It's officially a trend. During the past three television seasons, there have been at least three different shows that deal with the topic of personal identity, how it constructed/defined, whether it must be organic, and whether it can be molded, suppressed or permanently modified without the active participation of the identity. These are important issues because medical science is developing drugs which can affect memory, and other enhancements from nanotechnology to genetic-specific performance enhancers may be around the corner. The specific shows I am referencing are: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse, Heroes.
These themes were explored by Gibson in the characters of Johnny Mnemonic and others. Bret Easton Ellis explores the topic most deeply in American Psycho and Glamorama though it can be argued these themes emerged first in Less than Zero and Rules of Attraction. Millions of people have read the novels of Gibson and Ellis. Millions more have seen the three television shows listed above.
Descartes said "Cogito Ergo Sum" (I think therefore I am. But he could never resolve what he was through reason alone. Quato (from Total Recall) tells Quaid "A Man is What He Does," implying that memories do not define an individual's identity and that all you have to do to be different is to act differently. John Locke and the school of Virtue Centered Ethics also have strong opinions on the matter. Then there is the historical of case of Martin Guerre - was the impostor who returned immediately from war with more accurate memories "more Martin Guerre" than the "real" Martin Guerre who returned later with blurrier memories and whose wife disavowed him?
In Dollhouse, the characters have custom designed identities implanted onto a tabula rasa created once the original identity is scanned, downloaded and stored. Each individual person has multitudes of identities downloaded into them over the course of their five year contracts. The Sarah Connor Chronicles plays with ideas of predestination and fate, and whether John Connor is allowed to have an identity separate from that given to him from the future. More importantly, HOW does he develop the identity he will need to lead the human resistance in the future. Heroes deals with the concepts of how identity changes along with abilities, as well as similar issues of predestination when Hiro Nakamura returns to the past and tries to convince his historical childhood idol to become the person celebrated in stories to this day.
It will be interesting to see how long popular culture continues to wrestle with these issues in television, and whether shows that do remain successful.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Saturday, November 07, 2009
V: 1983 and 2009 Part Four: The Shadow Government , One World Government & Nazi Allusion
From the very beginning, the Nazi allusions are right in your face right from the name of the Jewish Resistance Fighter (Abraham) down to the brown shirts and youth brigades, though at the time many Americans also associated youth brigades and secret police (brown shirts) indicative of the Soviets. Only this time instead of “The Jews” its “The Scientists” with the evil conspiracy against the powers that be. The Visitors use a false flag conspiracy to justify rounding up scientists, and then eventually stage "Wag the Dog"-type false flag attacks around the world, similar to what some "Truthers" believe really happened on 9/11.
All of this occurs after the Visitors claim to want to honor all the covenants of the United Nations Charter (revealed in the first 25 minutes), which itself is interesting because it implies the Visitors will be co-equal to one individual nation-state instead of co-equal to an entire planet (Step 1 - Fool' em). Obviously, they really see themselves as occupying the latter position when they ask to (or imply they should be)treated as co-equal to the U.N. or entire world (Step 2 - Set your stage under smokescreen). Because they are co-equal to the planet their very presence begins to gradually transform the U.N. into a de facto governing body of the earth - or at least one empowered to negotiate on behalf of all of us. The Visitors then intimidate the U.N./NWO into acting as its surrogate ruling apparatus.
Interestingly, this progression of elements could be sued to demonstrate the left- leaning inclinations of the V writers (so-called Coastal Elites).
However, in the 2009 version, instead of working through the UN as much, the Visitors want to establish embassies on the ground, directly establishing themselves as a potential nation-state. Additionally, in the 2009 V but the Hitler allusions are less pronounced. Perhaps this is because the newer generation doesn’t identify as much with this epochal event 25 years later than the original and 65 years after the event was revealed to the world.
The Shadow Government and Alien Infiltration meme also emerge explicitly during the 2009 pilot. These memes are nowhere present in the original miniseries. These are both revealed during of the nascent Resistance; the second when Erica, the female FBI protagonist, is attacked by her own Visitor infiltrator partner at the end of the Resistance formation meeting.
All of this occurs after the Visitors claim to want to honor all the covenants of the United Nations Charter (revealed in the first 25 minutes), which itself is interesting because it implies the Visitors will be co-equal to one individual nation-state instead of co-equal to an entire planet (Step 1 - Fool' em). Obviously, they really see themselves as occupying the latter position when they ask to (or imply they should be)treated as co-equal to the U.N. or entire world (Step 2 - Set your stage under smokescreen). Because they are co-equal to the planet their very presence begins to gradually transform the U.N. into a de facto governing body of the earth - or at least one empowered to negotiate on behalf of all of us. The Visitors then intimidate the U.N./NWO into acting as its surrogate ruling apparatus.
Interestingly, this progression of elements could be sued to demonstrate the left- leaning inclinations of the V writers (so-called Coastal Elites).
However, in the 2009 version, instead of working through the UN as much, the Visitors want to establish embassies on the ground, directly establishing themselves as a potential nation-state. Additionally, in the 2009 V but the Hitler allusions are less pronounced. Perhaps this is because the newer generation doesn’t identify as much with this epochal event 25 years later than the original and 65 years after the event was revealed to the world.
The Shadow Government and Alien Infiltration meme also emerge explicitly during the 2009 pilot. These memes are nowhere present in the original miniseries. These are both revealed during of the nascent Resistance; the second when Erica, the female FBI protagonist, is attacked by her own Visitor infiltrator partner at the end of the Resistance formation meeting.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
V: 1983 & 2009 Part Three: 2009 Pilot Summary, Characters and Emerging Memes
The 2009 V starts with a comparison of 9/11, JFK’s assassination, and the arrival of the Visitors, as a means of foreshadowing for the generation that didn’t see the original. This version describes the state of Obama’s America with opening scenes discuss the ongoing housing crisis. However, the most important cultural aspect of V 2009 is the prevalence of terrorism and terrorist investigations in the show. In the first place, the show is set in New York City instead of Los Angeles like the original, and 9/11 is the second phrase shown during the introduction. Of course, it’s easy to see that the one terrorist cell that increases its chatter post-visitor arrival instead of dropping off like the others will turn out to be the beginnings of what becomes the Resistance. But this is not an Islamic terrorist group, it is composed of Visitor sleeper agents who disrupt the beginnings of the Resistance’s formation.
From the first scene it looks obvious that African-American buying the engagement ring will be the 2009 version of Dr. Ben, but this time he’s a Federal Agent, former militia member, and likely future Counter Revolutionary. It seems they’ve consolidated the two brothers into one this character, which makes a certain amount of sense because Dr. Ben was only in the miniseries for the first hour or so and Elias was in all 10.5 hours of the V marathon on SyFy. And the meme regarding struggles and competing visions seems to be resolved, at least in the writers’ minds.
The falling of the Catholic Crucifix inside the first 4 minutes represents two memes not especially present in the 1983 version, but which have gained increasing currency among conspiracy culture insiders. We’ll call Meme A the Fallen Christ Meme and Meme B the Questioning Christianity’s Legitimacy meme. The Fallen Christ Meme is common among those who continue to suggest that the arrival of an extra terrestrial alien species would pose an existential threat to all religions, thereby causing mass chaos. It sometimes is cited as a reason justifying government suppression of any real evidence of alien visitation. The Questioning Christianity’s Legitimacy Meme really didn’t emerge in America until after the publication of Graham Hancock’s Holy Blood, Holy Grail and the emergence of websites and books on Mary Magdalene as the wife of Jesus and mother of Merovee, the founder of the Merovinginian line of French Kings.
The “Question Authority Meme,” always favored among the now-empowered left until the Democratic Party has power in Congress and/or the Presidency, emerges 11 minutes into the pilot. This comes from the youngish priest character, whose doppelganger in the original version had served with anti-communist guerillas in Angola, but whose credentials on this front in the 2009 version are still in question.
Illustrative of women’s success in the intervening 25 years between the two series is that the sympathetic, ambitious reporter who becomes the Visitor’s spokesperson is no longer a woman using feminine wiles, but is now portrayed by a metrosexual male. Additionally, this character seems to have less backbone, and be much more compliant with the Visitors and their requests. Moreover, one primary protagonist is a female FBI counter-terrorism operative,
Significantly, the 2009 version's Hitler allusions are less pronounced. Though interestingly, the neighborhood kid who signs up as a Visitor "Brown Shirt" is driven to it due to maternal neglect by the FBI agent (thus reprising the "Law Enforcement is Hard on Families" Meme. In the original series, the character who joins is much like the guard in The Bridge at Andau: someone who is generally a loser, but has ambitions above his abilities. I preferred the 1983 motivation better because it puts the onus squarely on the child's decisions. Perhaps in our post-Columbine world they were afraid to portray similar a high-school character with these psychological motivations. The other explanation is that the "Bad Mother Meme" has picked up cultural relevance due to the ongoing culture wars.
From the first scene it looks obvious that African-American buying the engagement ring will be the 2009 version of Dr. Ben, but this time he’s a Federal Agent, former militia member, and likely future Counter Revolutionary. It seems they’ve consolidated the two brothers into one this character, which makes a certain amount of sense because Dr. Ben was only in the miniseries for the first hour or so and Elias was in all 10.5 hours of the V marathon on SyFy. And the meme regarding struggles and competing visions seems to be resolved, at least in the writers’ minds.
The falling of the Catholic Crucifix inside the first 4 minutes represents two memes not especially present in the 1983 version, but which have gained increasing currency among conspiracy culture insiders. We’ll call Meme A the Fallen Christ Meme and Meme B the Questioning Christianity’s Legitimacy meme. The Fallen Christ Meme is common among those who continue to suggest that the arrival of an extra terrestrial alien species would pose an existential threat to all religions, thereby causing mass chaos. It sometimes is cited as a reason justifying government suppression of any real evidence of alien visitation. The Questioning Christianity’s Legitimacy Meme really didn’t emerge in America until after the publication of Graham Hancock’s Holy Blood, Holy Grail and the emergence of websites and books on Mary Magdalene as the wife of Jesus and mother of Merovee, the founder of the Merovinginian line of French Kings.
The “Question Authority Meme,” always favored among the now-empowered left until the Democratic Party has power in Congress and/or the Presidency, emerges 11 minutes into the pilot. This comes from the youngish priest character, whose doppelganger in the original version had served with anti-communist guerillas in Angola, but whose credentials on this front in the 2009 version are still in question.
Illustrative of women’s success in the intervening 25 years between the two series is that the sympathetic, ambitious reporter who becomes the Visitor’s spokesperson is no longer a woman using feminine wiles, but is now portrayed by a metrosexual male. Additionally, this character seems to have less backbone, and be much more compliant with the Visitors and their requests. Moreover, one primary protagonist is a female FBI counter-terrorism operative,
Significantly, the 2009 version's Hitler allusions are less pronounced. Though interestingly, the neighborhood kid who signs up as a Visitor "Brown Shirt" is driven to it due to maternal neglect by the FBI agent (thus reprising the "Law Enforcement is Hard on Families" Meme. In the original series, the character who joins is much like the guard in The Bridge at Andau: someone who is generally a loser, but has ambitions above his abilities. I preferred the 1983 motivation better because it puts the onus squarely on the child's decisions. Perhaps in our post-Columbine world they were afraid to portray similar a high-school character with these psychological motivations. The other explanation is that the "Bad Mother Meme" has picked up cultural relevance due to the ongoing culture wars.
Post-Modernism in V
My favorite POMO moment in the 1983 version the intentionally ironic scene of Visitor Bryan playing Space Invaders on an Atari 2600 with Robin, the soon-to-be-pregnant girl.
Of course since the 2009 version is completely self-aware of its status as a media creation, it's amusing when when one character's quip “Dude, this is Independence Day,” prompts his companion to wryly remark “Which was a rip off of numerous alien invasion predecessors.” It also illustrates the show is already relevant in popular culture, and the kids are not alright: they’re much more interested in discussing abstract cultural relevance of the Visitors arrival, than the more likely impacts on reality.
Of course since the 2009 version is completely self-aware of its status as a media creation, it's amusing when when one character's quip “Dude, this is Independence Day,” prompts his companion to wryly remark “Which was a rip off of numerous alien invasion predecessors.” It also illustrates the show is already relevant in popular culture, and the kids are not alright: they’re much more interested in discussing abstract cultural relevance of the Visitors arrival, than the more likely impacts on reality.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
V: 1983 & 2009 Part Two: 1983 Summary & Memes
The protagonist in the 1983 version is Donovan, a a foreign affairs correspondent whom we first encounter covering anonymous, admirable revolutionaries against a Central American dictatorship (Contras anyone?). He later shares the stage with Ham Tyler in V: The Final Battle. Ham is an American guerilla/ arms dealer he runs across in his work. In the 2009 version, the protagonist seems to be a synthesis of Donovan and Tyler. The pains of the reporter's divorce and conflict with his ex over his seeming upper hand in the competition for his child’s affection reflects the then-prominent "Divorce is Hard on Families Meme" in the 1983 version which seems absent from the new series, largely because as a society I think we're over divorce as a social issue.
Another meme prevalent through the first few hours of the miniseries is the conflict in the black community between “the streets” and “selling out,” epitomized by the conflict between ne'er do well Elias Taylor and his brother Dr. Ben Taylor over life and their father’s affection. The show resolves this conflict by having Ben die, which ultimately leads Elias to declare that it should be him not Ben because Ben had made something with himself. However it is Elias's skills and contacts from “the streets” that help the Resistance obtain shelter, useful intelligence and necessary supplies. This may reflect the inability of the writer to resolve the issue satisfactorily for himself or us.
V is also one of the first sources for the meme of illegal immigration in California in the mid-80’s, and the issue of “visitors” taking Californian jobs is even addressed explicitly within the first 45 minutes of the show. In fact, during that scene, Caleb explicitly complains about job competition from “honkeys” and Mexicans since this was produced before political correctness craziness became the norm.
The meme of environmental catastrophe, in this case on the Visitors planet, began to emerge into political and pop culture around this time, and the environmental "disaster" on the Visitor's home planet (their cover story for coveting our water) is mentioned in the first 30 minutes. The meme is not referenced explicitly again, and may explain why the show has emerged now: we have a major environmental bill working its way through Congress, which many on the left who tend to include television writers support. In fact the New America Foundation recently hosted a briefing in Washington, DC titled "Go West Young Policy Wonk" focusing on whether those interested in policy making should head to Hollywood instead.
The Nazi allusions are right in your face right from the name of the Jewish Resistance Fighter (Abraham) down to the brown shirts and youth brigades, though at the time, many Americans also associated youth brigades and secret police (brown shirts) with the Soviets. Only this time instead of “The Jews” it's “The Scientists” with the evil conspiracy against the powers that be. The Visitors use a false flag conspiracy to justify rounding up scientists, and then eventually stage “Reichstag bombing” attacks around the world, using means similar to those in Wag the Dog. In the 2009 version, the Hitler allusions are less pronounced. Perhaps this is because the newer generation doesn’t identify as much with this epochal event 25 years later than the original and 65 years after the event was revealed to the world. Additionally, in the 2009 series, the Visitors seem to be setting up the foundations for a religion as a means of Social Control. This fits into the "All Religions Are Shams" meme that has emerged forcefully in the past decade.
The "Abortion is Completely Acceptable" meme appears early on V: The Final Battle,when the Catholic Priest's moral objections are dismissed out of hand, and represents a different cultural era. 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Last American Virgin both showed the really problem with getting an abortion was having the guy pay for it. This is before the deluge of shows in the 1990s and 2000s, including Friends, in which the potentially pregnant character ends up not having to make a decision /resolve the conflict because the test was wrong or their was a miscarriage, "getting them off the hook" for having to make a decision. I expect that in the new series, this will be replaced with teh "Abortion is a Serious Issue" meme and there will be a more weighty debate about the potential abortion of the hybrid fetus. If I'm correct on this, it will reflect the ascendancy of the Christian Right during the past 25 years. Whether they are now on the decline is a debatable point.
Another meme prevalent through the first few hours of the miniseries is the conflict in the black community between “the streets” and “selling out,” epitomized by the conflict between ne'er do well Elias Taylor and his brother Dr. Ben Taylor over life and their father’s affection. The show resolves this conflict by having Ben die, which ultimately leads Elias to declare that it should be him not Ben because Ben had made something with himself. However it is Elias's skills and contacts from “the streets” that help the Resistance obtain shelter, useful intelligence and necessary supplies. This may reflect the inability of the writer to resolve the issue satisfactorily for himself or us.
V is also one of the first sources for the meme of illegal immigration in California in the mid-80’s, and the issue of “visitors” taking Californian jobs is even addressed explicitly within the first 45 minutes of the show. In fact, during that scene, Caleb explicitly complains about job competition from “honkeys” and Mexicans since this was produced before political correctness craziness became the norm.
The meme of environmental catastrophe, in this case on the Visitors planet, began to emerge into political and pop culture around this time, and the environmental "disaster" on the Visitor's home planet (their cover story for coveting our water) is mentioned in the first 30 minutes. The meme is not referenced explicitly again, and may explain why the show has emerged now: we have a major environmental bill working its way through Congress, which many on the left who tend to include television writers support. In fact the New America Foundation recently hosted a briefing in Washington, DC titled "Go West Young Policy Wonk" focusing on whether those interested in policy making should head to Hollywood instead.
The Nazi allusions are right in your face right from the name of the Jewish Resistance Fighter (Abraham) down to the brown shirts and youth brigades, though at the time, many Americans also associated youth brigades and secret police (brown shirts) with the Soviets. Only this time instead of “The Jews” it's “The Scientists” with the evil conspiracy against the powers that be. The Visitors use a false flag conspiracy to justify rounding up scientists, and then eventually stage “Reichstag bombing” attacks around the world, using means similar to those in Wag the Dog. In the 2009 version, the Hitler allusions are less pronounced. Perhaps this is because the newer generation doesn’t identify as much with this epochal event 25 years later than the original and 65 years after the event was revealed to the world. Additionally, in the 2009 series, the Visitors seem to be setting up the foundations for a religion as a means of Social Control. This fits into the "All Religions Are Shams" meme that has emerged forcefully in the past decade.
The "Abortion is Completely Acceptable" meme appears early on V: The Final Battle,when the Catholic Priest's moral objections are dismissed out of hand, and represents a different cultural era. 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Last American Virgin both showed the really problem with getting an abortion was having the guy pay for it. This is before the deluge of shows in the 1990s and 2000s, including Friends, in which the potentially pregnant character ends up not having to make a decision /resolve the conflict because the test was wrong or their was a miscarriage, "getting them off the hook" for having to make a decision. I expect that in the new series, this will be replaced with teh "Abortion is a Serious Issue" meme and there will be a more weighty debate about the potential abortion of the hybrid fetus. If I'm correct on this, it will reflect the ascendancy of the Christian Right during the past 25 years. Whether they are now on the decline is a debatable point.
V 1983 & 2009, Part One: Reptilian Aliens & Conspiracy Culture
I watched the V and V: The Final Battle this weekend in anticipation of the debut of tonight’s series. It was ten and a half hours of my life extremely well spent, and the 25-year-old show has held up well though the special effects leave a bit to be desired. I believe it speaks much to the cultural state of Reagan’s America in 1984and will point out the cultural memes prevalent in the two mini series and I’ll compare these with what I observe in the first few episodes of the 2009 V series.
V and the Conspiracy Culture
In terms of conspiracy culture, V 1983 marks the first time the MSM-Entertainment Complex used Reptilian aliens as the main galactic villains, a meme prevalent, but debatable among conspiracy culture insiders. This introduction of the Reptilian meme comes just 6 years after Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind , and two years after his E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial introduced mainstream culture to what have become known as the Greys.
V and the Conspiracy Culture
In terms of conspiracy culture, V 1983 marks the first time the MSM-Entertainment Complex used Reptilian aliens as the main galactic villains, a meme prevalent, but debatable among conspiracy culture insiders. This introduction of the Reptilian meme comes just 6 years after Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind , and two years after his E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial introduced mainstream culture to what have become known as the Greys.
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