Heroes Takes a Stand…

Posted by Maggie April 24th, 2007 at 12:51pm In Heroes

… on the “war on terror.”

Cheney. Bush. Get it?

Linderman suggested last night that the small loss of life in the blowing up of New York is worth it for Nathan to become president and unite humanity in fear. Oh really, Lindy? It’s pretty clear that the show doesn’t agree with the L-man’s assessment: the ends don’t justify the means, and it’s sickening to think you could use this tragedy to become president, further your agenda, take away people’s civil liberties, etc, etc. I think you get where they’re going with this.

Frankly, though I cheered when I realized what they were doing, I was surprised the show went there. I love Heroes, mostly for its tight, imaginative storytelling, but I’ve never thought of it as a particularly socially-conscious TV show. Sci-fi often (always?) has an allegorical and sometimes political bent, but this particular show seemed more interested in the human drama than the wide-ranging implications of whatever’s happening in the world.

Maybe it’s inevitable that a show about people who are “different” and in some way persecuted should become political, with at least similarities and comments upon the real world. I guess I didn’t expect it to be so incredibly obvious a connection. In a show like Battlestar Galactica, the ways that the story comments upon real life are often shifting and subject to interpretation: Sometimes we’re the Cylons, sometimes the Cylons are terrorists, sometimes there isn’t a one-to-one comparison to be made. At its best, good sci-fi can make you question your assumptions about what’s happening in the real world.

I’m not sure that Heroes has gotten to that point yet — so far, the story they’ve proposed doesn’t have that layer of ambiguity. But I’m excited to see what they do and glad they’re going for it.

In other news, Peter has a new hairdo.

Makes him look older. Rowr.