Jupiter Ascending & The Mainstreaming of Alien Conspiracy Culture

Jupiter Ascending is an interesting, fun Sci-Fi flick. The name is a play on an astrological term and on the name of the main character's name and progress/development. The most interesting details of the movie though are those it has picked up from the popular culture acceptance of conspiracy culture. To an extent, the movie "mainstreams" both the existence of Grey and Reptilian Aliens, as well as the tropes surrounding them. The Greys are small, devious, operate in medical (specifically reproductive) facilities, and use levitation to apprehend their "subjects." The Reptilians are hierarchical, winged, scary-looking, and militant.

The writers couldn't have done a better job mainstreaming these aspects of alien culture if they'd tried. This raises the question among the conspiracy community: "Is this part of the ongoing disclosure project."

V: 1983 & 2009, Part Seven : Why are They Here?

V 1983-1984 & V 2010-2011:
Part Six, Part Five, Part Four, Part Three, Part Two,Part One

Why the Aliens Are Here
Obviously the Reptilian meme among alien abduction/Area 51 conspiracies plays a strong part in both series. In both series the aliens hidden agenda is disguised by medical gifts to help humanity. However, their hidden agenda for coming to earth, and their time lines, are vastly different.

Time Lines, Purpose & "Red Sky"
While the original V series implies that that the Visitors are relatively recent arrivals to our solar system, this is not the case with the remake. The new series takes a page from conspiracy culture and states that the the Visitors have been here for generations, and are harvesting human DNA for reproductive purposes, instead of for for food. According to the most recent episode "Birth Pangs," the Visitors are harvesting the best DNA from around the universe to accelerate their evolution.

To that end they have been trying to carefully increase the phosphorous levels in human females to help reproduce Visitors, as well as in males they find genetically superior. This has been a multi-generational project. However, in contravention to conspiracy culture, the genetic manipulation wasn't done during abductions, but rather through disguised Reptilians on earth. Additionally, the Visitors release "Red Sky" to rapidly enhance the phosphorous levels, which fuels fears among the human population; in the original series the red dust in the atmosphere was a biological weapon against the Visitors and humans cheered when it was released into the air despite not knowing what it was for.

V 1983 & 2009, Part Six: The Changing Role of Reporters & Mercenaries

Part Seven: V 1983-1984 & V 2010-2011.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Post-Modernism in V.

It' been interesting to watch the old V series on my TiVo and compare and contrast with the new ABC series.

The Role of Reporters
1983: Donovan/Woman - There were two different media personalities during the two original V miniseries, embodying America's complex view of the media at the time. On the one hand you had the ambitious female reporter, Christine, who would do anything for a scoop. She becomes a PR mouthpiece / Press Secretary for Diana, but later reveals that the Visitors are not friendly and should be resisted and is killed for doing so. She does not join the resistance despite exposing the Visitors.

Donovan on the other hand represents the intrepid foreign correspondent, willing to go anywhere to get the story but who became a journalist out of strong pro-liberty passions. He is the kind of patriotic reporter America wishes we still produced. Donovan, an experienced foreign correspondent in war zones, becomes a natural leader of the resistance. Unfortunately, he doesn't put his PR skills to good use advancing the cause, as would be expected today.

2009: Chad Decker's character development is roughly similar to that of Christine, but as he gradually becomes skeptical of the Visitors he becomes a full fledged member of the Resistance. In the 1983 episode, the Fifth column was chiefly disaffected Visitors show disapproved of their species' agenda.

The Role of Mercenaries & Terrorists
1983: Ham Tyler - While Michael Ironsides may have fit the Hollywood ideal of a freedom fighter back in the days of the Contras, his character feels dated. He appears after several events in LA draw lots of attention and announces that the LA resistance fighters led by Donovan and Julie, need to join the worldwide resistance of which Tyler is a crucial leader.

2009: Kyle Hobbes - the current cultural zeitgeist is much less kind to fictional mercenaries and this character is much darker than his 1983 counterpart, Ham Tyler. However, mercenaries are a more accepted fact of American life now than then. The rise of private security firms such as Xe (formerly Blackwater)has allowed the U.S. military to increase the number of combat forces it has without putting it directly on their budget.

However, the primary mercenary contact Kyle Hobbes, while a member of the inner circle, is displaced by an Israeli Terrorist named Eli Cohen as the main resistance military leader and has set up cells around the world. What he and Ham Tyler have in common is that they are both parts of the larger resistance movement that exists outside of the isolated groups banding together which we first encounter.