According
to Martin & Nakayama, pop culture can be defined as: “a new name for low culture, referring to
those cultural products that most people share and know about, including
television, music, videos, and popular magazines" (2010). As it’s
name suggests, what makes up pop culture constantly changes depending on the
changes in society as time goes on. For instance, television shows that were
popular with teens in the States in the 80’s are known only by a few of the
teenagers today.
But
one of the most interesting things about pop culture is that it focuses on what
society determines as important, and as such, provides us with an interesting
glimpse into what our society considers important today. More than that, it
shows us an unchanged view, intentionally or not, about stereotypes in society.
Despite trying to change things, the show Heroes falls into the same pitfalls
as it stereotypes its characters.
The
premise of Heroes is about seemingly ordinary people around the world who gain
superpowers and how that proceeds to change their lives. The show is about the
existential struggles faced by people in this post-modern society, namely that
they struggle to find purpose and meaning in life, and the concept of what
being a hero is truly about. But in its very attempt to create these “ordinary
people,” the show falls back on stereotypical characters.
Perhaps
the most obvious stereotype the show caters to is the “nerdy-Asian.” Enter Hiro
Nakamura, a man who’s nearly 30 and works as a computer programmer in a small
cubicle office in Japan. He’s obsessed with comic books and Star Trek and wants
to be special. This description itself is filled with so many things that
people consider being true about Asians in general: that they can only be
programmers, that they’re all “nerds” or that they’re obsessed with comics
(quite ironic since the show itself uses comic books as it’s main influence).
Perhaps it was the show creators being lazy, but in trying to create this
“ordinary Japanese man” they chose to be influenced by how modern Americans
think of Japanese people and not only fell in to the stereotype but reinforced
it as well. Now it is important to note that Hiro Nakamura quickly became one
of the show’s most loved characters and was very popular with fans, but it
doesn’t change the fact that he is a stereotype that does not favorably display
the average Japanese male. It should also be noted, that for a show based off
comic books, Hiro is the only adult character (the other being a young boy,
Micah) who actually reads comic books, giving the impression that comic books
are only for children and “nerds.” But that cannot be further from the truth,
with comics being enjoyed by people of all ages.
 |
| Hiro Nakamura Power: Space-Time Manipulation |
Hiro
and his fellow characters all subscribe to a stereotype, and that the creators
of the show use their powers to bring them out of that stereotype certainly
doesn’t look very nice. But the show’s central theme, of what would people do
if they had super powers, is an incredible deviation from the norm. The
creators choose to use stereotypes and change them around in order to provide a
commentary on what society thinks about the meaning of the word “hero.” This
example would probably be best illustrated with the character of Peter
Petrelli. The show portrays him as the combination of two of its main themes:
that of being a hero and the existential problems faced by people today.
Peter is the
stereotypical hero; he has this dire need to save the world and wants to help
people as much as he can. This need has him becoming a nurse, and giving the
people who are dying, comfort in their last moments, something his own family
uses to make fun of him. But, as with all heroes, Peter brushes this aside, and
continues forward. But this is where his problems begin, for Peter doesn’t
truly enjoy his job, and wished desperately to be something more, feeling that
he isn’t serving his true purpose in life. Not that he actually knows what this
“purpose” is. He, like so many others in this post-modern world, is lost,
trying to give his life meaning. And this is where his powers come in. Using
his powers, Peter is able to do what he always wanted, help people. At least
that’s what he thinks. As so the creators take this stereotypical hero, whose
powers now define his life, and show their viewers that a hero doesn’t always
win. Characterized in the finale of the first season, Peter becomes the bomb destined
to destroy New York City; the very thing he was trying to prevent throughout
the season, and his brother, the stereotypical “shady-power-hungry-politician”
becomes the hero instead. The show even goes further as to examine what
happens, when Peter, a character so obsessed with being a hero, loses his
powers, and struggles to get them back.
 |
| Peter Petrelli Power: Emphatic Mimicry (Ability replication) |
Peter and Hiro are
just two characters of a very complex cast of people in a show that tries to
take as many stereotypes as possible and break them down. The show is filled
with people who don’t want these powers, people who use them for personal gain,
people like Peter and Hiro who want to be heroes and people who just want to
continue their lives as normal. The creators try to show the grey areas that
come up with people having super powers, that gaining such power doesn’t just
turn people into typical heroes or villains and that they’re plenty of other
people that can exist.
Now could the
creators have done this differently? Could they have avoided catering to the
very stereotypes they were trying to break down? Certainly. Hiro could have
been depicted as a geneticist instead of a programmer or Peter could have been
an honest politician trying to change things for the better. But despite these
initial mistakes, the show does a brilliant job of examining the stereotypes
about super powers and the existential struggle present in society today.
Works Cited
Martin, Judith N., and Thomas K.
Nakayama. Intercultural Communication in Contexts. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print.
Heroes – all 4 seasons can be found
on Netflix.
No comments:
Post a Comment