Heroes #16: Building 26-Season 3 2009

[Dire Bare]

Psycho Killer,
Qu'est-ce que c'est?
fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa better
Run run run run run run run away
OH OH OH

Talking Heads in Heroes AND Chuck all on one night! Beautiful!

 

[Dire Bare]

I managed a comic book store for four years. If you set your store up to be a boy's club it will be. "Girls" were a majority of our customers and a good portion of our employees. One of latter was even a popular blonde cheerleader.

Comics aren't just for boys, Alex. Get over yourself.

Please. In reality, many women enjoy comics, as you say. In reality, there are wise owners of comic shops and RPG shops that make sure to make their stores female-friendly. And in reality, there are just as many, if not more, comic book/rpg shop owners who don't get this and create sweaty man-child geek havens where women fear to tread.

Not only that, but female-friendly comic/rpg shops are a relatively recent phenomena. I'm sure the writers for Heroes trend towards an older demographic, perhaps mid-thirties to mid-forties or even older . . . . and in our day (as teenagers), you didn't see very many girls in comic/rpg shops. Almost all of them were sweaty man-child geek havens.

So, I don't find Alex's surprise at a hot girl walking into his comic shop unrealistic at all. Of course, down the street is another comic book shop where Claire would have found a less incredulous salesperson . . . .

 

[fodigg]

Please. In reality, many women enjoy comics, as you say. In reality, there are wise owners of comic shops and RPG shops that make sure to make their stores female-friendly. And in reality, there are just as many, if not more, comic book/rpg shop owners who don't get this and create sweaty man-child geek havens where women fear to tread.

Which is what I was railing against. The part in my post where I say "if you set your shop up to be a boy's club, it will be".

I'm not denying there are idiots in the world. God no. Water is wet. The Chicago Cubs will always dissapoint me in the end. And there are stupid people. I'm simply calling them out on it.

Not only that, but female-friendly comic/rpg shops are a relatively recent phenomena. I'm sure the writers for Heroes trend towards an older demographic, perhaps mid-thirties to mid-forties or even older . . . . and in our day (as teenagers), you didn't see very many girls in comic/rpg shops. Almost all of them were sweaty man-child geek havens.

Are you getting this out of personal experience? Are you guessing about the age-demographic for the writers?

To me it seems like you're referencing a stereotype and apologizing for the writers using a stereotype. And you know what, you might be right. That doesn't make it acceptable, and I feel fully justified in calling BS on it.

So, I don't find Alex's surprise at a hot girl walking into his comic shop unrealistic at all. Of course, down the street is another comic book shop where Claire would have found a less incredulous salesperson . . . .

I find it unrealistic because the actor portraying Alex was not a "sweaty man" who needed to be in a "sweaty man haven". He's even said to be a jock, a swimmer.

That said, am I surprised by it? No, not really. This is a show about stereotypes and corresponding powers that go along with it (e.g., the blonde cheerleader, the black ex-con, the japanese office worker). So with Alex we get the geek who is awkward around girls and has a superpower like the "geekiest" member of the justice league (Which is a load of crap, for the record. Aquaman is hardcore. You try to look good wearing that much orange and green.). The thing is that the need to provide a Claire-equivalent pretty-boy and the growning trend of "geek-charm" (e.g., "Chuck") in the media makes the presentation ring false even for the stereotype.

 

[Krug]

Mixed feelings about this ep, but I think at least they are pulling together the storylines. Yes, somethings were kinda silly. Hiro/Ando finding a passage to India just like that, and Nikki doing exactly what was needed to keep funding going, but overall, at least the story's are much tighter now.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Mixed feelings about this ep, but I think at least they are pulling together the storylines. Yes, somethings were kinda silly. Hiro/Ando finding a passage to India just like that, and Nikki doing exactly what was needed to keep funding going, but overall, at least the story's are much tighter now.

I'll get behind this. For all I thought this episode wasn't that great, it certainly felt tighter than a comparible Volume 3 episode. I was surprised how fast the episode went by.

Interesting, but it would depend on if Sylar's "lie detector" ability works on things that are written down, because the kid gave him an address and it didn't go off.

In fact, the kid even said "here's his address" and it didn't go off.

Well, I'd like to believe the kid is at least a little clever. I mean, if someone can tell when you say lies, you simply don't say anything. Plus, it's a neat run-around of a power, which I always appreciate.

That said, I'll have to check the exact line when I get home, because now I'm curious what he said. I'd laugh if he simply wrote down the address Sylar was just at; technically not a lie.

 

[Dire Bare]

To me it seems like you're referencing a stereotype and apologizing for the writers using a stereotype. And you know what, you might be right. That doesn't make it acceptable, and I feel fully justified in calling BS on it.

I think we can agree that both in the past and in the present, there have been comic/rpg shops that repel females and others that attact them. We might disagree on the ratios, of course.

But to call "BS" on a script that uses one type of store rather than the other, that's projecting your feelings on how such stores *should* be portrayed. The writer's could have skipped the whole "You're a girl!" bit and maybe even shown some other hotties browsing the racks in the background. They didn't, but that doesn't make their chosen portrayal "BS".

Go take a survey of geeks and ask, "Can you find cute girls in comic shops?" You'll get plenty of responses of, "Sure!" (but not 100%) Ask the same question of a more mainstream crowd, and the most common answer you'll get is, "I doubt it." The writers for this episode took the easier "model" of a comic shop for some laughs, but it wasn't "BS" or "wrong" or even "unrealistic".

 

[Remus Lupin]

Go take a survey of geeks and ask, "Can you find cute girls in comic shops?" You'll get plenty of responses of, "Sure!" (but not 100%) Ask the same question of a more mainstream crowd, and the most common answer you'll get is, "I doubt it." The writers for this episode took the easier "model" of a comic shop for some laughs, but it wasn't "BS" or "wrong" or even "unrealistic".

Which, I think, is a reflection of the fact that many of the writers (and particularly Tim K.) don't actually know comics the way the should to be writing for this series.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Which, I think, is a reflection of the fact that many of the writers (and particularly Tim K.) don't actually know comics the way the should to be writing for this series.

You guys are evidently going to some pretty cool laid-back comic book shops then.

There may be some cutie goth Suicide Girl wannabes in the comic books stores I frequent, but the blonde All American in crowder cheerleader types wouldn't be caught dead in a comic book or gaming store.

(For the record, I married a cutie goth Suicide Girl wannabe. But I'm not going to confuse the two species, either)

Perhaps Toronto is a haven for the Old Skool and a conservative backwater.... but I doubting that more than just a little.

 

[Felon]

Please. In reality, many women enjoy comics, as you say. In reality, there are wise owners of comic shops and RPG shops that make sure to make their stores female-friendly. And in reality, there are just as many, if not more, comic book/rpg shop owners who don't get this and create sweaty man-child geek havens where women fear to tread.

Not only that, but female-friendly comic/rpg shops are a relatively recent phenomena. I'm sure the writers for Heroes trend towards an older demographic, perhaps mid-thirties to mid-forties or even older . . . . and in our day (as teenagers), you didn't see very many girls in comic/rpg shops. Almost all of them were sweaty man-child geek havens.

So, I don't find Alex's surprise at a hot girl walking into his comic shop unrealistic at all. Of course, down the street is another comic book shop where Claire would have found a less incredulous salesperson . . . .

Heroes is a show with zero subtlety and zero desire to defy expectations. The writers rarely try to simply state things implicitly, and they always take the easy route. There was a good way to handle Claire's appearance in the comic shop, but it was so much easier for them to play up the geek factor of Alex coming right out and scream GEEK by saying "durrr, we don't no girlz in here, hyuk!"

Look at the Hiro storyline, where Ando just springs into this woman's life, and she's immediately accepting of this total stnager, trusting his advice without doubt. Very little time spent on "what are you doing here and why are sticking your nose in my business, Japanes guy?" Because, y'know, it's fate answering her prayers. Sure, that works.

 

[fodigg]

I think we can agree that both in the past and in the present, there have been comic/rpg shops that repel females and others that attact them. We might disagree on the ratios, of course.

But to call "BS" on a script that uses one type of store rather than the other, that's projecting your feelings on how such stores *should* be portrayed. The writer's could have skipped the whole "You're a girl!" bit and maybe even shown some other hotties browsing the racks in the background. They didn't, but that doesn't make their chosen portrayal "BS".

But I am saying "what should be portrayed". I don't like the stereotype because it is based on a false premise: Comics are only for boys. (Or: Girls don't like comics.)

Go take a survey of geeks and ask, "Can you find cute girls in comic shops?" You'll get plenty of responses of, "Sure!" (but not 100%) Ask the same question of a more mainstream crowd, and the most common answer you'll get is, "I doubt it." The writers for this episode took the easier "model" of a comic shop for some laughs, but it wasn't "BS" or "wrong" or even "unrealistic".

You're under the false impression that I was saying that they "incorrect" in their protrayal. I was never intending to do this. I am calling "BS" on the implied concept that comics are only for boys (or only for "goth" girls for that matter). I admit in my first post that if you set up your shop to cater to one crowd then that's the crowd you will attract.

I'm not saying the portrayal was "wrong", I'm saying the theory behind the stereotype is "wrong".

I apologize for not making myself clear earlier. I thought I had put this in that first post.