United Liberty

Imagine a young, charismatic and attractive person suddenly bursts out of nowhere into global celebrity. This person promises peace, progress and specifically universal health care.

Sounds like the story of Barack Obama’s rise from obsurity to the presidency, doesn’t it? Well, it’s actually the story of the new television show “V,” a show about a group of aliens that seek to invade earth by earning the devotion and trust of its inhabitants. The parallels to Obama’s rise to power are littered throughout the pilot: the Vs stir awe in young people, who they recruit as “ambassadors in their communities” (vernacular right out of Obama’s campaign website), and those left criticizing them are seen as at the fringe of society. Most striking is a scene in which Anna, the woman representing the Vs, tells a journalist interviewing her to only depict her in a positive light, threatening him with his career if he doesn’t. That scene instantly brings to mind the overwhelmingly positive media coverage of Obama in 2008.