They are representative of a threat from without. If one were trying to criticize him, the logical parallel would be a threat from within. Now if the V’s didn’t make their presence so known, but rather worked through a human politician who did all the manipulation for them in exchange for being the one to provide all these miraculous new innovations to his people, then there might be something to it. But because the V’s are outsiders, and vastly technologically superior ones at that, we end up coming straight back to the same problem of motivation. Obama has a clear and easily understandable motivation for trying to improve the standards of living in America. He lives here, and for the moment he’s one of the people running it. The V’s, on the other hand, do not have an easily understandable motive for their actions, making their altruism suspect and more than a little sinister.
The final issue I have with the link between V and Obama is the infamous interview scene. No doubt there will be those who wish to argue this point with me, but Obama has never wielded enough control over the media to be able to demand that nothing that might portray him negatively be aired. Nor has he made a habit out of backing out of interviews that don’t let him control what is presented. There is only one politician who has tried this in recent history, and to be frank, she wasn’t running on the democratic ticket.
Regardless of the specific threat (Soviet or Nazi) that the original V may have drawn inspiration from, the overall message at its core is that allowing yourself and your opinions to be too heavily swayed by those with more power than you is a dangerous slope to be sliding down. The heroes of V, both new and old, were those who approached the visitors with their eyes and minds open, who made their own evaluations of the situation and came to their own conclusions. I always thought it was quite fitting that in the original miniseries it was the scientific community, those trained to approach everything with critical thinking and skepticism, who the V’s targeted as the greatest threat to their propaganda.
So yes, we should always be just a little skeptical of everything we are told. Those who mean us harm rarely say so. But just because one wolf can wrap itself in sheep’s clothing, that doesn’t mean that all sheep are wolves.
*Sorry for the pun, I couldn’t resist.
“to raise the standard of living and care in the US to match those of other industrialized countries”
Um, what? Are you saying the US doesn’t have a high standard of living? You’re joking, right?
As to the interviewer scene, there’s no need for him to do that because the media is bending over backwards to make him look good and completely avoiding any coverage of anything at all that may put this administration in a bad light. Oh, wait, he IS doing something like what was shown by acting as if Fox News is not actually a news outlet.
Vic
And BTW, no one is “entitled” to a service provided by another person. People are entitled to freedom, to not be oppressed and to be able to earn a living. But there is nothing in the constitution about the “right” to health care, which is something provided by another person.
Vic
That interview scene showed something else. When he at first refused to cooperate, she threatened to cancel the interview and leave. When Fox News doesn’t cooperate and only say good things about Obama, he threatened to exclude them from interviews and press conferences of members of his cabinet… Luckily for the 1st Amendment, all of the other major news outlets, despite being political opposites of Fox News recognized the dangerous precedent that kind of censorship sets and refused to participate unless Fox News is included, so Obama folded and included Fox. So even the news outlets that support him recognized what he was doing is wrong. Despite their political differences with Fox, they recognized that above their politics, they are all fellow journalists and freedom of the press is more important to them than any political party. That fact gave me some hope for the future of journalism, that at least they’re not THAT blinded…
Funny thing is, the writer of the show didn’t intend any of these parallels, he simply wrote how he thinks bad guys disguised as good guys would behave in order to win the hearts and minds of the people. The disturbing part is the fact that it so happens to mirror almost exactly everything the Obama administration is doing. Shouldn’t that be a wake-up call to the writer who is an Obama supporter??
Just my opinion, as is everything said here, but have to say it before the flame wars come…
@Joseph says:
“The Obama administration’s goal is to raise the standard of living and care in the US to match those of other industrialized countries.”
Give me ONE example of how obama is lifting up the standard of living, I’m only asking for ONE example,,,
I’ll be here all day, I expect your going to say Heath care,,,
Waiting,,,,^
The purpose of my post was to express an alternative analysis of the work, nothing more. I tried to keep it as politically neutral as I could, though I’ll admit that with a topic such as this there is no such thing. I will point out, however, that though you put “entitled” in quotes, the word does not appear anywhere in my post, nor do I express any definite opinion on the current health care debate beyond noting that being able to provide health care to everyone in the world with no additional cost would be a good thing and making one joke about the flu.
Ken this entire FOX News conflict with the obama admin is a trick to make you believe that FOX news has your/the countries best interests at heart. If all the media outlets praised obama it would look real obvious. You take FOX make them look like the white knight standing up for freedom of the press and next thing you have the illusion of integrity.
^
Ken J, says: “they are all fellow journalists and freedom of the press is more important to them than any political party. That fact gave me some hope for the future of journalism,”
It may give you hope but your hope is based on falsehoods.
Fellow journalists and Freedom don’t even belong in the same sentence as journalists for the last 30 years have done nothing but repeat what the government tells them is fact…
ALL information is controlled.
You are blinded Ken by the media and its tricks… Btw, if I worked in Tv especially for Disney I would publicly support obama as well.
@Joseph
BTW, that was a very thoughtful comment. I just happen to disagree with a lot of it.
Vic
so who all voted for Obama?
“Obama has never wielded enough control over the media to be able to demand that nothing that might portray him negatively be aired. Nor has he made a habit out of backing out of interviews that don’t let him control what is presented.”
Somebody hasn’t been keeping up with the current events…
There are other things about your argument that I disagree with, but I just had to single that out since it so happens to be a topic that I just touched on. But no offense intended, we all are entitled to our own opinions.
@Joseph:
You: “The Obama administration’s goal is to raise the standard of living and care in the US to match those of other industrialized countries”
Me: Im not sure if youre aware of this, but our standard of living and healthcare is actually as good as if not better than a lot of nations on this Earth. I therefore disagree with this statement.
You: “Obama, on the other hand, is not an outsider”
Me: Yes he is, he’s an ideological outsider. Obama has socialist/communist views that most Americans do not subscribe to. This therefore makes him an ideological outsider and is a direct reason why he surrounds himself with such radicals like Van Jones and Anita “I like Mao” Dunn.
You: “Obama has never wielded enough control over the media to be able to demand that nothing that might portray him negatively be aired. Nor has he made a habit out of backing out of interviews that don’t let him control what is presented”
Me: Obama greatly influences the fringe media, like Abc Cbs and especially msnbc. This has never been more apparent as when ABC gave him the keys to take over their programming one night in order to pitch healthcare reform to the American people. Also, he and his people have backed out of interviews with Fox, theyve even gone as far as to snub Fox and tried to get fox disinvited to a white house gathering, which the other networks protested against (in a rare moment of objectivity)
@Joseph:
You: “Obama, on the other hand, is not an outsider”
Me: Yes he is, he’s an ideological outsider. Obama has socialist/communist views that most Americans do not subscribe to. This therefore makes him an ideological outsider and is a direct reason why he surrounds himself with such radicals like Van Jones and Anita “I like Mao” Dunn.
I had two other points to dispute but theyve already been brought up by two other insightful fellows.
790: Tell us oh wise one, which news is raw and unfiltered?
“The original V series that aired back in the 80s was basically about the threat of Communism and Soviet Russia”
I never even thought of that. Personally, I think that people may be reading more into it than it is (both the original and the new one)….I think it is actually just about aliens.
There’s lots of good info out there right now. Sites like Abovetopsecret and prison planet are reporting unfiltered non federal controlled news and opinions…
You can also read news sites from other parts of the world and get a totally unique outlook on the world…
Or you can buy up the recent bs like the swine flu vaccine is running out and 1 muslim soldier kills 15 and injures 35 in less then 2min with a handgun. Just as support for the war is failing. Hey not anymore. Some reporters now are saying all muslims in the service are suspect.
Believe what you want,,,
@chrisj
The last elections was a joke. The Republican party threw the elections and it’s so obvious, but I believe they made a very smart move. There were much stronger candidates than John McCain on the Republican ticket, but they all dropped out of the race to basically hand the Republican nomination to McCain.
And here’s the issue. During Bush’s two terms, obviously both times the president was Republican. At one point Congress was controlled by Republicans as well. When this was the case, the media blamed all of the country’s woes on Congress and the President. Then Congress became controlled by the Democrats. During this time the media blamed all of the country’s woes on the President alone.
The GOP probably felt, like I did, that our economic problems might continue for a bit, or it might get better with a true fiscal Conservative in office (which Bush definitely wasn’t), but no matter what, even if it got better the media will try to twist it so that it wouldn’t be apparent, or if it stayed just as bad or got worse, the media will have a field day with a new Republican to put all the blame on. So all that would do is the media will once again have a Republican to put all the blame on. This will make an already negative view of the party get much worse.
This way, Congress is controlled by the Democrats, the president is Democrat, the media will be hard pressed to find a way to try to blame our current woes on a Republican, but that’s not to say they haven’t tried, lol. But it’s what the public believes that counts and right now when you still hear some commentators on MSNBC or the LA Times or whatever trying to somehow blame what we’re going through now on any random Republican they can think of, most people chuckle a little at that kind of desperation.
This is to try to get enough negativity toward the Democrats to set up a victory in 2012 for the GOP. I’m sure they are hoping to secure a majority in Congress as well as the presidency, but I personally don’t mind it too much if they were opposite so that there is some sort of checks and balances. Because when both the presidency and the Congress are of the same party, it becomes a circle jerk and nobody really checks to make sure that the bills that are bing written and passed are actually the best for the people and not just the best for the party…
But alas, I’m a registered Republican, so obviously I wouldn’t mind it if they get their wish and secure both the presidency and Congress when the time comes.
But this is just my opinion as to what happened in this last election, but it seems to make sense, at least in my crazy twisted head, haha.
Mike Huckabee 2012 with Mitt Romney as VP!!
@ Ken J
I agree. 2008 election was. Lol i couldnt believe people were naive to give Obama noble peace prize when he hasnt been president for a year yet. Things havnt changed for the better ethier. More like changing for the worse. Mike Huckabee was my first choice as president this past election. Im more a Indepandant- Republican leaning voter. Id vote for a Republican or Democrat depending who was running. And of-course ive been called racist because i dont agree with Obama’s policies. That’s politics though. I never even been at a protest before,lol.
@Daniel ***FOR DANIEL’S EYES ONLY***
I would suggest the ignore method. Typically if you antagonize or try to “disprove” the things CT’s (you know what that stands for right? lol) try to tell you, in their mind that only enforces the conspiracy, they see people trying to disprove it as proof that it exists, so you’re only going to perpetuate it. I’ve gone the ignore route, much less headache. It’s pretty much like trying to disprove god to a religious person. Don’t even bother, they have the right to their own beliefs, so I don’t really care that much, might as well, let them believe what they believe, it’s all good…
Lol,,, ken
^
“This is to try to get enough negativity toward the Democrats to set up a victory in 2012 for the GOP.”
^
Obama should be proof enough that voting rep or dem only ensures you will get the same global elitest agenda that’s behind our controlled government,,,
Rock the vote!
@chrisj
Yah, I’m a registered Republican because in my state, if you’re registered as independent you can’t vote in any of the primaries. You can only vote in the primaries of the party you’re registered as. But as far as my political beliefs, I actually go back and forth between the parties, but all of the important issues I lean toward the Republican side. So I almost always support them.
I just saw the pilot online (after it was embargoed until Saturday–a cunning ABC move) and immediately came to the same conclusion Vic did with his original post. Curious, I Googled to see if I could find a draft of the script, because the anti-Obama tone was so striking to me. I found a pdf copy of the “4th Revised Network Draft” of the pilot, dated January 23, 2009, at http://www.sendspace.com/file/04imt3 and went through to see if the elements that seemed so up to the minute anti-Obama were there. Some were: Father Jack’s sermon about not getting on the bandwagon, for instance. But some key items were missing, making me suspect later drafts took their cue from the political fight against Obama following the inauguration. For example, there is no mention of the Black man holding a sign saying “HOPE FOR MANKIND” among the V devotees in the January draft, and “universal health care” isn’t in that draft either. Whether you applaud the producers’ politics or not, it’s pretty clear they were deliberate in revising the script to draw more of a parallel between reptilian aliens bent on murdering us all and Obama. While movies cited here, like “They Live,” were clearly political diatribes, I have a hard time thinking of a network TV entertainment show that has taken as hard a line as this one.
@790
Me: Who’s to say that the news from other Countries is unfiltered? They can have the potential for spin just like our media does. I enjoy watching FOX because they report on news the other networks avoid like the plague, like the ACORN scandal, for instance.
You: Or you can buy up the recent bs like the swine flu vaccine is running out and 1 muslim soldier kills 15 and injures 35 in less then 2min with a handgun.
Me: I agree that the swine flu running out is “convenient” but what proof do you have that the Muslim story is bogus and fabricated to generate support for the war? Obama wouldnt need to do that…the press isnt calling him a warmonger like they constantly did with Bush.
I believe in the I media myself, im just saying that you shouldnt blow off FOX as another extension of the mass media misinformation machination machine because they have reported on things which the other guys dont or dont want to.
@Ken J
Thanks for the advice. Just some info about me: I like to engage people in debates to gauge their political/ideological loyalties. Some people arent worth it though. Theyre too indoctrinated to give me a true debate. I have gone after Bush and his reckless spending just as i have gone after Obama. I am a conservative Christian Constitutionalist who’s loyalty is to God, and the conservative ideals which can be found in the Constitution which this great nation was founded on. The republican party is more as a means to an end; they piss me off sometimes, especially when they supported Dede scoffaza, the liberal republican who was more of a lib than the democratic candidate.
@Daniel
Don’t need to look that far, what about George H.W. Bush? He’s a liberal in disguise… You or I might not consider George W Bush a true conservative fiscally speaking, but he’s a right-wing nutjob compared to his father, lol.