Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Heroes...And All Them Anti-Heroes


'Heroes' is still working for me...and it's something I can sort of watch with the kids, so that's a bonus (though they got a little freaked out by the episode that ended with the Cheerleader girl opened right up on the autopsy table). That one took a lot of explaining..."What was that? What were they doing to her? Why would they be doing that? But why if she wasn't dead? Even if she was dead why do that?"

I believe the last words from my son that night as he headed to bed was that he was 'scarred for life'. Wheeee!

But in a way, heroes are the minority these days - according to this great article on the plethera of tortured anti-heroes gracing the airwaves of late. And they don't even mention Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) in 'Rescue Me'.



Horace Newcomb, a director of the Peabody Awards, says it's because of: "The agony of their choices and all the deep moral ambiguity." He goes on to say:
"TV is so much better than movies these days. What's making this possible is the new direction in the medium at large. You've got a segmented audience and fragmented distribution systems, and that enables creators to be more like novelists and filmmakers."

Hear hear..heroes.

Not much gas in the tank these days, or tank in the gas for that matter...that's all I got.

SONG&ARTIST? - "I, I will be king...
And you, you will be queen.
Though nothing, nothing will drive them away...
We can beat them, just for one day."

8 comments:

Good Dog said...

I think he could have added just about every character in Battlestar Galactica as well. Certainly characters whose morals are questionable makes for better drama.

I was watching a second season episode of Lost the other day and it struck me then that the main characters are such screw-ups. Sure in the pilot we saw Jack racing around the crash site being all heroic, and identified him as the lead 'hero', but virtually every decision he has made has been wrong. And he is one stubborn son of a bitch. Ditto Locke. ...excellent!

greg said...

Great post.

Cause what is the deal with all these anti-heros anyway?

And even on that damn show - the cheerleader tries to kill the quarterback? The artist shoots up heroin? The flying sentator sleeps with a stripper?

You have an interesting choice of viewing patterns for your kids :)

Oh yeah. Heroes - David Bowie. And if someone wrote down that the Wallflowers wrote it - they should be shot...

Jana B said...

OMW I can't imagine trying to explain the morgue scene to kids!!! LOL that had to be hilarious! (I mean, it would have been hilarious for me to watch YOU doing it! Hahaha)

wcdixon said...

Okay - before this gets out of hand, let it just be said that it's not like I'm tieing the twins (nearly 11) to the couch to 'do something with dad!' It had a kind of Xmen or Smallville quality (though can get a bit darker - witness sexymom's alter ego and blood splattered rooms). Anyway, they've gone back to watching 'Kim Possible' or 'That's So Raven'.,,not as much interest in seeing 'Heroes' this week.

That said, Chopped N*ts cracks me up once again - excellent fathering indeed.

ME said...

Will, at least you didn't lock the twins out in the hall last night ;-)

I do wish Heroes would movie along a teeny bit faster though.

Very good post.

PS Anybody going as anything for Halloween? I may be going to a party and am looking for costume ideas.

Cunningham said...

I'm going as a dead cheerleader with an autopsy scar and a branch sticking out of my head...

wcdixon said...

Awww man, Bill...my son just read this and ran screaming from the room. Sheesh.

rubixcubeman said...

If you like Heroes you'll love my blog, http://therealheroes.blogspot.com All about real heroes who have super powers just like the folks on the show. If you have a story thats out of the ordinary, or if you know a real life hero story come share it with me. If you have a hero story blogged, I'll link to it. Heroes is the best show on tv!