Heroes and misogyny
I've mentioned in a few conversations now that I found Heroes misogynist to the point where I couldn't enjoy what had had potential to be a good TV show. donnaustin actually noticed it before me (possibly because he is far more widely read than me in comics in general and the superhero genre in particular), and mentioned the "Women in Refrigerators" syndrome before the pattern became really, really noticeable and I started getting really, really annoyed. The pattern did indeed get really, really noticeable, so I figured I'd compile a list. As far as I can tell, this is a mostly complete list of characters (not counting kids). I'm not adding a few (like strippers and various extras who work for Linderman), but I think I've got the majority of the people with powers or recurring characters. There are some slightly hinky racial stereotyping issues as well, but I'm a bit more focused on gender issues here.
Male Characters:
Hiro -- Probably most popular character. Lovable, powerful, kick ass character arc, gets a sword. Some motivation due to death of cute girl.
Ando -- Loyal sidekick - no powers, but complex, sympathetic character.
Nathan Petrelli -- Italian name = mob connections? (bit of a stereotype methinks?) Classic power. Fun mix of Superman power and jawline with rather anti-classic superhero character traits.
Peter Petrelli -- Awesome power. Good character arc -- but at the same time, why the love triangle?
Matt Parkman -- Interesting character arc, one of the more sympathetic characters. I really like Matt. In fact, after seeing him in a guest role in House, I think I really like the actor. I'll be keeping an eye out for Greg Grunberg.
Noah Bennet -- I really hope his character arc wasn't meant to be redemptive, because it totally wasn't. Not a nice guy. Basically, repeatedly mind-rapes his wife. (Well, he does it to his entire family, but mostly his wife, and she's the one who ends up with serious damage from all the mind-wipes.
The Haitian -- Somebody give him a name please?
Issac Mendez -- Interesting character, good twist on the power. Dies being a hero. A large part of his motivation is the fact that he killed his ex-girlfriend who he still loved. *gack!*
Mohinder Suresh -- Motivated by the death of his father, who was motivated by the death of his sister.
Theodore Sprague -- Motivated by grief from his powers killing his wife. Eventually killed by Syler.
Suresh Sr. -- Motivated by the death of his daughter. Killed by Syler.
Linderman -- Bad guy with healing powers. Pretty cool in person, but got pretty annoying as the bogey man that everybody kept mentioning.
Syler -- Started as kinda cool, but rapidly became boring to me. Motivated by the trauma of being told how special he is by his weird, overbearing mother -- Kills her. *gag*
DL -- Ye gods and little fishes this character is boring. He's supposed to be sympathetic though, and a good father figure in that he tries his hardest even if he doesn't wholly succeed.
Zane Taylor -- Sylar's victim. Dead in episode of introduction.
Telekinetic -- Only shown in flashback, so I don't even know that I should count him. The first of Sylar's victims, so he's dead.
Invisible man -- Cool power. Interesting minor character. Survivor. Compare to Claire's biological mother. He ends up helping Peter instead of just grabbing money and running.
Zach -- Minor character. Claire's friend. Mindwiped, but not dead.
Mr. Deveraux -- Don't know what his power was yet. Died a natural death at the end of a long life, and seems to have power or foresight to influence from beyond the grave to some extent.
Hiro's father -- Minor and Enigmatic as of yet.
Female Characters:
Nikki/Jessica -- In addition to being both the most boring and the most annoying character in the entire show... Um, yeah. Stripper cum assassin. Can you get more stereotypically wank fodder than hot stripper chicks with guns? Even better. Mentally ill hot chick with guns. We could go into the whole concept of "hysteria" here, or just the Freudian concept of Conversion disorders-- "a result of the conversion of intrapsychic distress in to physical symptoms"*.
Claire -- There's the whole cheerleader sexual object thing going on, but there is a true to life nod to complexity with the smart, different girl who thinks that the way to be happy is to live the stereotype. I like Claire. I really do. She reminds me of my little sister. But, by virtue of her power, she's the ultimate victim, and it's immediately linked to sexual violence. First episode what do we get? Claire as the victim of attempted rape that is only attempted because she dies (albeit temporarily). Not to mention, her death, structurally speaking is so that Peter Petrelli can be a hero.
Mrs. Bennett -- Um, continually mind-raped. There's no nice way to put it. Claire's accusations of abuse in the hospital were understatements. Lovely. This isn't even mentioning the bad stereotype of the housewife with the yappy dog that she lavishes her attention on.
Eden -- Hey. Just look at the name. Little Ms. Power of Suggestion is The Temptress. Just add serpent iconography and you've hit the jackpot. Then, she dies.
Illusion caster-- If she has a name I can't remember it, but she's basically Temptress 2.0, now more evil. See above.
Matron Petrelli -- Wow. Manipulative mother with an Italian surname. That's a move towards complexity. Not to mention, mob connections, and she's on the side of the bad guys.
Mrs. Petrelli -- The car crash in which Nathan discovers his power puts her in a wheelchair. Why? To give Nathan emotional complexity.
Charlie -- I really liked her, and she died in the episode she was introduced in. Why? To motivate Hiro.
Dale Smither -- Once again, a possibly cool female character who dies in the episode she's introduced in.
FBI Agent Audrey Hanson -- I love her, but she's a minor character. Notably, no powers. She only shows up in a few episodes, and she's clearly underpowered in trying to catch Syler. She's tough. She's competent. But not enough.
Mrs. Parkman -- Cheating wife and preggers. Also, no powers and out of the picture.
Ted Sprague's Wife. -- Dead, dead, dead. Why? To give Ted a motivation.
Mrs. Syler -- Oh look! Manipulative, overbearing mother's insanity turned her son eeeevil! Not to mention, dead, dead, dead!
Simone Devareux -- Started out cool (as in, cool, beautiful woman of color in a strong, taking care of business role), turned into cheating girlfriend for emotional impact for Isaac, then dead, dead, dead.
Claire's biological Mother -- For a change, we have a manipulative deadbeat mother. Not dead yet, but out of the picture.
Wireless -- dead, dead, dead.
Jackie -- Total cheerleader "mean popular girl" stereotype. Dead.
Hiro's sister -- Minor and has hardly said anything yet, but obviously smart. No power, but remarkable in that she is singled out by Hiro as being a better choice to run the family business (of course, this is in order to let him be a Hero, but looking for something positive here).
So basically, if you're a female character with a decent power, it's so that one of the male characters can have the power. If you're lucky and Claire, you may still survive. Otherwise, you're bad or seriously defective, a dead plot device, or practically non-existent. Mostly, you're a dead plot device. Male characters may end up dead, but they've got a much better chance of actually having complexities and something in the way of a character arc rather than simply functioning as a plot device to motivate another (male) character. The closest thing to an exception is Agent Hanson, but that's just not enough. I'm not saying that every female character has to be super-incredible and a perfect role-model. Nor am I saying that all the female characters have to survive. However, this is not a healthy pattern. Superhero comics have had a lot of growing up to do, and they have done quite a bit of growing up. Alias is probably one of my favorite comics so far, but even Marvel's The Ultimates deals with domestic abuse in a somewhat sensitive manner (not something you'd necessarily expect from a Superhero comic). There are lovely little titles like Spider-man Loves Mary Jane, and some serious kick-ass female superheroes (who are OMG! complex human characters) in titles like Planetary and The Authority (Jenny Sparks totally rocks). A TV show that gives homage to comic books does not need to stoop to the worst of the bad old patterns. And considering that Jeff Loeb is one of the writers and executive producers of Heroes, you can't shrug it off as lack of knowledge of comics.
* Wikipedia. Accuracy in psychology isn't really necessary, as it's cultural baggage I'm more concerned with.
Male Characters:
Hiro -- Probably most popular character. Lovable, powerful, kick ass character arc, gets a sword. Some motivation due to death of cute girl.
Ando -- Loyal sidekick - no powers, but complex, sympathetic character.
Nathan Petrelli -- Italian name = mob connections? (bit of a stereotype methinks?) Classic power. Fun mix of Superman power and jawline with rather anti-classic superhero character traits.
Peter Petrelli -- Awesome power. Good character arc -- but at the same time, why the love triangle?
Matt Parkman -- Interesting character arc, one of the more sympathetic characters. I really like Matt. In fact, after seeing him in a guest role in House, I think I really like the actor. I'll be keeping an eye out for Greg Grunberg.
Noah Bennet -- I really hope his character arc wasn't meant to be redemptive, because it totally wasn't. Not a nice guy. Basically, repeatedly mind-rapes his wife. (Well, he does it to his entire family, but mostly his wife, and she's the one who ends up with serious damage from all the mind-wipes.
The Haitian -- Somebody give him a name please?
Issac Mendez -- Interesting character, good twist on the power. Dies being a hero. A large part of his motivation is the fact that he killed his ex-girlfriend who he still loved. *gack!*
Mohinder Suresh -- Motivated by the death of his father, who was motivated by the death of his sister.
Theodore Sprague -- Motivated by grief from his powers killing his wife. Eventually killed by Syler.
Suresh Sr. -- Motivated by the death of his daughter. Killed by Syler.
Linderman -- Bad guy with healing powers. Pretty cool in person, but got pretty annoying as the bogey man that everybody kept mentioning.
Syler -- Started as kinda cool, but rapidly became boring to me. Motivated by the trauma of being told how special he is by his weird, overbearing mother -- Kills her. *gag*
DL -- Ye gods and little fishes this character is boring. He's supposed to be sympathetic though, and a good father figure in that he tries his hardest even if he doesn't wholly succeed.
Zane Taylor -- Sylar's victim. Dead in episode of introduction.
Telekinetic -- Only shown in flashback, so I don't even know that I should count him. The first of Sylar's victims, so he's dead.
Invisible man -- Cool power. Interesting minor character. Survivor. Compare to Claire's biological mother. He ends up helping Peter instead of just grabbing money and running.
Zach -- Minor character. Claire's friend. Mindwiped, but not dead.
Mr. Deveraux -- Don't know what his power was yet. Died a natural death at the end of a long life, and seems to have power or foresight to influence from beyond the grave to some extent.
Hiro's father -- Minor and Enigmatic as of yet.
Female Characters:
Nikki/Jessica -- In addition to being both the most boring and the most annoying character in the entire show... Um, yeah. Stripper cum assassin. Can you get more stereotypically wank fodder than hot stripper chicks with guns? Even better. Mentally ill hot chick with guns. We could go into the whole concept of "hysteria" here, or just the Freudian concept of Conversion disorders-- "a result of the conversion of intrapsychic distress in to physical symptoms"*.
Claire -- There's the whole cheerleader sexual object thing going on, but there is a true to life nod to complexity with the smart, different girl who thinks that the way to be happy is to live the stereotype. I like Claire. I really do. She reminds me of my little sister. But, by virtue of her power, she's the ultimate victim, and it's immediately linked to sexual violence. First episode what do we get? Claire as the victim of attempted rape that is only attempted because she dies (albeit temporarily). Not to mention, her death, structurally speaking is so that Peter Petrelli can be a hero.
Mrs. Bennett -- Um, continually mind-raped. There's no nice way to put it. Claire's accusations of abuse in the hospital were understatements. Lovely. This isn't even mentioning the bad stereotype of the housewife with the yappy dog that she lavishes her attention on.
Eden -- Hey. Just look at the name. Little Ms. Power of Suggestion is The Temptress. Just add serpent iconography and you've hit the jackpot. Then, she dies.
Illusion caster-- If she has a name I can't remember it, but she's basically Temptress 2.0, now more evil. See above.
Matron Petrelli -- Wow. Manipulative mother with an Italian surname. That's a move towards complexity. Not to mention, mob connections, and she's on the side of the bad guys.
Mrs. Petrelli -- The car crash in which Nathan discovers his power puts her in a wheelchair. Why? To give Nathan emotional complexity.
Charlie -- I really liked her, and she died in the episode she was introduced in. Why? To motivate Hiro.
Dale Smither -- Once again, a possibly cool female character who dies in the episode she's introduced in.
FBI Agent Audrey Hanson -- I love her, but she's a minor character. Notably, no powers. She only shows up in a few episodes, and she's clearly underpowered in trying to catch Syler. She's tough. She's competent. But not enough.
Mrs. Parkman -- Cheating wife and preggers. Also, no powers and out of the picture.
Ted Sprague's Wife. -- Dead, dead, dead. Why? To give Ted a motivation.
Mrs. Syler -- Oh look! Manipulative, overbearing mother's insanity turned her son eeeevil! Not to mention, dead, dead, dead!
Simone Devareux -- Started out cool (as in, cool, beautiful woman of color in a strong, taking care of business role), turned into cheating girlfriend for emotional impact for Isaac, then dead, dead, dead.
Claire's biological Mother -- For a change, we have a manipulative deadbeat mother. Not dead yet, but out of the picture.
Wireless -- dead, dead, dead.
Jackie -- Total cheerleader "mean popular girl" stereotype. Dead.
Hiro's sister -- Minor and has hardly said anything yet, but obviously smart. No power, but remarkable in that she is singled out by Hiro as being a better choice to run the family business (of course, this is in order to let him be a Hero, but looking for something positive here).
So basically, if you're a female character with a decent power, it's so that one of the male characters can have the power. If you're lucky and Claire, you may still survive. Otherwise, you're bad or seriously defective, a dead plot device, or practically non-existent. Mostly, you're a dead plot device. Male characters may end up dead, but they've got a much better chance of actually having complexities and something in the way of a character arc rather than simply functioning as a plot device to motivate another (male) character. The closest thing to an exception is Agent Hanson, but that's just not enough. I'm not saying that every female character has to be super-incredible and a perfect role-model. Nor am I saying that all the female characters have to survive. However, this is not a healthy pattern. Superhero comics have had a lot of growing up to do, and they have done quite a bit of growing up. Alias is probably one of my favorite comics so far, but even Marvel's The Ultimates deals with domestic abuse in a somewhat sensitive manner (not something you'd necessarily expect from a Superhero comic). There are lovely little titles like Spider-man Loves Mary Jane, and some serious kick-ass female superheroes (who are OMG! complex human characters) in titles like Planetary and The Authority (Jenny Sparks totally rocks). A TV show that gives homage to comic books does not need to stoop to the worst of the bad old patterns. And considering that Jeff Loeb is one of the writers and executive producers of Heroes, you can't shrug it off as lack of knowledge of comics.
* Wikipedia. Accuracy in psychology isn't really necessary, as it's cultural baggage I'm more concerned with.