Heroes of the Left
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Juan Cole, professor of modern Middle East and South Asian History at the University of Michigan and blogger for Informed Comment, and Doug Elfman, television critic for The Chicago Sun-Times, discuss whether the TV show Heroes is the liberal answer to 24.
Comments [9]
As a fan of both Heroes and 24, I must say that I'm more drawn toward the democracy of Heroes, in which even the smallest character has a role to play and makes a difference in the world. This is a stark contrast to Jack Bauer's super-soldier, a one-man-army who runs his counter terrorism operation as a sort of autocrat.
I tried to get into 24 this season, but when the story began with Jack Bauer doing unspeakable things to his own family I figured it could only go downhill from there--and I didn't want to go there. No more 24 for me.
Also, it seems to be very repetitious--may be time to let it have a good finale. Finito, finale.
Kerry O'Neiil feels the same way I do, yet it's just for people who think reading comic books are geeky, let alone childish.
"Heroes" is retreading what already occured with the X-Men titles and the 12-part "Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Hell, there's also the now-concluded "Civil War" mini-series at Marvel Comics, where superhumans, after a nuclear devastation involving some of the them, are forced to register with the government. Some do; others don't. Ergo, I rather watch "24"
The message of Heroes is that we can beat the badguys by "loving" them? As I recall, in the last two episodes, one main villain had his brain pulled out of his head, another main villain was shot in the head, and a third villain was stabbed. So much for "peaceful" resolutions.
I have also started to catch re-runs of "24." I was surprised to find that in the world of 24, America is not only under constant attack by foreign powers, but its government is completely infiltrated by traitors! I'm not sure 24 is that far to the right, or that Heroes is such a lefty-dream.
24 to me is such a bad thing for America in general, a show based around fear and endless tension of some looming doomsday apocalypse that never arrives. Heroes to me doesn't live off of fear in the same regard, but whether that suggests a right of left slant to either is in the eye of the beholder.
Heroes (although a good show) presents derivative story lines that appeared in the comic books X-Men and Watchmen which both were created prior to today's current events.
Is 24 really that far to the right? The bad guys include Americans. The motives include money and idealogy. In the last season the right wing tried to kill the president because he wasn't willing to use excessive military force to send a message to our enemies. The bad politicians seem to parallel the current administration in their actions and desires.
I thought the last 2 seasons in particular made statements about the actions of the Bush administrations.
* yawn *
I watched both 24 and heroes this year.
I still watch 24 because my friends and I have watched it since the beginning. and we talk about it every week. it was full of filler, much better if it was called 18 (18 hours instead of 24.)
heroes is a much better show for many reasons: better storyline, better character development, and TEAMWORK is the theme. 24 has one hero, sometimes he's good sometimes he's bad but he always wins.
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