The first episode of the remake of the sci-fi series “V” didn’t bother keeping the underlying appearance of the visitors a secret. Presumably they figured that, in a remake, there was no point in delaying what for many was common knowledge.
The theme of terrorism seems to be an essential in recent sci-fi: Battlestar Galactica, FlashForward, and now V. The prominence of such features reminds us that science fiction reflects and addresses the time in which it is written, and to any extent that it talks about the future, it does so with one eye on the present and on the basis of the present, with a message for the present. And so it does, in one sense, resemble the tradition of prophecy.
Treatment of religious themes has taken on prominence in most recent science fiction, and I think there is an important sense in which “V” adopts a more negative view of traditional religion than has been characteristic of science fiction in the last couple of decades. On the one hand, we had the visitors healing illnesses that human doctors could not, and when this is highlighted in the context of a church, and a man who faithfully attended church in a wheelchair now stands up, free of pain, it raises the question of why God would not heal in the way the Bible and many other texts depict, and yet allow doctors, technological progress or (in this case) alien visitors to heal the illnesses in question. Scientific developments and discoveries do not make religious belief impossible, but they do raise very clear and challenging questions about certain kinds of religious beliefs and affirmations, and undermine the implausibility of some traditional doctrinal claims.
This same man in a wheelchair was almost killed in church when a crucifix fell from the wall and shattered, as a result of the vibrations caused by the arrival of the visitors’ spacecraft. This is surely symbolic of the ways in which religion can potentially be destroyed, or perhaps worse become more dangerous, as a result of the changed situation. A key theme in the first episode was devotion, and the potential for our reverence or allegiance to cause us to be uncritical in ways that can have significant ramifications.
And so, especially since I’ll be teaching a course on religion and science fiction next semester, I intend to keep watching “V” in the hope that it will explore religious aspects of the visitors’ arrival in interesting and innovative ways – all the stereotypes and classic motifs that are present or ready to hand notwithstanding.
V seems off to a good start. And let’s face it, it’s not everyday that you get to see someone almost killed by Jesus on TV!
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