Ziro in on an Eclipse: a Closer Look at Hiro Nakamura
Heroes was perhaps the most popular prime time TV drama last year, and for a good reason. The show displayed some of the best special effects made for the small screen, a great cast, and a gripping premise. For those of you who are not too familiar with the series, the show is set in modern day (mostly in the United States) where numerous people discover that they can perform superhuman feats that defy every law known to man. The show follows several story arcs that eventually meet in a final confrontation. They learn from very early on in the story that a nuclear explosion will go off in the middle of Manhattan some time in the future, and that each of them must play a part to stop it.
There is not a doubt in my mind that Heroes draws plenty of influence from X-men. They present the same basis, setting, deal with many of the same themes, and many of the characters share the same powers. One such scene from Heroes involving Candice hits a strikingly similar note to mystique from X-men, discussing the philosophical idea that if both women can look like anything they want, why do they choose to look like the way they do. Nevertheless, what separates Heroes and why I love this show, is that Heroes treads into much darker territories. All of the characters go through a process of discovering their capabilities, leading to a spectrum of drama and emotions. They are seen as curses and burdens before they are blessings. None of them embraced their new found powers. That is, none except for Hiro Nakamura.
Having a light-hearted comedic character in a doom and gloom atmosphere is not necessarily a bad thing. I am perfectly okay, in fact, delighted to have contrasting characters. The problem is the simplicity of this character. To state it bluntly, Hiro is flat, one dimensional, and refuses to grow, as any protagonist should in a typical Hollywood four-act story. I’m not saying that any of the other characters are flawless, but comparatively, Hiro is, by far, the weakest.
