The story has already spread widely that the episode was a comment, either on the Obama administration, or on the views of the president's most extreme opponents. The show's creators deny this. Time will tell, I suppose.
But more generally, the show points out a characteristic perspective of our times. As far as many traditionalists are concerned, those of us who advocate for certain kinds of change in the world might as well be murderous space lizards. Even if we say we want co-existence, that we exist at all signifies an end to the world of the past. And besides, that's exactly what murderous space lizards would say…
This tension has existed for a long time, of course. But some people sense (rightly or wrongly) that we've reached a tipping point. So tensions deepen.
It occurs to me that the dichotomy in V so far can be expressed in Spiral Dynamics terms, in that humans are being painted as Orange and Blue, while murderous space lizards are Green and Yellow.*
I'll be watching the show attentively to see whether this framing continues. In the meantime, when I engage with those of a more traditionalist view, I'll try not to come across too space lizard-y.
"The intent goes beyond just healing. We want to provide complete medical services to all." "You're talking about universal health care." "I believe that's what you call it, yes." —Interview with Anna, charismatic leader of the murderous space lizards
* When the subject of Spiral Dynamics comes up, usually I have to log an objection to the characterizations of Green and Yellow in Spiral Dynamics Integral, in favor of the original theory of Clare Graves. In this case, however, I think either interpretation works equally well. |
