The fact that Ross thinks it would be “obvious” to update The Manchurian Candidate by making Cheney a dupe of al-Qaeda mind control is interesting, because that reflects a paranoid – and not a rationally paranoid – concept of what al-Qaeda is and how it operates. The “paranoid style” movies he’s criticizing reflect a worldview that is off-the-shelf paranoid, and that is indeed a real weakness. But a movie about an al-Qaeda sleeper agent controlling the government would only be persuasive to an audience that actually held paranoid beliefs about the world, because it is so completely detached from the actual nature of the enemy we face. ~Noah Millman

Noah is right that an “al Qaeda controls Cheney” story probably would make no sense to anyone who doesn’t already think that the resurgent caliphate is just around the corner and poses an “existential threat” to us all.  Actually, I am going to guess that Ross regards this as the obvious way to update the story because he has been watching too much Battlestar Galactica in which the Vice President (at least during seasons 1 and 2) was/is a quasi-conspirator with the Cylons and then becomes their open collaborator thereafter.  BSG is probably the most outstanding example of post-9/11 paranoid style storytelling, so it’s too bad that Ross’ article (well worth reading) does not include more discussion of this aspect of the show.  He is right to describe it in terms of ’70s revival and tragic realism, but the show is rife with paranoia, too.  The entire show is premised on a “conspiracy so vast” that ends up destroying almost all of humanity and which achieved that goal through the infiltration of the Colonies with both covert operatives and sleeper agents.  I think that meets Noah’s standards.

P.S.  This post gives me an excuse to mention that season 4 of BSG premieres tonight.