The Racialicious Roundtable for Heroes 3.6
Hosted by Arturo R. García
This week, Heroes gave your humble panelists one of the choicest lines to work with in a stunningly out-of-character remark by Ando. Before we see what they have to say, though, let’s do the roll call. Roundtable – Assemble!
Let’s go!
What the hell was with Ando’s “They all look alike to me”? Bad joke by him, or really bad joke by the writers?
Hexy: I found it really off putting. It actually jarred me out of what was otherwise an enjoyable Hiro and Ando scene. I thought it out of character for Ando… but then again, season one’s obsessive interaction with Niki showed that he’s less than evolved when it comes to his views on people-who-aren’t-of-his-gender, so maybe it wasn’t so out of character for him to have off views on people-who-aren’t-of-his-race. Either way, it seemed like a clunky line shoe-horned into an inappropriate racial frame.
Speaking of Hiro and Ando, while I was glad to see that Ando isn’t dead, I think they squandered the “Hiro did something you didn’t see!” card. I was expecting it, but I was hoping it would be used to show that Hiro hasn’t actually been a useless git all season, not just in the preceding episode.
Mahsino: Although I initially was amused by this joke (before realizing I’d heard it before in tv and movies), I have to say I’m really conflicted about it in a way that wouldn’t really make sense to delve too deeply in to. At most I can say, the whole Hiro/Ando storyline is starting to seem like a 21st century Kato, but instead of martial arts, they have humor. It’s getting kind of old and the writers are going to have to bring a lot more character development to those two before they have the right to inject them with dry, racially themed, humor- those are the kind of jokes you need context and character reference for- 2 things the writers haven’t deemed necessary to accessorize Hiro and Ando with.
On the flip side, I only had to pour out a little bit of cranberry juice for Ando since he came back- good thing because inflation is making juice expensive.
Erica: I think it was well intentioned, but not well executed. Here’s a tip for Ando (aka my guide to Heroes characters who are white with brown/black
hair): Matt (pudgy, carries a tortoise), Nathan (sleazy politician smile), Peter (Keanu Reeves), Sylar (big eyebrows), and Bennett (glasses). The tortoise is shaping up to be my favorite character this season…
Anyway, it was supposed to be funny but it ended up being one of those “um…” moments. Considering the overall sensitivity/diversity of Heroes, that fits; they seem to be trying, but are far from perfect (which gives us plenty of meat every week). Of course, at other times they don’t seem to be trying at all, so maybe I give them too much credit.
Let’s play Petrelli Family Feud! Is this a good direction for the show?
Erica: It depends on what you mean by “good”. The grand theories of evolution which seemed to drive Season One are turning into one guy’s conspiracy to rule the world. While this does provide a good level of detail and complexity — you definitely need to keep track of each week’s episode or you’ll be confused — it also causes serious frustration, because the Petrellis are JUST SO ANNOYING. With six billion people in the world, these crazy folks are the center of attention? (And a sinister character who absorbs other’s abilities? That’s just getting old.) On the other hand, watching the Petrelli family destroy one another can also be called “good.” I guess I’m ambivalent. Like when you really have to stare as you drive by a car wreck…
Mahsino: I’m willing to bet that, not only is Sylar Peter’s brother- he’s his EVIL twin brother. There’s no other quasi-logical explanation for it. I know Nathan’s a little slow, but you’d think he would of remembered mommy lookin’ a little preggers around 20-some-odd years ago.
Also, I don’t think the writers would be reaching the bar of ridiculousness they’ve obviously raised for themselves if there wasn’t a Petrelli triplet sister who could both give and take away, powers (and in season 4 her and mama Petrelli could slap each other while wearing Bob Mackie gowns in the Company fountain).
The only thing that could be better would be if papa Petrelli fathered an illegitimate Black Baby (who are Monica’s parents anyway?)
This whole Petrelli Family Feud has become to me, what Maury Baby Daddy episodes used to be: kinda fun in their ridiculousness until you realize they’re really just hashing the same basic story over and over again- eventually it’s just going to go from crazy to depressing.
Hexy: I finally, FINALLY saw something that makes Sylar’s turnaround a little less nonsensical. Up until now his blind acceptance of Ma Petrelli as truthful and himself as a Petrelli has made absolutely no sense to me, but with one line he redeemed the entire plot thread. She’s the only person who ever accepted him as he was… which was what he wasn’t getting from his adoptive parents. That one throwaway line made the entire scenario with the prodigal Petrelli brother so much more believable, certainly more so than Peter’s “stop calling my mother our mother!” angst. Yes, I grab at continuity where I can get it in this fandom!
I actually had a vague inkling that they were going somewhere in the direction of family powers a la the Parkmans with the whole “Peter and Sylar are brothers” thing, and I was glad to see it pay off with Pa Patrelli. I don’t know what I think of him as yet, other than that he’s either a bit greedy when it comes to the power chomping (like Sylar) or a bit terrible when it comes to the planning (like Peter). I mean, really, chowing down on an incredibly powerful ally you’ve known for years seems a little redundant when you then hoover up your son’s ability to absorb powers without the death. I do hope we get some indication that Adam screwed Pa Patrellia over in some way and hence warranted the death sentence.
I got 10 bucks that says Usutu is never named this season. Do you think they’ll ever get around to it?
Erica: Oh, you don’t think his mother named him “African Isaac”? That’s totally the top of my baby name list.
There’s at least half a season to go, and it looks like he might go to Pinehearst with Hiro*. Can they manage to avoid giving him a name that whole time? My optimistic side says, “Nah, they’ve GOT to call him by name SOME time”, but my optimistic side hasn’t been well served by Heroes…
*My husband points out that’s what it sounded like the first time through. A second listen shows it was, “You can take me there, OR you can follow your own path”, which implies Hiro’s “own path” would be fighting the villians and leaving Usutu African Isaac to paint rocks in Botswana somewhere in Africa.
Hexy: Absolutely no way.
I also wasn’t a fan of the way the shovel scenes seemed to show Usutu having an interaction as a determined character on his own terms… only to slide straight back into Magical Negro territory. “Oh, that? Defending myself against aggressors in my home, wherever that is? No, that was just a lesson for YOU, Hiro.” Gah.
Mahsino: So as the daughter of an Liberian (yes, I know, I’m crazy for droppin’ country names instead of just Africa), I’m always intrigued by the American portrayals of all Africans as a homogeneous group of people who all look alike, have names that end in vowels, and have the same accents and skin tones. That being said, the character of Usutu pushes almost every button I have with concerns to bullshit African portrayals. The only thing I can give the writers quasi-credit for, was the fact that they haven’t slapped a dashiki on him and given him multiple wives- I suppose I should be grateful for that.
And I know this is a giant leap, but the whole idea of “bringing the precog back” oozed of slavery to me. First off, everyone else had a detailed background check- all the colored fella gets is an adjective in lieu of a name. I’m also a little pissed that his drawing style looks substandard to Isaacs- he looks older and got his powers earlier, so what the fuck? So in short, no- he isn’t getting a name- or a country, at best he can hope for a couple more minutes of airtime guiding other, ahem, paler, characters on the right path.
Your take on Suresh’s appearance this week
Mahsino: So, um Suresh’s hair was combed back this week, that was a good look.
Hexy: Evil Mohinder is friggin’ sexy.
Erica: Hot, as usual. (Oh, wait. That’s not what you meant…)
Mahsino:Oh, and he kinda date raped drugged one of the blonds, only for her to continue the theme of blonde girl-power for the week. So, yeah, that’s all I have to say about that.
Hexy: I stand by my comments last week that his is the most consistant transition on the good/evil spectrum, even if this week’s evidence that the good in him is still trying to assert himself seemed a little clumsy. Of course, you could also read the scene where Tracey tricks him as stating loud and clear that even with super powers and an identity crisis, Suresh is still the most gullible person in the world.
Erica: The whole “Ooooh, Suresh is a conflicted monster!” schtick is getting old, so I hope his storyline progress more towards a conclusion next week. I suppose it’s helpful that they have added ambiguity about whether his monstrous behavior is simply gluing people to the wall for fun, or gluing people to the wall for scientific research. That’s kinda sorta character development. (See, there goes my optimistic side again.)
Open Mic!
Erica: Hey, a white guy finally died for real — the unkillable one, no less! (Any bets that he somehow manages to resurrect if killing Papa Petrelli magically restores everyone’s stolen powers?)
Even with plenty of episodes left, I’m starting to panic about not seeing Monica yet. If she’s going to play any part in this, I thought her introductory appearance would have happened by now. Six episodes in and not a trace? Disappointing.
How patronizing was Noah Bennett’s praise — “That’s very impressive, sweetheart”. He seemed genuinely impressed, but regardless was unable to say so without sounding like he was praising a kindergartner for drawing a picture of a cow with seven legs. Go buy her a teddy bear with a little stuffed tazer 
I couldn’t feel any tension during the Blondie Roulette game. Maybe the writers will have Claire actually kill a mother and teach her the difference between not-a-monster (Stephen from last week) and monster (Eric from this week) — meh. Or maybe they’ll just have Claire get shot and heal her way out of yet another problem — bigger meh.
Hexy: What was with Daphne being able to just zoom into Level Five and open the place up? I’m sure that place had mildly better security just a few weeks ago. I mean, my impression that people couldn’t use their powers in there was kinda blown with the Peteylar cell fight last week, but surely breaking people out should require more than Moving Really Quickly. They’ve obviously dealt with speedsters before, or they wouldn’t have a catchy name for the power!
And, finally, I would REALLY recommend everyone check out the web comic this week. It made me make fangirly squeaky noises. I DO hope that’s an indication of faces we may see in the series soon!
Mahsino: This episode was about 50/50 for me. The Parkman storyline, albeit kinda stalkery, was cute. Peter getting his metaphorical toys taken away by papa Petrelli (which I totally called midway through the show), was sheer awesome.
The executive producers need to hire a writer who doesn’t have some sort of mommy or daddy or women issues and who doesn’t have a thing for blonds. Mondays show seemed like it was co-written by Marquis de Sade and Baby Spice- women getting tied up only to be freed by sheer GIRL POWER!
I’m pretty sure Peter’s powers being taken away are a good thing- it’s about time someone knocked him down a few begs. And after that “mommy loves me bestest of all” temper tantrum he was throwing, he deserved an asswhopin’ from a parent. He should take that time to reflect on all the stupid stuff he’s done- maybe develop some listening abilities, maybe he can get the ability to reflect on his actions, or better yet foresight of consequences seems to be something he’s lacking. I really think he spazzed out this week because he came to the realization that his mommy and daddy really like Sylar best- as they should.
I wonder how Hiro (or some other minority character) is gonna get Peter out of this conundrum.
… And we’ll close on that thoughtful note this week. Thanks to everyone who’s been reading and commenting so far. Next week we’ll address the Entertainment Weekly cover story that says the show is “in crisis,” as well as Monday’s episode. And stay tuned Tuesday for the super-powered episode recap!
Previously:
Racialicious Heroes Archive
Images courtesy of HeroesWiki
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Jus Plain Ol Me wrote:
Does anyone think that there is a “tortoise and the hare” concept at play with Parkman’s turtle and the speedster?
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 12:14 pm ¶
Anna wrote:
I think the tortoise/hare thing probably IS what they are going for – thank you for noticing something that went right over my head.
Did anyone notice that in this episode, every female character (minus Daphne) is, quite literally, immobilized?
- Maya is already glued to the wall
- Nikki is drugged
- Mrs. P is paralyzed
- Claire and BOTH her moms are forced to sit still by an evil puppet master
Daphne is still cruising around. . . but I find it a little disturbing that all the women are in some way “bound” by men in this episode. Even though Claire and the Moms manage to save themselves, all the chasing, turtle-carrying, shovel-wielding and power-hugging is done by male characters.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 12:29 pm ¶
CJ wrote:
I’m not the sharpest Heroes fan in the drawer, but I didn’t think the joke was misplaced or out of character for Ando. Wasn’t he always a little bit of a jerk? I sometimes think people forget that.
I second loving the tortoise, but I’ve loved Matt from day 1 so I’m a little biased.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 1:42 pm ¶
Lynn wrote:
So this may be a little nitpicky, but the first time this show addresses racism, it’s racism against a white guy?
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 2:14 pm ¶
Yvette wrote:
Off topic–I apologize in advance.
But, does anyone else think that the actor playing Parkman bears a strong resemblance to Mike Wooten, the state trooper from Alaska involved in the so-called “Troopergate” scandal?
Back on topic (kinda):
The best line from “Trueblood” last night was when Eddie the lonely vampire said to Lafayette: “I love Monday nights: First ‘Heroes’ then you…”
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 2:28 pm ¶
Jeremy Pierce wrote:
I thought the point of Ando’s racist comment was to show that you don’t have to be white to be racist, a point that the readers of this site are, I’m sure, well enough aware of that they might forget how many people would be startled to see an Asian man making such a comment. I think they also wanted to contrast Hiro’s character with how Ando naturally responds in such a situation, and they may perhaps have wanted to give an opportunity to have Hiro call such a statement racist for the simple reason that it is.
The explanation for why Sylar believes Angela is his mother is that she gave him a power that can tell him this. Remember that he now can know the entire history of any object he touches, and he has touched her, so he should be able to know that she gave birth to him.
Sylar killed a lot of white guys in Season 1, so plenty of white guys have died and stayed dead. Some of them only appeared in one episode, but Ted certainly had a longer arc. Thompson, Bob, and Linderman were also white guys, and they had been ongoing characters. These last three were villains, but I didn’t see any specification that no white heroes had died, just that they finally killed a white guy who stayed dead, which wrongly assumes they hadn’t done so already several times. I suppose you can include voice-throwing guy this season too.
My understanding is that Monica will not be appearing any time soon. They’ve left the door open, but she’s not signed on as a continuing cast member this season. Any appearance will be arranged separately, as it has been with guest stars. It’s unfortunate that they’ve had a hard time retaining black characters as central. I think Simone was intended not to last the first season from the very beginning, and I don’t think it had anything to do with race. Her father also was intended to die. D.L. was never central, but I’d hoped he would become so. I’m not sure why they killed him, but it doesn’t seem to be an animus against black characters. He just was never intended to be central. Monica seemed as if she was going to be more central, but I think the writers were disappointed in how she worked out. Now they’ve got the precog, but it remains to be seen how things will go with him. Micah seems to be diminished this season also for some reason. They probably haven’t noticed, and I don’t see a pattern that suggests they’re just killing off black characters, but it would be nice if they were more aware that the central characters (or ones that remain so) are not black, even if some aren’t white.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 3:11 pm ¶
Jeremy Pierce wrote:
Lynn, what are you referring to as the first time there’s racism being against a white guy? I didn’t see any mention of that in the above discussion and can’t think of any instance of racism against a white guy. The only example under discussion was racism against a black guy.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 3:18 pm ¶
Jeremy Pierce wrote:
Oh, and racism against a black guy was certainly addressed in the first season when D.L. complained about how hard it is to get a job when you’re a black felon. It was very clearly racial commentary when the writers included that line, and it wasn’t racism against whites. Are you referring to something earlier than that?
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 3:19 pm ¶
Lisa J wrote:
I thought the point of the Ando comment was a way of turning the old racist trope that “all Asians look alike” on its head by having an Asian person say it about white people. A little joke about what white Americans and too a degree other non-Asian Americans say about Asians. That was my read on it.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 4:09 pm ¶
Lynn wrote:
Jeremy,
I don’t think I remember the line you are talking about from D.L. Even with that, some could argue, it’s not his race, it’s his record.
I was just thinking that the first thing that is called out as racism (not as racial commentary, not as something for the viewer to decide on), was a joke about white guys all looking alike. I agree with Lisa J that Ando was just turning the “all Asians look alike” theme around. I still find it interesting that the first time a racist comment got called racist was when it was aimed at a white guy. No more, no less.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 4:44 pm ¶
Jeremy Pierce wrote:
I forgot the Hatian and Know. The Haitian is one of my favorite characters, and he has dodged near-certain death despite being black. Knox is still a minor character, so we’ll see about him. So far there’s not much to like or dislike.
Lisa, Ando was saying it about black people. He was in whatever unspecified African country they were in, and they were looking for the unnamed precog that everyone seems to have a name for anyway. That character is black, and Ando was saying he couldn’t tell one black African from another, so he might not be able to recognize him.
Lynn, it was clear that it wasn’t just his record. The way he said it made it clear that it was someone who was black with his record who couldn’t get a job. He wouldn’t have mentioned his race otherwise. As I said to Lisa, I don’t see how Ando saying all black Africans look alike is a case of saying all whites look alike.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 5:37 pm ¶
StayingStrong wrote:
Actually, I loved Ando’s line, and here’s why.
Many years ago I (a black woman) was in Hong Kong with my boyfriend at the time (white). No matter where we went some white tourist would make a remark about how the Chinese population all looked alike, with a tee hee hee thrown in for good measure.
Then one day we were on a tour bus going to Victoria Peak when the tour guide advised everyone to make note of our bus number because there would be many similar tour buses parked in the lot. “You must remember the bus number,” she said, “because to me you all look alike.”
I damn near peed myself laughing because she’d given folks a dose of their own medicine. Needless to say, folks were NOT amused at the comment but I was. And as the only non white person on the bus I said to my boyfriend rather loudly, “Ha, I’m the only one sure to be recognized as belonging on this bus.” Well if looks kill, I would have been dead alongside the tour guide.
All this to say, I think Ando’s remark was in a similar vein. Why can’t he think all white people look the same, when the reverse is often stated with impunity? Your mileage may vary, of course, but I loved it – and Hiro quickly said “that’s racist” so at least the remark did not go unchallenged.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 6:08 pm ¶
Soudea wrote:
I just want to say first that this site is awesome and I’m glad that you guys love Heroes too.
Jeremy, Ando was saying it about white people. He was looking at the African’s painting of Parkman holding Daphne.
When I first heard Ando’s comment and Hiro’s response, I kind of laughed… because it’s true. In fact, the post list all the white, dark-haired men on the show and well, at first glance, especially a caricature of a person, they do all look alike. Furthermore, Ando spends a lot of time (like all his life) in Japan where white people aren’t the norm. It’s fairly natural that he would not be able to distinguish on drawing on a rock of a white person from another. Plus, I think this added an element of realism to the characters (one-dimensional… I haven’t really thought about that). I spend a lot of time around Asian boys and Ando’s ‘whatever shrug’ to Hiro’s ‘that’s racist’ comment was a pretty realistic response. I think that Lisa J’s theory is also a pretty valid one. I highly doubt that the writer’s would have you thinking that Ando’s a racist jerk but it was probably a thought-provokingish joke.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 7:32 pm ¶
Dorian wrote:
I thought the point of Ando’s racist comment was to show that you don’t have to be white to be racist, a point that the readers of this site are, I’m sure, well enough aware of that they might forget how many people would be startled to see an Asian man making such a comment.
It’s surely something we see often, where some people will point it out as a way of deflecting attention away from racism by whites. “See? Asians/Blacks/[insert race] are also racist, so what’s so bad about our racism?” As someone tired of that line, I gotta say, all racist dialogue look the same.
Meh. I got turned off after two episodes, so I can’t comment on the show itself. The implication about the uniformity of Japanese society in the beginning was just something I’ve heard so many times and that gets overstated so often (what, no room for Ainu, buraku, Korean-Japanese, Chinese-Japanese, etc…? And let’s not forget the deep political divisions, the different subcultural groups, or the regional differences, to name a few…) Made me think that the show wasn’t really breaking into any new territory (and it didn’t really impress me enough to keep going).
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 9:11 pm ¶
Roxie wrote:
Jeremy,
Ando wasn’t saying that about black people, he was saying that about white people. Hiro asked him if the drawing they were looking at resembled Parkman and Ando replied with “They all look alike to me”.
Yvette: YES! I cracked up so hard at that line!
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 9:16 pm ¶
Chris wrote:
Jeremy, I can’t remember exactly who Ando was talking about, but I’m almost sure it wasn’t the African. I think it was Parkman, and I believe they are correct that he was referring to a white character.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 9:40 pm ¶
Jeremy Pierce wrote:
Huh. I must not have been paying enough attention, because I was sure they were talking about whether they would recognize the precog when they found him. I’d have to see it again to know what I think about it, because that changes the whole feel of it.
I did some Googling, and there’s actually another interpretation out there, that Ando was saying all the paintings look alike, something I’ve thought from the very beginning. They guy they got to do Isaac’s paintings was never very good at doing people. He’s too abstract. I can never tell who it is, but the characters always seem to be able to despite the fact that they all look alike.
Posted 27 Oct 2008 at 10:03 pm ¶
hexy wrote:
Dammit, my comment may have disappeared again.
I absolutely agree that the aim of Ando’s line was to cheekily invert a common racist trope generally aimed at Asian people. I just don’t think it was done well.
Anna: Whoa! You know, I missed that immobilised women thing, but you’re completely right.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 5:09 am ¶
jen* wrote:
Ok, yeah, the comment was about Parkman, because Hiro asked if that was Parkman, and Ando said – I dunno – they all look alike to me. Pretty straightforward.
As far as DL not being a central character…I guess. Although, I kinda felt like he was. But I guess the point is that there should be a black central character that actually gets to be named. No one has even said Knox’s name on the show yet. I only know it cuz I read the Racialicious commentary. And I’m fairly certain I didn’t just miss it, cuz my coworkers that watch don’t know his name.
Can’t wait for commentary on last night’s episode. I feel like the show can now be called “Heroes: The Blondes and the Petrellis”.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 8:28 am ¶
Karen wrote:
I just wonder– couldn’t Ando’s comment have been intended as ironic? Because that’s how I read it. The old line, “Asians all look alike” is a inside joke amongst many Asian Americans these days. In fact, I’ve used the line ironically myself, “Oh, who can tell the difference. Because, you know, we all look alike.” So, I interpreted Ando’s line– which is spoken to another Asian character– as facetious, a play on the joke.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 10:28 am ¶
Jay wrote:
The old line, “Asians all look alike” is a inside joke amongst many Asian Americans these days.
I don’t really see it as an inside joke, more of a “everyone else calls us this way so we might as well accept it” type of deal. Moreover, Ando isn’t Asian American (James Kyson Lee is but that’s irrelevant in the story sense) so there’s no sense of irony there.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 3:39 pm ¶
Roxie wrote:
Jen
Knox has been referred to by name on the show several times….as “Knox”…unless he has some other name I am not aware of…Some times it kinda gets lost in the sound and you might hear “not” or “knots”
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 5:39 pm ¶
Aaron wrote:
I thought Ando’s comment was totally in keeping with the kind of everyday, normal expressions of bias typical people practice in their daily lives.
What is shocking about a young asian guy who likely has dealt with some level of alienation in American society due to ethnicity expressing that offhand, casual bias? That kind of commentary likely goes on amongst a slew of ethnic folk on any given day in America. This idea that these characters are too noble for such thoughts is silly. I thought the comment by Ando made him a little more real, and Hiro’s response by contrast was just kneejerk PC reaction.
Posted 28 Oct 2008 at 8:55 pm ¶
Jeremy Pierce wrote:
Knox’s real name is Benjamin Washington.
We never saw Candice/Michelle/Betty’s real name on the show. That was only in the graphic novel. Same with Eden McCain/Sarah Ellis. I’m sure there are others.
Micah has a name, and he was very central in the first season. His minimal role this season isn’t because of his racial background. It’s because he’s a kid, and they abandoned the kid storylines for the most part this season.
Posted 02 Nov 2008 at 9:01 am ¶