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Heroes #11: The Eclipse : Part 2/Dec2008
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<blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 4573176" data-attributes="member: 20741"><p><strong><u>Thesis:</u></strong> The problem is that the show has been TOO influenced by comic books.</p><p></p><p>I know this is throwing a gauntlet down on the ground at a place like EnWorld, but the inherent strength - and weakness - of comic books is the unchanging nature of the characters.</p><p></p><p>Events happen, but only rarely do they have a real impact on the archetypes in the tale. The characters and their motivations, even when they achieve a 3d quality to some aspects of the characters, are like memory foam. They just don't change much, no matter how much you crush them over time. </p><p></p><p>Perhaps it is because comic books in the Silver Age were traditionally focused on a moving readership (read: target age group) that were loyal to the title and genre for a relatively short period of time during their tweens/adolescence - and then most of them moved on. (And it does <strong>not</strong> make you defective if you didn't move on. It simply makes you the exception to the rule in terms of the assumption of the target market).</p><p></p><p>The essential character remained, to be repackaged, reset and resold to the next batch of readers. This served the comic book industry well. It is also serves the movie industry well, as the volume of material that Hollywood consumes in terms of a particular hero's tale is relatively small. (And when they reach a point where they have made too many movies in the series, they find themselves in the need to "revise, reset, resell" the franchise. Just like in the comic books.)</p><p></p><p>But this approach does NOT serve the Television industry well in terms of a serialized drama. There is simply too much material that needs to be developed for the same audience. The unchanging nature of the characters breaks down under this repeated and relentless scrutiny by the same viewers. </p><p></p><p>Just as rarely in the classic comic book genre do events have far ranging and permanent consequences, so it is with Heroes as a series. Season 1 is the origin story and that goes more or less swimmingly... until it comes to its conclusion. After that, nothing progresses. With a few exceptions - nothing after Season 1 has any consequences at all. Nothing is permanent. The story and characters revert like memory foam.</p><p></p><p>Changes? There are no changes. There are basically no consequences, either. It is all one big theme park ride. It always comes back to the beginning.</p><p></p><p>So it may be that Heroes is in some respects very true to the genre and medium (at least at a particular point in its history) which inspired it.</p><p></p><p>But it makes for an increasingly bad serialized drama to its core audience. Those who are fans of the show, who stick with it, see repeatedly that the plot they are watching has no real consequences. It has plot devices to be sure, but no real consequences.</p><p></p><p>Not sure what they need to do to fix this. Better writers, surely, but seems to me the big guy, the one who has presided over this inconsequential slide, is the guy who should take the blame. </p><p></p><p>This is Tim Kring's fault.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Steel_Wind, post: 4573176, member: 20741"] [B][U]Thesis:[/U][/B] The problem is that the show has been TOO influenced by comic books. I know this is throwing a gauntlet down on the ground at a place like EnWorld, but the inherent strength - and weakness - of comic books is the unchanging nature of the characters. Events happen, but only rarely do they have a real impact on the archetypes in the tale. The characters and their motivations, even when they achieve a 3d quality to some aspects of the characters, are like memory foam. They just don't change much, no matter how much you crush them over time. Perhaps it is because comic books in the Silver Age were traditionally focused on a moving readership (read: target age group) that were loyal to the title and genre for a relatively short period of time during their tweens/adolescence - and then most of them moved on. (And it does [B]not[/B] make you defective if you didn't move on. It simply makes you the exception to the rule in terms of the assumption of the target market). The essential character remained, to be repackaged, reset and resold to the next batch of readers. This served the comic book industry well. It is also serves the movie industry well, as the volume of material that Hollywood consumes in terms of a particular hero's tale is relatively small. (And when they reach a point where they have made too many movies in the series, they find themselves in the need to "revise, reset, resell" the franchise. Just like in the comic books.) But this approach does NOT serve the Television industry well in terms of a serialized drama. There is simply too much material that needs to be developed for the same audience. The unchanging nature of the characters breaks down under this repeated and relentless scrutiny by the same viewers. Just as rarely in the classic comic book genre do events have far ranging and permanent consequences, so it is with Heroes as a series. Season 1 is the origin story and that goes more or less swimmingly... until it comes to its conclusion. After that, nothing progresses. With a few exceptions - nothing after Season 1 has any consequences at all. Nothing is permanent. The story and characters revert like memory foam. Changes? There are no changes. There are basically no consequences, either. It is all one big theme park ride. It always comes back to the beginning. So it may be that Heroes is in some respects very true to the genre and medium (at least at a particular point in its history) which inspired it. But it makes for an increasingly bad serialized drama to its core audience. Those who are fans of the show, who stick with it, see repeatedly that the plot they are watching has no real consequences. It has plot devices to be sure, but no real consequences. Not sure what they need to do to fix this. Better writers, surely, but seems to me the big guy, the one who has presided over this inconsequential slide, is the guy who should take the blame. This is Tim Kring's fault. [/QUOTE]
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