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2006 Heroes Series- Religious Motifs

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  • 2006 Heroes Series- Religious Motifs

    In the 2006 series of Heroes there are a couple of major religious motifs embedded within the show and all of which revolve around the messianic heroes. In the very first couple of episodes we are introduced to these special/gifted characters in which have all discovered that there is something different about them through their visions, inability to die or be permanently injured, ability to break the time/space continuum, read minds, and fly. At first their awareness of these powers is quite clear although they do doubt them and decide to ignore them at times, not knowing what the purpose of them is and in doing so they are refusing the call. Claire has stabbed herself multiple times, fallen off of high structures and if a normal human being were to do so they would die, but she is able to regenerate her body, making her an example of the aspect of immortality in this show. Mohinder Suresh, a geneticist, after having found out that his father was killed is on the journey to finish what his father started, and that is to find out how these heroes came to be. Mohinder learning of his father’s death and deciding to go New York and finish what he started is his call to adventure. Hiro Nakamura is an office worker from Japan that has the ability to break the time and space continuum through teleportation and time travel. His experience and process of teleportation is much like a meditation and could be considered as mysticism. Peter Petrelli is one of the characters who is aware of the potential power he has but does not know exactly what that power is. He is seen in the show to have these dreams or visions of him flying which include his brother Nathan and these would be considered an element of mysticism. Throughout this series characters have flashbacks and those are an element of mysticism because they are much like a self-surrender or openness to something that is greater than you. Nathan Petrelli, the older brother of Peter, refuses his call and does not admit that he was able to fly as well as his brother. But once he does, Peter goes through many trials of trying and giving himself fully to the task in trying to reinvent what his brother said he was able to do, fly and we later find out that he is able to take on the powers of others and mirror them. In the final episode of season one, the heroes have to fight Sylar, a serial killer that takes the brains of his victims in order to gain their power and skills. Sylar represents evil and the heroes represent good, his motive in this episode is to destroy Kirby Plaza as well as the whole of New York. Having previously killed Issac and taking his ability to paint the future, Sylar paints a picture of him and Peter meeting at Kirby Plaza. Hiro, Mark, Peter and Claire al attempt to kill Sylar which would prevent him from exploding and destroying the entire city, through this process they go through the phase Road of Trails where they are challenged mentally and physically in which they must overcome even though they may fail along the way. Sylar faces off with Peter and is able to make his way into his consciousness given a break in Peter’s ability to concentrate in which I would label as a Threshold Crossing because of the danger he encounters in doing so. Peter now has taken on the powers of Sylar unwillingly and has become the bomb, Nathan realizes this and is the ultimate messianic hero of the episode because he picks Peter up and flies him high above the city so the explosion occurs elsewhere in the atmosphere, saving the city of New York. An example of determinism in Heroes is the powers that the characters were given, they were not able to choose these and it was “gifted” to them and it was beyond their control. This show addresses ethical and moral dilemmas of modern society through the idea or question of “Is there a God?”. For example, Maya Herrera thought of Sylar to be a gift from God, one that could help her with her powers because she believed they were curse put upon her. But to the heroes Sylar was seen as evil and is there really a God if nothing good is happening and it’s all bad? These are the types of religious moral and ethical issues that science fiction films/shows are able to implement without directly finger-pointing an issue. I think that it also reflects on religious diversity through each character’s abilities, powers and how they make use of them in the world much like how everyone who is placed on Earth is unique and is here for a reason in which they can determine but also needing to have the aptitude to work with others.
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