The first V series, released in 1983, references human past as a notable allegory to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, but ABCs reboot of V strikes themes that are characteristic of humanity’s present. Dystopian themes such failing economies, unemployment, food and energy crisis, destructive climate change, and a troublesome healthcare system are littered throughout the show and use recognizable titles such as “universal healthcare,” “economic stimulus,” and “hope for the future.” Such themes, as some TV critics point out, are a direct analogy to the campaign promises and slogans of President Barack Obama and are further demonstrated by the fan art below. The Visitors make a point to promote positive change by sharing their technology and culture, which outwardly denounces violence and disorder. Yet Anna, the leader and image behind V influence, is portrayed as a selfish and uncaring villain who will stop at nothing to achieve dominance and control among humans. Even in the pilot episode of the show the audience learns of the Visitors’ ulterior motives and a few of their deceptive techniques to push their agenda. By aligning itself verbally with political pop culture, V incites controversy over the uncontrolled power and possible deception by modern politicians.
Such deception, V attributes, is in large generated by media influence. In V, the Visitors use the media to generate a following through interviews of their leaders, pro-V humans, and walkthroughs of V technological sites. Anna is also selective about when and who to make a public example. Following the Visitors’ arrival, Anna stifles the growth of anti-V protestors by encouraging a riot leader, widowed during the V landing, to demonstrate her desire for peaceful relations. Later, in response to a monsoon, Anna publicly releases “blue energy,” a clean and powerful renewable resource, to disaster zones, which convinces world leaders to allow her to speak at a restricted and historic innovation convention. In the beginning of season two the Vs release a “red rain” without warning and then wait several days before admitting to humans that the rain is meant to fertilize crops, reverse global warming, and return vegetation to deserts. By choosing to wait for a press release Anna assures to humanity that the Vs have their best interests at heart even when they are not publicly pronounced.
Anna’s use of the media demonstrates her capacity to achieve her desires by manipulating political performance and makes a strong statement about human ignorance. Most humans lack the capacity to see potential threats when offered new and unknown solutions to severe, chronic problems. V proclaims that rather than weigh the pros and cons of choosing a course of action, humans are more likely to push the problem onto someone else and immediately show unconditional devotion towards them. Despite the love shown towards the Vs for their perceived gifts to society, “blue energy” and “red rain” are later revealed as the guise of vital components to the Visitors’ planned destruction of humanity.
The show’s interpretation of humanity also raises ethical issues regarding religion. In the first episode a statue portraying Christ shatters inside Father Jack Landry’s church in response to the Vs’ arrival, an obvious iconoclastic foreshadowing of the replacement of human religious beliefs with Visitor worship. The V healing centers are capable of performing “miracles,” such as curing terminal disease and allowing the crippled to walk again. Anna and the other Visitors are mistaken as the answer to religious questions regarding the existence of God, secretly admitting that their gifts are merely the product of advanced technology. After learning that Landry is in fact a member of the anti-V protagonist group known as the Fifth Column, she mocks his faith “hoping to meet [his] God.” How can God exist, V suggests, when no scripture speaks of life of any kind outside earth. In this light, the show questions the authenticity of religion, who’s faith stems from perceived and written miracles, as opposed to fortunate circumstance and modern science.
This destructive criticism is short lived however, as the bulk of the show is focused on how components of Christian religion provide a foundation for humanity. “It is the soul that makes us human. Without it we would be nothing but animals,” a priest states in response to Anna’s inquiry. After realizing that the soul is the driving force behind human emotion and strength, Anna, thinking of the soul as component of human anatomy, makes it her chief goal to find the soul and destroy it. When asked if the Visitors are capable of having a soul, Landry replies that “every creature can feel the grace of God. It is the wellspring of emotion and can’t be found or put in a test tube.” Although the show references the influence of the media in other countries it fails to acknowledge a variety of religious beliefs. Two full seasons paint humanity as fueled by the soul, which in turn comes from the Christian God. V clearly states that Christianity, namely Catholicism, is the most accepted religion, if not the most influential, and provides an important mechanism in human decision making.
Despite comments by bloggers and critics over V’s release in 2009, executive producer Scott Peters openly proclaimed that no agenda was intended to push to audiences and that the message and technology of the Visitors was not meant to instruct but to captivate. Actress Morena Baccarin, who plays Anna, admitted to modeling her character after politicians but later stated that "I am trying my best [in the role] to be as trustworthy as I can be and to embody what everybody of every nationality and need wants to see. At the same time, you have your own agenda." A show is most successful when it reaches out to a maximum about of viewers, and to do so requires a sensitivity to current events and prevalent social issues. The immediate backlash of criticism over the V remake certainly implies that the writers naturally included controversial topics in an effort to stir public interest. Yet regardless of whether V’s implications are intentional, V successfully personifies the ethical issues of modern society’s deceptive totalitarian politicians, media manipulations, and characteristics of human nature.
Works Cited
“Devil In a Blue Dress.” V. Prod. Scott Rosenbaum, Scott Peters, Jace Hall, Yves
Simoneau, and Steve Pearlman. ABC, 8 Mar. 2011. Television.
“It’s Only the Beginning.” V. Prod. Scott Rosenbaum, Scott Peters, Jace Hall, Yves Simoneau, and Steve Pearlman. ABC, 24 Nov. 2009. Television.
“Laid Bare.” V. Prod. Scott Rosenbaum, Scott Peters, Jace Hall, Yves Simoneau, and Steve Pearlman. ABC, 18 Jan. 2011. Television.
Moraes, Lisa De. "Executives Sound Coy About New Series's Policical Edge." The TV Column. The Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2009. Web. 9 July 2011.
“Mother’s Day.” V. Prod. Scott Rosenbaum, Scott Peters, Jace Hall, Yves Simoneau, and Steve Pearlman. ABC, 15 Mar. 2011. Television.
“Pilot.” V. Prod. Scott Rosenbaum, Scott Peters, Jace Hall, Yves Simoneau, and Steve Pearlman. ABC, 3 Nov. 2009. Television.
“Serpent’s Tooth.” V. Prod. Scott Rosenbaum, Scott Peters, Jace Hall, Yves Simoneau, and Steve Pearlman. ABC, 11 Jan. 2011. Television.
We Are of Peace. Photograph. Free Republic, 6 Nov. 2009. Web. 9 July 2011.
“We Can’t Win.” V. Prod. Scott Rosenbaum, Scott Peters, Jace Hall, Yves Simoneau, and Steve Pearlman. ABC, 20 Apr. 2010. Television.
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