"V" - The Right's New Favorite TV Show, Or Inadvertent Proof of The Ubiquity of The Right's Fables?

I've heard that Battlestar Galactica is a favorite of neoconservatives for its supposedly metaphorical allusions to Bush foreign policy. I've never seen that show, but I am planning to watch ABC's remake of "V" - and by the looks of the preview, it's possible that show may become conservatives' new favorite TV show:

Am I crazy or does this preview make the show seem like a not-so-subtle fringe-right-wing criticism of Obama and Obama followers?

In questioning Obama's citizenship and heritage, conservatives have always portrayed Obama as an alien visitor. They've also constantly implied that behind Obama's friendly veneer are sinister motives - and they seem to believe that while most of the public are gullible fools believing in Obama as a savior, they and their tea-party protestors see the "real truth" of those motives.

Now, didn't I basically just describe that preview? I think I did - in fact, I took notes on the preview. Check this out:

1:00 "The world's in bad shape - who wouldn't welcome a savior?"

1:10 - "Thousands are flocking to see the mothership in person"

1:20 - "We're all so quick to jump on the bandwagon, but before we get on let's at least examine..."

1:40 - "Gratitude can morph into worship"..."You two are obsessed with the V's"..."You know what the V's - they call it spreading hope"

2:15 - "If you could speak to the protestors, what would you say? That embracing change is never easy, but the reward for doing so can be far greater than anything you can imagine"..."They gain trust when all they are really doing is positioning themselves as the saviors of mankind"

2:40 - "They are arming themselves with the most powerful weapon out there: devotion."

It's all there, right? The idea of V/Obama as a "savior" with "thousands flocking to see" them. The religious right, represented by a priest, warning everyone not to "jump on the bandwagon" for V/Obama. Warnings that support for V/Obama can "morph into worship," and the V/Obama followers defending themselves by saying it's not worship, "they call it spreading hope." Then a highly scripted media event in which V/Obama soothingly says "embracing change is never easy, but the reward for doing so can be far greater than anything you can imagine" - and another warning from a self-styled truth-telling protestor insisting that it's all a sinister farce, that Obama/V deceptively "gains trust when all they are really doing is positioning themselves as the saviors of mankind" (recall this McCain ad against Obama making almost exactly the same charge). And finally, the harrowing warning that Obama/V "are arming themselves with the most powerful weapon out there: devotion."

Now, it's certainly possible I'm just seeing it this way, and that the directors of this show have absolutely no desire for this to be any kind of echo of the right's anti-Obama narratives. But I'm not actually making any accusation at all. I'm just noticing the storyline of the slick, unknown false prophet using charisma and charm to foist a sinister alien plot on an all-too-gullible world of sycophants, and the courageous tea-party-ish protestors heroically braving Establishment scorn to get the "truth" out against the odds. That's how the fringe right views reality and itself these days, and that's exactly the frame of this new show (which is kinda weird for an alien invasion plot, which typically portrays the aliens as overtly and brazenly evil, rather than as tricky hucksters who seem good at first).

Is it life imitating art imitating life? Or has the silly right-wing narrative become so ingrained in our culture that it is everywhere, whether deliberately or inadvertently? Or, as I wondered already, am I just crazy?

Certainly possible it's the latter...but it is eerie (oh, and yes, I will definitely be watching the show, as I was a big fan of the original "V").

UPDATE: Time's James Poniewozik picked up on this theme, too:

Remake of the classic alien-invasion miniseries plays in the trailer, weirdly, like an allegory of the Obama election: aliens come to Earth, promise "hope" and "change" (words actually used), inspire cult-like devotion, but have creepy intent and are secretly lizards. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. But it has potential to be Glenn Beck's new favorite show.

Again, it's creepy...

Comments

[ceti]

I am dreading this if they in fact make this complete revision of "V"'s original theme which was resistance to fascism. In fact, it would be turning the entire political edge of the original on its head -- strongly noted by the parallel drawn between the Salvadoran guerrillas at the beginning going up against enormous fire power and Juliet at the end shooting Diana's shuttle with a handgun.

The struggle against fascism is made even more clear in the ready collaboration of police forces in the Visitor occupation and the resistance of average citizens, from Elias, the street hustler who can get the goods in the new black market, to Sancho, Mexican gardener whose grandfather fought with Zapata, to the diminutive medical student Julie, who eventually becomes the resistance leader. The fact that the human resistance was denounced as terrorists by the Visitor controlled media also drove home the fact that film was speaking to the "resistance fighters of the past present and future."

Making the show's hero into a Homeland Security agent when she would have been otherwise hunting down the scientist-­terrorists in the original, is hopefully not telling about the fate of the rest of the reboot.

[gro]

So if it flops on ABC, we'll see it on FOX?

[PATina]

David... I agree that this does seem like a jab at Obama and his supporters. But I've also seen how some of Obama supporters have started to worship him. While they get mad at anyone that calls him "The Messiah"... they treat him like he's one. You and others get slammed anytime you criticize his policies.

[patricklee5150]

David, I really like most everything you write and agree with probably 99% of it...but, this is just a little crazy.........I don't know of anyone who will ever see the repugs as freedom fighters.

[HeevenSteven]

I disagree; it's actually an anti-occupation theme. The mother-ships and it's pilots are the American military and it's soldiers in Iraq saving them from tyranny, bringing them democracy; but in reality positioning themselves for something else.

[patricklee5150]

I agree!

[George Mitchell]

If neo-conservatives found "Battlestar Galactica" to their liking, they must have stopped watching when some of the survivors led an insurgency against the Cylons, who were occupying their home.

What about when the majority of the lead cast started to side themselves with the Cylons? That would never be on a neo-conservative's agenda.

Good science fiction will broach matters of the political and social nature that usually goes unchecked in other forms of entertainment. I'm reminded that it was the media and the Republicans that created the Obama myth and essentially drove people to his corner. However, Obama is not a demagogue, in fact he's the opposite. I think the series may be a slight nod against Palin, who is a demagogue, and perhaps the next great White Hope for conservatives and Republicans.

[BlackJAC]

How exactly is BATTLESTAR a metaphor for Dubya's foreign policy? The involved a lot of running away from attacks in a rustbucket ship that was two days away from being turned into a museum before the nukes went off.

[ksyellowdog]

David - I am a huge fan of Battlestar Galictica and i'm a far left socialist. So, i see hope in places where the right sees authoritarianism, hmmm, not sure what to make of that.