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1. The Racialicious Bye Week Roundtable For ‘Flash Forward’ | Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture on 04 Dec 2009 at 8:02 am

   [...] with Sexy Voice Calling Demetri” isn’t catchy.) Arturo: Oh no, she’s the new Haitian! Mahsino: Only if her name ends up being something all disappointing and anticlimactic. Arturo: The [...]

Comments

1. VEe wrote:

   At first I thought it was odd that the character was not given a name but I am now comfortable with them representing his roots.

   Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 9:53 am ¶

2. Alston Adams wrote:

   All right. I’ve never seen the show, and I’ve never heard of this man. I’m an average straight guy, but those pictures make me want to hit the gym, not because I feel crappy next to him, but because I want to be him. That’s the type of black man I would like to be, physically. I’d feel pretty good about promoting Haiti, too.

   As for the “Haitian”, well, living in Montreal, everyone assumes that I am Haitian, which I am not. They don’t have the best reputation around here. I hope this Haitian isn’t some kind of alterna-black disgrace.

   Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 9:57 am ¶

3. Mary wrote:

   Lord almighty, between this and the John Cho picture a few posts ago, what are you guys trying to do to me?

   The part was originally meant to be from New Zealand and called The Kiwi but was changed to The Haitian to suit Jean-Louis’ roots.

   I had read this character was originally going to be specifically Maori before JJL was cast. You can imagine what that would have been like. Although JJL seems like a nice guy and I’m happy he got work, I’m not sure whether we dodged a bullet by getting “the Haitian” instead…

   Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 10:33 am ¶

4. Celeste wrote:

   @Mary: ditto on the pics, it’s unrealistic to expect intelligent commentary from folks when you put such distractingly hot photos at the top of the post

   Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 11:05 am ¶

5. Aiyo wrote:

   I like him not just coz he is fine but that is a big bonus LOL. I remember him in Phat Girls I knew as soon as he spoke in Yoruba that the dude definetly wasn’t Nigerian “but he tried” as my mum would point out when we watch that film.

   Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 11:17 am ¶

6. Lola wrote:

   the Haitian was finally given a name, Claire called him Renee. It seems strange that she said his name and not Noah who was his partner.
   *goes back to incoherent fangirling over hot photos*

   Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 11:30 am ¶

7. Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist wrote:

   mmmm… that’s some delicious eye candy… this has made my morning at work much more bearable. thanks!

   but today after work, I’m gonna hit the gym… lol

   Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 11:37 am ¶

8. yolanda wrote:

   Lord almighty, between this and the John Cho picture a few posts ago, what are you guys trying to do to me?

   death by sexy? lol

   Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 12:29 pm ¶

9. Alexia wrote:

   OK, every comment so far has commented on the looks of this guy, with not too much in-depth analysis.

   My turn!

   Oh, thank you Jesus, for you are an awesome El Halleluuuuyah!

   Carry on…

   Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 1:07 pm ¶

10. aimerrouge wrote:

    Please define “alterna-black disgrace”

    Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 1:40 pm ¶

11. Tracey wrote:

    This piece is really insightful. I always kinda like the idea of The Haitian being referred to only as such, especially as his powers involved to the point he could erase specific memories. I thought that someone with such a power being utterly mysterious made sense. Until the POC start disappearing and the ones left got little development, especially him as the season progressed.
    Seriously though, wow. I’m not going to the gym but I did think about it.

    Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 1:41 pm ¶

12. Renee wrote:

    I read the post and tried to drum up something insightful to say and lets just say I kept scrolling up to see the picture. The man is F-I-N-E. Sorry I cannot debate about substance while that picture is making me smile something fierce.

    Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 1:53 pm ¶

13. Phrone wrote:

    The name “The Haitian” always kindda bothered me…but I think it’s a lot better than “The Kiwi”. (Really? That’s what they were going for?)

    Wish I could be more insightful….but damn does he look GOOD.

    Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 4:58 pm ¶

14. Jennifer dG wrote:

    I’m glad the Haitian finally has a name. I was calling him Claude just because I wanted him to have one. But now we know it’s Rene!

    He’s… ah… he’s a very handsome gentleman.

    Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 5:31 pm ¶

15. BillytheKidd wrote:

    As a male I’m not comfortable with way the commentators are objecting this talented actor.

    Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 6:36 pm ¶

16. deb wrote:

    I had read this character was originally going to be specifically Maori before JJL was cast.

    Hmm…maybe they had Cliff Curtis in mind.

    Hubba, hubba! I might have to start watching “Heroes.”

    Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 7:01 pm ¶

17. BSK wrote:

    “We went through a few names, but the reaction from the audience to the Haitian was so great that they kept it.”

    I’m a bit curious about this statement. What was the audience reaction? Was it fear? Mystery? I worry that the audience’s reaction may be predicated upon stereotypes of Haiti and its people. Maybe I’m completely misunderstanding it, but I’d be curious to know what the responses were and, more so, what they were predicated upon.

    PS: Sorry to rain on the sexy-photo-parade. Feel free to ignore me and resume.

    Posted 17 Nov 2009 at 9:23 pm ¶

18. PPR_Scribe wrote:

    Goodness. First Mr. Cho and now this. I think a post including a photo of Keanu Reeves must not be too far away…

    Posted 18 Nov 2009 at 4:06 pm ¶

19. ashlynn wrote:

    @PPR_Scribe: cosign, Cosign, COSIGN! lol!

    Now to add some kind of substance to this post, I am half comfortable with the character’s name being “The Haitian” and half not. I want to say it’s endearing, but yet something in me is just screaming, “Really?! They couldn’t give the dude a friggin’ NAME??” Even though he has an awesome power, if he were to be killed off tomorrow, how would you even remember him? As “the haitian”? Well how nice of you to not bother to know much else about me.

    Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 2:27 am ¶

20. Azizi wrote:

    The Haitian is “an ambiguous figure who uses his superpower – an ability to erase people’s memories – sparingly and wisely.”

    Count me as another person who has never seen this show, and who has questions about the name “The Haitian”. Perhaps that referent is supposed to evoke thoughts about voodoo and sticking pins in dolls to cause injury or death (which of course is a Hollywood simplistic takes on the Yoruba/Benin traditional religious beliefs & practices of vodun from which voodoo/hoodoo comes.

    Besides that, I’m trying to understand what is so good about “the ability to erase people’s memories”, even if its done sparingly and wisely. Aren’t people supposed to learn from their past experiences? It seems to me that erasing the memories of those experiences doesn’t mean that you’ve erased the experiences themselves. So I’m wondering how that supernatural ability that “the Haitian” has was portrayed in that program’s shows that featured him.

    And since this character uses his erasing memories abilities “sparingly”, no one he isn’t on more of those shows-if, as I gather, the series is about people who have so-called supernatural abilities.

    IMO, the producers of that series should have rethought the decision to name this character “The Haitian” and before that they should have nixed the ludicrous idea of giving a New Zealand superhero the name “The Kiwi”. Yes, I know it’s the colloquial name for New Zealanders, but “Kiwi” or “The Kiwi” sounds no more like the name of a superhero than “The Haitian” does. (But then again, “Batman” doesn’t sound too superhero-like either…)

    Be that as it may, I still think that erasing people’s memories isn’t that cool of a supernatural skill to have. And I also think that erasing people’s memories (or your own memories) wouldn’t necessarily be the best thing you could do for other people or for yourself.

    I’m open to learning other folks thoughts on these points-which I admit are somewhat off-topic-though I don’t have that telepathic ability thingy downpat enough to learn anyone elses’ thoughts on these points except by the “old fashioned” way of reading them on this blog. ;o)

    Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 8:46 am ¶

21. Azizi wrote:

    I meant to write -

    And since this character uses his erasing memories abilities “sparingly”, no wonder he isn’t on more of those shows-if, as I gather, the series is about people who have so-called supernatural abilities.

    Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 8:49 am ¶

22. Nicole M wrote:

    Yes, the man is **gorgeous**. Moving on…

    I still watch the show and still like it, but what I find odd, and odd that no one else has commented on it yet, is that the Rene character seems to be at Noah’s & Mrs. Petrelli’s beck and call. He is just a tool for them to use when needed. He apparently has personal agenda, no internal motivation, no home and no existince prior to becoming the Company’s best defensive weapon. I keep waiting for some incredible back story to bust out, to give him a reason for being part of the cadre. OK he’s from Haiti. And..?

    Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 1:00 pm ¶

23. Nicole M wrote:

    @Azizi

    “Be that as it may, I still think that erasing people’s memories isn’t that cool of a supernatural skill to have. ”

    Oh but it is! In a fight you can make your opponent forget that s/he has a superpower, rendering them momentarily helpless. and you can cover your tracks, wiping the memories of people who’ve witnessed your actions, rendering you, for all intents and purposes, invisible.

    “And I also think that erasing people’s memories (or your own memories) wouldn’t necessarily be the best thing you could do for other people or for yourself.”

    This was something they addressed in the show, where one character who’d been wiped too many times suffered serious physical effects. But they haven’t really talked about the cost to the person doing it, because they haven’t fleshed Rene out as a proper character (yet, I hope).

    Not that I’m enough of a geek to have thought so long and hard about this

    Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 1:06 pm ¶

24. Snarky's Machine wrote:

    It’s like Dijmon Hansou and Taye Diggs had a baby!

    Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 9:46 pm ¶

25. John McCollum wrote:

    Perhaps someone on the writing team reads this blog, because I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in the quality of The Haitian’s character development over the last few episodes.

    He now has a name, a will of his own and a moral compass. Although he still fits the “magical negro” trope, he’s much, much more human and much more interesting.

    And… my own sexual orientation aside (I’m a happily married straight man), Jimmy Jean-Louis is a very beautiful man.

    Posted 20 Nov 2009 at 10:22 am ¶

26. PPR_Scribe wrote:

    It’s like Dijmon Hansou and Taye Diggs had a baby!

    !

    Posted 21 Nov 2009 at 2:09 pm ¶

27. Lucy wrote:

    Can’t talk… staring…

    Posted 21 Nov 2009 at 6:28 pm ¶

28. Clnmike wrote:

    Lmao @ Snarky’s Machine

    Posted 22 Nov 2009 at 12:35 am ¶

29. Marie wrote:

    I think the calling him “the Haitian” was supposed to evoke mystery. It sounds like something out of a spy novel. I mean, he says very little and always comes around to clean up other peoples’ messes by erasing memories. He also stops peoples’ powers from working when they’re around him, making him all the more powerful (and scary if you have powers).

    Posted 23 Nov 2009 at 2:04 am ¶

30. karinova wrote:

    NicoleM said:
    “the Rene character seems to be at Noah’s & Mrs. Petrelli’s beck and call. He is just a tool for them to use when needed. He apparently has personal agenda, no internal motivation, no home and no [prior] existence…”

    I haven’t watched Heroes since mid-Season 2, and this in particular (and Rene-The-Haitian in general), was a point of interest for me even then. I’m so disappointed (yet again!) to read that this is still the situation, years later. How is that even possible? Fans must notice it, right? [Will have to check TWoP.] I mean, right away, the dynamic was so glaring— I’ll just say it: he’s like their slave— that jaded as I am, I figured it was on purpose, and that they would address it directly as a storyline! Silly me!

    Posted 28 Nov 2009 at 7:59 pm ¶