V: 1983 & 2009, Part Five: The Role of Women & Minorities

The Role of Women
The Resistance
1983: Julie, medical student and reluctant resistance leader. She is unsure of herself, and this is made worse by her interrupted Visitor Conversion attempt.
Diana, is merely one captain in the larger V squadron. Her primary source of authority comes because she is the lover of the Supreme Commander.

2009: Erica, FBI agent, part of 5th Column (5th Column as assimilated the resistance in this series) even has a feminized man's name. The most feminine thing about her in terms of attitudes prevalent in the 80s is that she is alien abductee whose fetus was modified by the Visitors. This fits in neatly with modern conspiracy theories as to why the "Grays" are here.

The Visitors
1983: Diana is merely the captain of one starship in a larger squadron, her position in the Visitor's hierarchy is assured through her sexual relationship with the Supreme Commander. While she is hard edged and successful enough to run a ship, she has not yet proven herself able to manage and lead a larger population. She engages in kinky sex with a subordinate, in this case kinky is defined as wearing their human skins.

2009: Anna is Queen of the Visitors, a position she secured by overthrowing her mother. She controls her people through dispensing a chemical called Bliss to her species. Her reptilian nature is emphasized more strongly in this series by her mating to produce an army of warriors. We later find out she is unable to produce additional non-drone children of her race. The future of her species depends on her daughter Lisa laying eggs and becoming Queen. Unfortunately, they are far from a suitable planet for her offspring, necessitating the transformation of Earth into a planet better suited for the Visitors.

V is fortunate though to have two strong females going head to head as leaders of different teams. I don't recall seeing anything like that before. This seems to indicate a growing acceptance of female leadership.

The Role of Minorities
1983 - Elias, a street hoodlum and criminal before the Visitor's arrival, and then a freedom fighter and resistance leader afterwards. This reinforces mid-80s American fears of black urban youth, to which even Jesse Jackson admitted having. Additionally, the Hispanic resistance fighter promotes cultural stereotypes of Mexican immigrants.

2009 - Ryan, the primary black character in the 2009 V, is a Visitor and member of the 5th column who may turn on his fellow freedom fighters for his own benefit making him a triple spy. Essentially he is an immigrant who assimilated but may retain allegiance to his original civilization. This corresponds nicely with the Zeitgeist of the home-grown home-radicalized domestic terrorists attacking us. There have been a number of these attacks or attempts from Ft. Hood to Times Square, and there is a fear of more out there. V uses a black character to embody this fear, presumable out of PC sensibilities of using an Arab, and a desire to avoid causing controversey.