Roswell agonistes

I watched the first episode of the reboot of Roswell, after reading the on-line Netflix reviews. I was intrigued that every review is either near 10 (awesome) or near 1 (awful).

When you read the reviews, the reason becomes clear. The reboot has been cleverly configured as a star-crossed (literally!) love story between two young people whose parents were aliens. Both of the young lovers want desperately to fit in, to simply be acknowledged and allowed to chip in as a productive member of society.

Both lovers fear, above all, becoming identified as an “other”, rather than as a unique individual. The thing that makes all this so clever is that the heritage of one the young lovers is outer space, and the heritage of the other is Mexico.

It seems that about 40% of viewers who left a review think this approach is a blatant left-wing politicization of a once beloved show. I strongly disagree, yet it’s hard for me to be objective, since I clearly belong to the other 60% of viewers.

But I will give it a go: The entire point of the original Roswell was sympathy for misunderstood and persecuted children of alien parents. All the producers of the reboot have done is emphasize that exact point in a way that would resonate in 2019.

Unless of course you have no sympathy for hapless young people of alien heritage, just trying their best to get by in a sometimes hostile world. In which case, why were you watching a show like Roswell in the first place?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *