Heroes. New show on NBC

[rice cracker]

I don't think it's so much picking on negatives at pointing out the glaringly obvious stereotypes that are being perpetuated, but YMMV.

[Seraphfire]

Originally Posted by lethal

You know, I don't think Hiro's character is all bad. He wants to be different and do something. Sure, he's a nerd, watches Star Trek and reads comic books, etc... But you can tell that he knows he has a greater purpose in life and he has the social consciousness of doing good things.

Well, he's supposed to be a hero and all heroes tend to be portrayed with the same "greater purpose in life and ... the social consciousness of doing good things." (Same could be said for all the asexual Asian male martial artists portrayals.) So this was a given, it's all the other attributes the creator assigned to Hiro that just make me cringe. They had choices there and just chose all the stereotypical crap.

And a pretty geeky super power too if you ask me. And the way he has to activate it, FFS it looks like he trying real hard to take a s**t!

P.S. He's Japanese and doesn't speak English??? Er, I don't think so. One of the kids on my son's baseball team is from Japan and his family told me they all learn English over there now. In fact, their English is really good. Poor research IMHO.

[lethal]

Originally Posted by Seraphfire

P.S. He's Japanese and doesn't speak English??? Er, I don't think so. One of the kids on my son's baseball team is from Japan and his family told me they all learn English over there now. In fact, their English is really good. Poor research IMHO.

He hasn't needed to speak English yet. Maybe he does speak it well. He's not going to speak English in Japan to his Japanese buddy.

[kimpossible]

Originally Posted by Seraphfire

P.S. He's Japanese and doesn't speak English??? Er, I don't think so. One of the kids on my son's baseball team is from Japan and his family told me they all learn English over there now. In fact, their English is really good. Poor research IMHO.

That's not the best interpretation.

All Japanese learn and study English as part of the curriculum. But you should keep in mind that reading and writing is a completely different animal from speaking. Most of my Japanese [national] family can read and write fairly well -- depends on their generation and when they went to school. The only ones that speak English are the ones that have spent significant time an actual English speaking environment, like the US.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by lethal

I finally saw the show. I'm a little backed up on my TiVo. You know, I don't think Hiro's character is all bad. He wants to be different and do something. Sure, he's a nerd, watches Star Trek and reads comic books, etc... But you can tell that he knows he has a greater purpose in life and he has the social consciousness of doing good things.

He was last in his class at grades and athletics. He doesn't want to fit in, he wants to be different.

In other words, he's a guy people can relate to, even if he is Japanese and doesn't speak English. This is a good thing.

the character is a "good guy" and there will be redeeming qualities in any "good guy" characters. but it's glaringly obvious that the character is a nerdy Asian stereotype. is that the best they can come up with in trying to write an Asian character that is an everyday man that we can relate to?

[lethal]

Originally Posted by SunWuKong

the character is a "good guy" and there will be redeeming qualities in any "good guy" characters. but it's glaringly obvious that the character is a nerdy Asian stereotype. is that the best they can come up with in trying to write an Asian character that is an everyday man that we can relate to?

Well, he's Asian, not Asian American. I honestly don't know any Japanese nationals to compare him to.

Would've I wished they picked an Asian American guy with non-stereotypical attributes? Sure. But at this point, I think you take what you can get for now.

Also...are there any other "good guy" Asian men on TV? Maybe Jin on Lost. Progress comes in increments. I don't think you can get there all at once.

[haplesshobo]

I haven't watched the show, but it seems a little bit unfair to make such comments after only 1 show. Remember, Jin on Lost came off very poorly in the beggining as well.

[Seraphfire]

Originally Posted by haplesshobo

I haven't watched the show, but it seems a little bit unfair to make such comments after only 1 show. Remember, Jin on Lost came off very poorly in the beggining as well.

That's because Jin's character was intended to come off poorly as a stereotypical Asian chauvinist designed by the creators. Only Daniel Dae Kim's almost heroic efforts to develop the character along other lines saved Jin's portrayal (and probably his character's life) on that show.

So my point is, the creators of Heroes and Lost both intended to portray their Asian characters as stereotypes. And that is what irks me.

Somehow I don't think Hiro's character can transform himself like Jin. No offense to the actor but Daniel Dae Kim is alot better looking and was able to become eye candy for potential viewers. Hiro's actor is unfortunately more William Hung like.

[Seraphfire]

Originally Posted by lethal

Would've I wished they picked an Asian American guy with non-stereotypical attributes? Sure. But at this point, I think you take what you can get for now.

I disagree, I do not want more William Hungs. Better to be invisible than to be shown negative stereotypical portrayals of Asians.

Another thing about the character's Japanese ethnicity. 2/3 Japanese in America are U.S.-raised. But they make Hiro a total foreigner. Not that I expected the creators to bother doing any research...

[lethal]

Originally Posted by Seraphfire

I disagree, I do not want more William Hungs. Better to be invisible than to be shown negative stereotypical portrayals of Asians.

Another thing about the character's Japanese ethnicity. 2/3 Japanese in America are U.S.-raised. But they make Hiro a total foreigner. Not that I expected the creators to bother doing any research...

C'mon. This guy is not William Hung. Hung made a mockery of himself and had no positive qualities.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by lethal

C'mon. This guy is not William Hung. Hung made a mockery of himself and had no positive qualities.

i personally think Willy Hung is more redeeming, for the sole reason that he was actually real. no white producers made a geek out of him. he was just a geek all by himself.

the creators of this show, on the other hand, could have written the Asian character any way they want. i don't even mind the non-English speaking so much. my problem with it is that he's yet another Asian nerd character. i think he's basically the only "hero" in the cast that's actually not good looking.

[rice cracker]

Originally Posted by haplesshobo

I haven't watched the show, but it seems a little bit unfair to make such comments after only 1 show. Remember, Jin on Lost came off very poorly in the beggining as well.

I'll agree with this, we still have time to be surprised by his character.

To be fair, I didn't care for the Flying Brothers or Porno Mom (another stereotype, this one sexist) either, so I'm not just picking on Hiro. He just happens to be the topic of this thread.

[kimpossible]

Am I a bad person for liking this show? Because I did.

[lethal]

Originally Posted by SunWuKong

i personally think Willy Hung is more redeeming, for the sole reason that he was actually real. no white producers made a geek out of him. he was just a geek all by himself.

the creators of this show, on the other hand, could have written the Asian character any way they want. i don't even mind the non-English speaking so much. my problem with it is that he's yet another Asian nerd character. i think he's basically the only "hero" in the cast that's actually not good looking.

I hate William Hung. He lets himself be exploited. Did you watch Arrested Development where he was the leader of a band named the "Hung Jury" ? He created himeslf, but even though he knows it is a terribly negative image, he allows it to be exploited to put a few bucks in his pocket.

This is different than actors who do it to earn a living. That's their livlihood and they act because of their talent. Sometimes they have to take bad roles to pay the bills. I don't blame them for that. Hung isn't usig any telent he has, he's making money off of his poor image.

[Tao]

Originally Posted by lethal

I hate William Hung. He lets himself be exploited. Did you watch Arrested Development where he was the leader of a band named the "Hung Jury" ? He created himeslf, but even though he knows it is a terribly negative image, he allows it to be exploited to put a few bucks in his pocket.

This is different than actors who do it to earn a living. That's their livlihood and they act because of their talent. Sometimes they have to take bad roles to pay the bills. I don't blame them for that. Hung isn't usig any telent he has, he's making money off of his poor image.

personally, i don't see the diff between the two.