The TV Show 'Heroes' - Spiritual Themes


by Patrick Roberts - Date: 2007-12-07 - Word Count: 381 Share This!

My wife and I rented the first two of the seven DVDs in the first season of Heroes. We had rented and watched the whole series before the week's end.

Character development is excellent. Peter, for example, goes through astounding transformations by the end of that series. He becomes a changed man, both in demeanor as well as in his worldview. The originality and likeability of almost every character in the show is remarkable.

(Warning: the following paragraph is a plot spoiler)
The good guys of Heroes are all trying in their own way to prevent a nuclear detonation from devastating New York City. Sounds cliché, I know, but it's really not. Actually, it's eerily prophetic. This attack on New York City was planned by the very people who are supposed to be protecting the general public. They justify this atrocity with their theory that this explosion will unite the whole country and work out for the greater good. Sound familiar?

There is a poignant longing to be special running through every episode. Some of characters appreciate their powers because it makes them feel special. Mohinder, the melodramatic Indian geneticist, recounts this emotional need repeatedly during his voiceover segues. During these voiceovers he also enjoys marveling at the "miracle" of evolution.

It's ironic that evolution and the desire to feel special are so intimately intertwined in this show because evolution is inherently meaningless. Evolution is as meaningful as tripping over a log. It is also ironic that superheroes (super-evolved people) should be so concerned with millions of lesser-evolved people. Would such an explosion only facilitate the natural evolutionary process, killing out these lesser beings to make way for a better future?

Heroes is a prime example of how close secular stories can come to the Truth without taking that last critical step of acknowledging Him. I swear, "God" was hanging off the tip of the characters' tongues sometimes... they had to strain not to say His name. The writers of Heroes made the show profitable by capitalizing on the most dramatic elements of human life, the very things that drive reasonable people to God. Tragedy, evil, the desire for good, imperfections, miracles, reconciliation, healing, death, life... all these things are designed to compel us toward God.

by Patrick Roberts. Find similar media reviews at KoG Media, www.kogmedia.com

Related Tags: christ, dvd, jesus, tv, heroes, god, spirit, theme, show, primetime, character, superhero

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