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Huge and Unsolicited Rant on Heroes...
You know, something occurred to me as I was flailing over some awesome Lyle Bennett fic. I'm becoming increasingly obsessed with the marginalized characters of Heroes and less interested in the main cast. This is bad, because this is what happened with Harry Potter. As the books went on, I found myself liking the main characters less and less, and my focus eventually shifted entirely onto the marginal characters of that series (Pansy).
I wonder if my recent fixation on Lyle, Mr. Muggles, and Baby!Noah is due to my ever-increasing alienation from the main Heroes cast. I looooved S1. I fell in love with all of the characters, and I couldn't even bring myself to hate Claire even though I instinctively felt that I should. The writers kept talking here and there about how this was not a show about superheroes-- it was a show about people with powers. Real people.
I don't see that anymore. At all.
My alienation began in S2, probably because all of my favorite characters suddenly became unrecognizable. I especially adored Mohinder, whose Indian heritage was so much a part of who he was. His father issues, his struggle to reconcile his logical "science mind" with the fantastical elements creeping into his life, and especially his lack of powers that in no way inhibited his awesomeness or inclusion in the story. Mohinder felt real. Does he still? Unambiguously: in no way.
In S1, these characters had jobs. They had money troubles. They had lives that needed tending to. I don't think any of their S3 personas are employed, no matter what the writers tell us. ( Cut for lengthy and detailed rant on how the various characters have moved out of the realm of realism and jumped head-first into impression. In other words, remember when all the characters had jobs? No? Me either. )
I guess all of this is mainly a rant about how lazy I feel the writing has gotten, and I think it's clear that the show has lost its way from the original vision of real people with powers. None of this is to say that I won't keep watching and enjoying. I love Heroes (still). I just miss when it felt grounded in a reality that I recognized.
I wonder if my recent fixation on Lyle, Mr. Muggles, and Baby!Noah is due to my ever-increasing alienation from the main Heroes cast. I looooved S1. I fell in love with all of the characters, and I couldn't even bring myself to hate Claire even though I instinctively felt that I should. The writers kept talking here and there about how this was not a show about superheroes-- it was a show about people with powers. Real people.
I don't see that anymore. At all.
My alienation began in S2, probably because all of my favorite characters suddenly became unrecognizable. I especially adored Mohinder, whose Indian heritage was so much a part of who he was. His father issues, his struggle to reconcile his logical "science mind" with the fantastical elements creeping into his life, and especially his lack of powers that in no way inhibited his awesomeness or inclusion in the story. Mohinder felt real. Does he still? Unambiguously: in no way.
In S1, these characters had jobs. They had money troubles. They had lives that needed tending to. I don't think any of their S3 personas are employed, no matter what the writers tell us. ( Cut for lengthy and detailed rant on how the various characters have moved out of the realm of realism and jumped head-first into impression. In other words, remember when all the characters had jobs? No? Me either. )
I guess all of this is mainly a rant about how lazy I feel the writing has gotten, and I think it's clear that the show has lost its way from the original vision of real people with powers. None of this is to say that I won't keep watching and enjoying. I love Heroes (still). I just miss when it felt grounded in a reality that I recognized.