Reading Too Much Into the Politics of V (Spoilers)
By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
A charismatic leader promising hope, change and universal healthcare ... a complicit press ... and hiding a terrible secret that you might have read about on the Internet ... a new Beck/Limbaugh biography of Barack Obama? No! It's V, the ABC remake of the classic early 1980s alien invasion mini-series. MSNBC just reported that the show's creators deny that they're taking a shot at Obama. But of course they are: The aliens bring healing technology that they'll share with all. "You mean universal healthcare!" the co-opted reporter responds, as if anyone had not yet made the political connection.
But the politics aren't all conservative. As the show's first episode reaches its dramatic climax, a character reveals that the aliens have been here for years, quietly infiltrating human society in order to set the stage for their takeover. Among their nefarious actions were "unnecessary wars"--apparently George W. Bush is a space alien. (Well maybe not Bush; maybe Rove or Cheney. Oh definitely Cheney.) And as Jonah Goldberg points out, one could argue that "much of the stuff about the dangers of 'devotion' and promises of miraculous cures amounted to an indirect shot at faith-healing evangelicals." (He's also right about this: "If I were 17 and the super-hot alien blonde wanted me to put on a German gay disco doorman's jacket, I would have done so.")
So is V thinly veiled GOP propaganda? Nah.
V like all half-decent sci-fi is allegorical entertainment and is taking shots at targets of opportunity. Most especially the show's creators must be delighted that the media has taken their bait--debate whether the show's about Obama ... thus generating buzz for the show (which looks entertaining enough, an hour in, by the way).
As I've argued before, conservatives especially tend to be a bit obsessed with the politics of film. And it's silly--and remains silly when liberals do it. Sometimes a TV show is just a TV show. The overarching message isn't political, it's economic: Watch our show; buy our advertisers' goods.
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Reader Comments
Fiscally irresponsible healthcare reform
As an immigrant who used to prepare amnesty and other immigration applications, I am saddened that the United States is lead by people with little courage or common sense:
According to a 10/26/9 Thomson Reuters report , waste in the U.S. healthcare system could total up to $850 billion a year. Census data also show that recent immigrants and their U.S.-born children under 18 account for over 70 percent of the growth of the uninsured population in the U.S. Instead of working on trimming waste and reducing immigration as first steps to achieve sensible healthcare reform, President Obama and many members in Congress count on borrowing more from other countries to finance our needs! Also, they have done little to curb teen pregnancies which total 750,000 a year!
Sensible healthcare reform is long overdue. But the House or Senate bill, if enacted, will be a fiscal disaster!
Obama getting paid training them or killing our troops?
Obama Health Reform policy? Obama military medical clinic prosidure and treatmen at walter reed eah?
that guy need help why the heck they still send him to Iraq? and by the way isn't that Obama already pull out of Iraq?
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