Heroes and misogyny

[keestone]

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"

Comments

[htbthomas]

Okay, wow. I completely see your point here. And rawk, you mentioned my favorite comic, SMLMJ, as well as Alias. (Though avert your eyes if you hear what Bendis might be doing to Jessica in New Avengers lately). (I also notice that your recs are almost all Marvel... DC has serious WiR issues).

I do have some hope for at least two of the new female characters, especially the Hispanic one (name?). And Hana is dead?? Where did I miss that? (Isn't that up in the air?)

Thanks for clarifying your points, here. I appreciate it, especially the detail you went into!

[keestone]

According to Wikipedia, she died in the tie-in graphic novel (what? She wasn't even worth an onscreen death?). I'd been wondering why she disappeared since she had a pretty cool power and it was an awkward "Where'd she go" moment as far as I was concerned, so I added that. (It was like watching Vertigo and wondering where the only interesting female character went to.) I honestly doubt I'll be watching the next season. I felt like I was watching too much TV this year to begin with, what with Bones, House, Battlestar Galactica, and The Dresden Files (all of which made me happy to watch them rather than annoying the heck out of me).

It's a lovely little comic, isn't it? :D I pretty much read the comics donnaustin recommends me, and I think when it comes to mainstream superhero stuff, he mainly gets the Marvel Ultimate line (not to mention, he knows me well enough to know what I'd be likely to throw across the room). The Authority and Planetary are both Wildstorm which is an imprint of DC, so I guess you could count them for DC. (I didn'

[htbthomas]

I mainly read on recs, too. Though now, as a result, I read an ungodly number of titles, mostly Marvel, with a couple DC (Superman-related usually). What else has donnaustin recommended you? Should I ask him?

Another Wiki I looked at mentioned that Hana had been communicating with Micah post-death. So maybe she's not as dead as she seems? And her website (the NBC sockpuppet) is apparently still active... *shrugs*

Well, I understand why you're ditching the show. I've done that to other shows with much less provocation.

[keestone]

Could be, but it's just as likely that Hana communicating with Micah post-death will end up as some sort of push for him to have a story arc in which he becomes less of a kiddy-pawn. (I've never looked at any of the Heroes stuff extraneous to the TV show itself, partly because I watched the show on Irish TV, and it aired a good while after it did in the States.)

I'm sure donnaustin'd be willing to recommend. He's almost as bad of a comics pusher as I am a SF&F books pusher. :) He doesn't really pick up that many superhero titles. IIRC, his favorite titles include Transmetropolitan and Planetary. Among other things, he's currently feeding me Fables and Jack of Fables, Y the Last Man, Crossing Midnight, Buffy season 8, Runaways . . . I can't remember what else right now. Oh yeah. I'm halfway through the most recent collection of Ultimate Fantastic Four. I set it down and got busy, and then The Sharing Knife: Legacy got published, and then Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows got published, and then I got a few other books I'd been

[donnaustin]

The term W.I.R. is coined from D.C. Comics Green Lantern #54 where G.L. comes home to find his girlfriend murdered and stuffed in the fridge. The Wikipedia link gives a lot of info on the origins.

That being said, Heroes has screamed "expendable female character" from the get-go. Interestingly, while many comic writers have responded to the W.I.R. Syndrome in comics, Jeph Loeb, the big kahuna on Heroes has not, to my knowledge ever done so.

His treatment of female characters may follow comics convention in general. As point of reference - Batman: Long Halloween.
Perhaps he writes to these conventions perforce, I can't really speculate. But when his name appears on Heroes and W.I.R. syndrome gets translated onto prime time television?
Then in my mind, we start to have a problem.

[keestone]

I bow to your expertise. :D

It sounds like Jeff Loeb needs to be called out.

Heroes and misogyny

[donnaustin]

Male Characters

Re: Heroes and misogyny

[donnaustin]

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

[donnaustin]

But wait, It gets better. The first episode of Season 2 will introduce us to a new Hero. There's going to be an (O)Irish Mobster called Blackie introduced to the series who's apparently 1,000 years old.
Pass the sick bag.

[sorrelchestnut]

The only thing I'd want to dispute is the fact that Wireless (Hana Gitelman) isn't techinically dead. Her body died, as she managed to take out the entire Company satellite in outer space, so basically she lost her physical self kicking ass, but she still survives on the internet, where she is still kicking the Company's ass. A lot. On the other hand, that's all in the comics, and not in the show at all, so in terms of the mass media fucking up gender roles yet again, probably does not count.

Everything else? Scarily right on target.

[sorrelchestnut]

Uh, sorry. Here from your link to this on the Heroes meta thing over on

[keestone]

Cool.

I only really had knowledge of the first season of the series. I wasn't reading the online comic (which I believe eventually have the Haitian a name as well?). She just showed up and disappeared without remark on the TV show, and when I tried to find out what happened I found a synopsis saying she'd died.

[sorrelchestnut]

Ah, okay, that makes sense. You should check out her story arc online, though, it's actually really really cool. The comics are often actually a lot better than the show, especially these days.

[bloodrebel333]

*puts in LJ memories*

[keestone]

Glad you found it worth reading. :)