Heroes

     When it first started on television, I wasn't all that interested in watching Heroes. Since, I've started to see the various shows that have similar theories behind them like Eureka and Warehouse 13.  There is something behind the idea that humans have the power and ability to achieve more than we think we can.

     It's kind of entertaining how strongly we cling to this idea that we can be more than the average person. Escapism culture has taken on a new element--not only can we escape whatever events in our lives are bothering us, but we can start to escape from the elements of ourselves that have negative connections. By knowing or thinking that we can achieve more than the average person - that we each have some sort of magical super power - there is no longer that moment of looking at the self and criticizing it. Instead we each look at the self and only see the superpower--the positive side of it. 

     There are so many different powers in this show - a teen-aged cheerleader who is indestructible  an underachieving Japanese man who can bend space and time, an american who can fly - his brother is running for Senate, and the brilliant Indian biologist who ties them all together. The characters haven't had many adventures yet, I've just started watching Heroes, but they're just learning that they have powers. I'm excited to catch up with the show and all its spin-offs. 

Just a thought...

Stephie

New Obsessions: BBC America

     This last week was Spring Break for my university so I've had some free time on my hands, actually I've had a lot of free time on my hands. I started watching Doctor Who this evening--it's the first new episode since Christmas--but got caught by the new shows that followed.
     Orphan Black and The Nerdist were interesting: Orphan Black is about a woman who watches someone who looks just like her jump in front of a train. She takes on the woman's identity and strange things start to happen in the dead woman's life. The Nerdist is about all things nerdy. The host, Chris Hardwick, described the show as a place where any thing that people can obsess over, talk about, argue about, then talk about more can be explored and talked about. I thought it was an accurate description of being a nerd; it's also a description John Green used when talking about nerds and nerdiness in his vlog. But it's also an accurate description of Tumblr, so The Nerdist is Tumblr in a television show.
     It looks like we, as a society, are becoming more interested in talking about our interests in an informal and impersonal manner. What happened to book clubs and other organizations where people meet up in real life and talk about things?
     I know I'm a culprit of this same anti-social mingling; I am, after all, talking to you from my computer while you're out there on your computer or smart phone, but what happens outside of these glowing boxes? Will we revert to finding meeting places and talking about things just as people have started writing letters again? Or will we stay tethered to the magic box that allows us to travel to an alternate world where all the other people are traveling to talk about their obsessions.

Just a thought....
Stephie