Does ABC’s politically charged reboot of the eighties sci-fi series V have something against President Barack Obama? A number of critics and bloggers have noted what seems to be a critique of the new president’s messianic perception in the show’s pilot episode, which premiered on Tuesday to blockbuster ratings. In case you missed it–or in case the political reading completely escaped you–here’s the basic idea: In V, there’s a charismatic, telegenic extraterrestrial leader Anna (Morena Baccarin) who comes to Earth promising peace and offering universal health care. Anna and her attending alien armada may truly have Earth’s best interest at heart–or they may be leveraging their buzz, celebrity, sex appeal and idealism to lure the planet down a road to ruin.
In my recap of the pilot, I argued that V wasn’t really politically partisan, but rather a mirror to the wide range of reactions–positive and negative; hopeful and skeptical; gullible and cynical–that Obama has inspired. But apparently, the folks at unabashedly conservative Fox News see V as being more pointed and personal in its polemics. According to a new study by Media Matters In America–described as “a progressive research and information center dedicated to monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the media” (read: a non-profit liberal-leaning watchdog group)–Fox News personalities Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck have all “endorsed” V as “a critique of ‘Obama-mania.’” The report quotes Hannity as saying: “You know, I think this is one show that I can actually get behind.”
Now, I can see V being a commentary on “Obama-mania,” but I’m not convinced the show is commenting on President Obama himself. It’ll be interesting to see if V continues to be a favorite of the Fox News set if it’s revealed that Anna has genuinely good intentions but is being thwarted and subverted by her own alien people–like, say, a political faction that’s transparently right-wing. At the same time, I have to wonder about this “Media Matters In America” outfit trying to make some noise with their study: it seems to me they’re exploiting both Fox News and the current hype around V to promote themselves. Perhaps they’re trying to court donations from Geeks For Obama?
Regardless, what do you think of V’s political metaphor? Do you think the show is pro-Obama or anti-Obama–or neither? And what would happen to your interest in the show if it revealed itself to be clearly Right or clearly Left in its political worldview? Would that annoy you? Intrigue you? Inspire you to watch something else?
Photo Credit: V: Michael Courtney/ABC; Obama: Janet Mayer/PR Photos
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I guess the FOX guys don’t realize the show is filmed in Vancouver. Go Canada.
Media Matters is more Bias than O’Reilly .. sort of the web equivalent of Glenn Beck for the left.. always seeing conspiracy on TV when the show has a different POV…
I think V does ask the question.. when someone promises you everything.. what’s in it for them? The democrats will tax my kids for thier goals.. the Vs will eat them either way if you believe in a free lunch or Dr. Appt you are gullible.
“Biased” (not “Bias”)
media matters just posts clips from right wing wackos like yourself, there is very little opinion on the site.
uncle joe maccarthy, why are you calling someone names just for stating their view?
So was Battlestar Galactica. And during it’s good years BSG was about the US post 911. A good number of, essentially, Hollywood shows are filmed in Vancouver.
Media Matters isn’t a “news” organization and they don’t try and pretend to be what they aren’t. What they “are” is a watchdog group that reports on right wing bias in the news. At least they come out and say it. I will say I’m a little disappointed in Doc’s assertion that Media Matters is trying to exploit anything. They have been doing the same thing for a while now regardless of whether it’s Glenn Beck, Rush or Fox. To insinuate that they are just popping up now only means you haven’t been paying attention.
blanco112:
Exactly! Media Matters is just setting the record straight. They just point out the facts when someone tries to weasel the words to suit their side of the argument. You know, they care about that silly little thing called “the truth”.
And boy do they ever have their work cut out for them! My in-box is jammed on a daily basis.
Media Matters fails because they take clips out of context and present it in a much more deviant light than it really was. Anyone can take clips out of context and make someone look or seem horrible, stupid, etc, etc…
FOX and the rest of the right wing cult have been waiting for the mother ship for a long time. This is as close as it gets.
Bruce how ignorant can you be…how’s the hope and change working for you? Or do you have a government job? National Socialist.
Give me a freakin’ break…no more so than the original was Anti-Reagan or Daddy Bush.
that’s exactly it. the aliens were promising pretty much the same thing in the original when obama wasn’t around. does anyone pick up on that?
If you read the media matters stuff, it certainly seems like all three of those guys are just kind of kidding around. MMiA needs there sarcasm meters checked.
If you wanted you could draw parallels between just about anything. it just so happens that this coincides with some things that are going on in the world now. Maybe some of it is intentional. but claims of these horrible ‘pow right in the kisser’ shots are pure BS.
people need to lighten up.
People pick up on that, but then ignore it because it doesn’t fit their viewpoint.
The original was anti-fascism. Not anti-Regan. When did the Reagan admin try to manipulate the press?
since day 1
bruce, were they successful? And were they as successful as Obama’s been?
Were they successful?? Hahahahahaha..choke! Iran-contra slid right off of Reagan’s back and he is actually credited with ending the Cold War. I call that masssively successful. What the question should have been is are they as successful as George W. Bush was? Manipulating the press into supporting the war in Iraq was the ultimate win.
I’m not so concerned about whether the show is or is not anti-Obama, but I think it’s sort of hilarious that you think this “Media Matters outfit” is using this for self-promotion. Media Matters has been around a good long time, and THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY DO. They watch media and draw attention to conservative bias. Period. The fact that you haven’t heard about it reveals your ignorance (not meant in a snarky way, just being direct). At first I was alarmed that you — being a member of the media — would be unaware of this media watchdog group, but I suppose it just speaks to the fact that entertainment media and political media are different (albeit overlapping) spheres.
Perhaps I’ve read your blog post too deeply. I realize you don’t say that you’ve never heard of Media Matters, but I do think your language suggests they are some new, unknown entity. And I apparently I felt compelled to respond to that suggestion.
I can see how you read it that way- I think that he was simply trying to clarify what the group is about for those who hadn’t. That was my take on it, at least.
Media Matters itself is definitely left-wing — founded by David Brock, formerly a conservative figure, now emphatically a liberal — and bankrolled by Democrats. Not saying any of that is negative; it depends on one’s OWN bias, of course. A group that researches liberal bias, by contrast, is the Media Research Council, headed by Brent Bozell.
Why would the aliens not act this way? It’s far easier to get on someone’s side by being nice than to be outright evil. Clearly they are just being smart. I don’t think it has anything to do with the president and any similarity is just an easy coincidence.
This
Although the scene where Scott Wolf’s character is interviewing Anna, and she says she essentially wants health care for all, and it cuts to him looking incredulous and saying, “YOU MEAN YOU WANT *!**~*~&&!UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE?!??!~**~(&@)!” I think that was a definite jab at the current administration.
I think they were trying to make a joke there. Riffing on the “Universal” in Universal health care.
I really REALLY don’t think the show is anti-Obama or is trying to send any political message at all. I think the reason they’re talking about how the Vs are gonna bring us “universal healthcare” is because that is exactly what we need right now-and the show’s about the Vs arriving when we need them most. The healthcare thing is just something on the show that helps explain why people are supporting the Vs and why they are going to become “devoted” to them.
definitely. Universal Healthcare IS something that would be pretty good right about now. There aren’t a lot of things that are better for gaining someone’s trust than curing formerly incurable diseases. Plus, as a lot of people have pointed out, they did that in the 80’s version too, way before Obama, or even Hilary. It’s a coincidence.
Another coincidence is that the statistics for the current unemployment rate in this country came out this week: Highest unemployment since 1983. The same year the original series aired… I don’t know if I think it is political, intentional, or pure entertainment, but there definitely are some strange coincidences here.
Harry, universal healthcare is a way for the government to take control of things that the government was never created to take control of in the first place. I think this is why the aliens use this in V… it’s something that sounds good on the outside, but something that can be used as a means of controlling people and taking more of their money via taxes, etc.
I think what’s far more interesting is that the alien asks the press basically not to make them look bad, which is what Obama has been accused of doing, which is a way to take away freedoms of the press while also controlling public perception so that the public remains favorable to you (if they are impressionable).
Oh….my…..dog. The American people need a hobby. Once there is time for these types of debates, we must be near the bottom of this barrel we have created. When the need to be partisan instead of simply American reaches the low of looking for clues in a sci-fi television remake from the 80’s, you have to ask yourself why?! Please ask yourself and then go out and put something positive into the world. Peace.
Well said Sean. You took the words right out of my mouth – I’m Canadian though.
She is a lot cuter than him.
Isn’t the premise of this “V” reboot the exact same as the original mini-series? I don’t know because I’m not watching the show, and that makes me ask about it’s popularity because we know the big twist already, don’t we?
I agree with ObiHave. The makers of the original would have to see into the future because the aliens also claimed to cure diseases in that one.
I just hope there is more action than drama and a different spin is put on it than the original.
I really don’t think this show is anti-Obama at all. I watched the original as a kid, and I saw a bunch of similarities. The Vs were about health care and change and used youth way back then.
That said, as I was watching this, I said to myself that people were going to think this is bashing Obama. I said this to my roommate and my dad, and both of them disagreed with me. I feel vindicated, but I still think it’s stupid.
I agree. This is just a case of people projecting their fears and hatred and using any and all opportunities to spread their political propaganda and further influence the sheeple who buy into their philosophy.
The original “V” was an allegory of fascistic totalitarianism, specifically Hitler’s Germany. This has been documented over and over. It seems that Hitler came into power promising “hope” and “change” from the dismal period of German history between WW1 and WW2, promoting reliance on the government to provide all essential services like healthcare. Hitler used the youth of Germany to act as quasi-spies on their own families. Hitler used the arts community to promote his agenda.
Now, I’m not saying that Obama is Hitler-esque, but the similarities of rhetoric between the Hitler-led National Socialist Party of Germany in the 1930s and 40s and today’s Obama-led Democrats are only highlighted, likely unwittingly, by “V” in both the original version and todays.
Now, I’m not saying that Obama is Hitler-esque, but the similarities between the National Socialist Party of Germany in the 30s and 40s and today’s Obama-led Democrats are only highlighted, likely unwittingly, by “V” in both the original version and todays.
Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. It’s a sci-fi show. About lizards. And if there’s any political analogy at all, I believe it’s to facism, complete with Alien Jugend.
Why not take it further and say the show is ANTI BLACK!
There was only black person in the entire episode lol
Anna is HOT!! ‘Nuff said!
Smokin’ Hot!!!
Let’s see…beings come out from nowhere–the world hails them as messiah–they promise no harm, peace, hope and health care..no…dont see how anyone could compare that to Obama…???? wait for it, wait for it… Oh… evil deceiving people to accomplish their own agenda…control over individuals..hum..
what? i don’t get it
Kevin, it was ok when Bush was stepping all over the Bill of Rights? Absolutely, no government control there.
Uh…yeah, Diane. *Clearly* your puppet strings are already being pulled by Uncle Barack, whose meanie pinkos have already installed the Big Brother TV in every room in your home, are forcing you and your family to wear red and chant praises to the laborers at regular intervals during the day, and now your wages are the exact same as your neighbor’s. Yup, Obama’s DEFINITELY controlling you. DIRECTLY. ::sarcasm:: Get a grip on reality, lady.
are you calling Obama evil?! seriously?! I hated Bush probably as much as you hate Obama, and thought he was a terrible president, but he wasn’t by any means evil. And what’s evil and selfish about trying to end a pointless war and get everyone health-care so they can live better lives? Even if you don’t agree with it, it’s more stupid than evil.
Harry, what’s evil is when someone pretends that they want health-care for everyone so that they can live “better lives”, when what they really want is just to have more control over your daily lives and to make the government so powerful that it can begin to control everything that you do, and the freedom you used to have is stripped away. That’s where I think the “evil” comes from is trying to decieve people from what your real intentions are…
Faux News – We Distort You Comply
It’s no surprise that those people would make this into something it is not.
It’s just a TV show.
It’s funny how only the anti-Obama people use words like “messiah.” The rest of the country just wants to get back on track.
It turns out they were the ones expecting a “messiah” because they critisize him like he is supposed to magically fix the economy in less than a year.
If he hadn’t promised it maybe we wouldn’t expect it. In fact he seems to have a problem with saying one thing and doing another. He has been so quick to embrace the failed policies of the Bush Administration, continued wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, wire tapping, attempts to suppress free speech in the media, why should he not embrace bold face lying too?
@ Desmo
When did obama promise to fix everything in less than a year? I specifically remember him saying it will take longer. So I don’t know what you want from him. Equal pay for women and federal funding for stem cell research were not bush policies. Did you expect us to pull out from the wars without wrapping everything up. He never promised to abort the operation, but to complete it. If fox news did their job in speaking against the president last 8 year may be we wouldn’t be in this mess. Instead they were Bush’s Defenders. And Obama never suppressed the free speech of the media, his administration called them out in their obvious bias. he is not preventing from saying what they want, but he does not need to speak to an illegitimate news network.
I thought V was pretty good, though it didn’t blow my mind. I didn’t make the connection with Obama at the time. Looking back, I do see a correlation between some people blind optimism during the campaign and the Vs sinister plot to win over the masses. Don’t get me wrong. I support Obama. But there was a brainwashy creepiness to his election propaganda. It did make me uneasy at times. I think people often want to believe that a savior will fall down from the sky and solve all their problems. It’s human nature, and inevitably leads to disappointment. V’s premise may very well reflect a collective sense of betrayal, intentionally, or not. But if the Vs are the democrats, I shudder to think what the republicans are, feeding on greed and paranoia. They’d be slimy like the aliens in “Alien,” merciless like the predators (who enjoy hunting too,) and more avaricious than Jabba the Hut.
I agree with your comment that there was a blind optimism during the election, and it made me a little uncertain. I wasn’t sure if Obama was really going to do what he said, or if people just believed he would. I’m an independent, so voting is always a difficult task for me and I pay attention to a lot of election coverage. And the blind faith unnerved me at times.
To be fair, they trashed Bush on the show and even insinuated that he was a lizard!
This show has barely aired one episode and it has already been through 3 showrunners! I’m thinking ABC may not have been happy with the show’s politics (besides the pilot being extremely lame).
Is’nt this the premise of most alien invasion stories. Win the humans over and then attack.
Fox news = Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaching.
so fox “news” is covering television now? And, making it into news? WOW!
It’s amazing that’s considered journalism. The dumbing down of America.
Seriously. And they gave CNN a (deserved) hard time for fact checking an SNL sketch.
Do you even realize that “Fox News personalities Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck” are commentators and not journalists? You lump them in with the actual journalists on Fox that deliver actual news. Talk about dumbing down.
I wouldn’t consider anything that comes out of Fox News “actual news” delivered by “actual journalist”
You’re only kidding yourself if you believe that.
Just kidding! I’m actually just trying to sound like a typical biased Liberal that doesn’t have a open mind.
maybe it has an anti-bush message, because let’s face it the main reason W. got re-elected is because he painted himself as the saviour in times of crisis.
The reason is the language, instead of saying they were medically advanced they say they offer “universal health care”, the people in the streets are worried they will be seen as messiahs, the idea is the same as all other alien stories, and as the original V. It seems that they changed the language so, worse case scenario, they get a little more buzz.
Just another transparent example of Faux News trying to be relevant (for shiz, anyone?! really?) in their crusade against health care.
I think people are so ignorant and mostly stupid and so easily swayed in short periods of time and so shortsighted and selfish– as is exemplified by this article and the typical discussion invoked, that mankind will perish.
This is really the first you’ve heard of Media Matters?
Stephanie, this is Entertainment Weekly. Jon and Kate saga > Media Matters, politics, anything of actual substance!
Does anyone know the ending? Do we get free health care?
LOL. I sure as hell hope not.
I saw the similarities between Anna and how perceived Obama, the cure-all for everything. I remember at an Obama rally in Miami, a lady said she wouldn’t have to pay for gas, mortgage, etc. if Obama was elected. The perceptions that people have of Obama was the mirror image for me, but I think it’s too early to tell the political stance this show has. I watch Fox News and generally like it, but thought Hannity was grasping at nothing when he said he could get behind the show.
That reminds me of all the people who said in the 2000 election that Bush would restore honor to the White House. So much for that, right?
This has nothing to do with President Bush. Why is it that if anyone makes a criticism about Obama, they resort to talking about Bush? People have a blind misplaced optimism in President Obama that is parallel to how the “Visitors” are viewed. Why get so defensive?
It kinda looks like you’re the only one getting defensive here, Ugly. People continue to have a blind spot for all the wrongs that occurred under Bush, and it’s not out of line for Jim or anyone else to say that something reminds us of that. Blind faith in anyone–Bush, Obama, Vs–is still bad.
When I saw the show i thought that the show was taking shots at obama for his promises and hopes. I did not think anything about Bush an I’m a dem, so jennie don’t get so defensive because people see a connection to obama. Bush has lots of wrongdoings but nobody in this country has a blind spot to it. Obama reminds us everyday. You’re the one who is getting defensive not ugly.
I love how people refer to me as “ugly”
. John, thanks for understanding what I was writing, very much appreciated!
Uh, seriously…? These are the same people who see Jesus on a potato chip.