Looking For A Hero

It’s unofficial but it seems NBC’s Heroes is about to become a phenomenon. I have to admit, as a comic book/superhero fan since childhood, the show is quite addictive. The characters and cast are likable and the storylines are the most seductive and mysterious since LOST. Every episode seems to play like a movie on its own. It does take some elements from LOST where all the characters have a story that entwines with the story of another character or sometimes they just pass by each other in a scene unknowingly. Their destinies is what will eventually bring them together probably in a plot to save New York from a nuclear explosion. Also, you also have the character of Hiro who speaks only in Japanese like Jin in LOST who speaks only in Korean.

The show did remind me of my childhood fascination with comic books. The series tries to tackle those themes that we always see in comic books and sometimes in the real world: destiny, hope, heroism, and good versus evil. But it also deals with how our world would react if these people actually walked amongst us; if the next step in human evolution was in fact the ability to fly or read minds or see the future. It also deals with how those people deal with the world. Using powers for good or evil.

In last week’s episode Hiro Nakamura, aka the clock-puncher aka the Japanese guy that can time travel, is at a Las Vegas casino with his friend who encourages him to use his powers in order to cheat. Hiro hesitates not wanting to use his powers for bad (being an avid comic book fan himself), but his friend convinces him that even Peter Parker took pictures of himself as Spiderman to make a living.

It’s kind of interesting to watch these characters discover who they are and what they can do even if they don’t quite understand it or want to admit it yet. Here’s a bit of irony: upon googling “heroes” the show will rank number one and the TIME 100 heroes of the past century that includes Muhammad Ali, Che Guevara and Pele, is ranked third.

While people are supposed to outgrow comics eventually, they are still a reminder of what is truly an American art form that has the ability to captivate one’s imagination. Heroes is simply a show that makes it ok for adults to experience that one more time. Because the truth is, that childhood fascination always revolved around the desire to see good prevail over evil and opening the floodgates of imagination with “what if” questions. What if you had a super power? What would it be? What you do with it? Is there actually any obligation to become a hero?

“best show ever!”