Hiro’s Journey, Our Journey

One of the few new television series left standing from the fall season is NBC's Heroes. An out-of-the-gate hit, Heroes combines ingredients from superhero comic books but is set in the more realistic form of thrillers, sort of like Smallville meets The X-Files.

The concept is that, simultaneously around the world, numerous individuals have begun to manifest strange new powers. Most of them are perplexed or even tormented in finding themselves able to do fantastic feats. But one of them, a baby-faced office worker in Japan is simply overjoyed when he discovered he can "bend" time and space: he can squint and strain and "pop!" he's in another time and/or place. Hiro Nakamura is a comic-book geek living out his fantasy of becoming a character he had only read about until now. Receiving his gift with childlike joy and eagerly setting out to explore his heroic calling, Hiro reminds us that we too have a calling that will require overcoming many challenges and working with others on our way to realizing our destiny.

The Journey Begins

In a world of increasingly self-referential popular culture, Hiro knows he is trotting a path well worn by heroes like Spider-Man and Luke Skywalker. His office cubicle is decorated with fanboy paraphernalia including a Godzilla action figure and pictures of Japanese anime' heroes. He carries a membership card from the Merry Marvel Marching Society in his wallet, and his heart has absorbed the noble ethos of his beloved costumed superheroes. Tim Kring, the show's creator has commented, "It's no coincidence we named him Hiro… he truly is on a hero's quest."

As he begins experimenting with his new powers, Hiro finds himself drawn into a web of danger and intrigue as he crosses paths with others who find themselves with powers, but no one receives them with as much joy as he. Living the fan boy's dream, he sets out to become worthy of the power he has been given. But Hiro soon learns that in the "real world" of the Heroes storylines, life is more complicated than a three-color comic book. He meets a series of obstacles that will challenge his character and draw him into the orbits of the other newly empowered characters.

On his first journey along the space-time continuum, Hiro learns that in several weeks, a catastrophic explosion will devastate New York City. He and his non-powered office buddy Ando, journey to the US to stop the disaster. Along the way he encounters others in the story who are gifted like him, but with different powers. We begin to understand that each of these will play a part in the first great challenge ahead, to "save the cheerleader, save the world."

Many viewers, especially comic-book fans like myself, have noticed parallels between Heroes and such superhero teams as the X-Men and the Justice League of America. Characters who can fly, heal rapidly, move through solid matter and read minds are standard fare for the comic book stories. The series acknowledges this by employing artwork commissioned from Tim Sale, one of comicdom's top artists, as a key element in the series. If the show follows the pattern of its comic-book forebears, the disparate heroes will eventually find themselves having to work together to fulfill their world-saving mission.

But Hiro soon discovers that his path will not be as smooth and simple as he had supposed. His friend Ando persuades him to use his time-stopping powers to let Ando win at the Las Vegas gaming tables, which only leads to more troubles and delays in their progress toward New York. Guilt stricken for misusing his powers, Hiro later tries to save a murder victim by going back in time to prevent her death. But he learns to his sorrow that he cannot change the past, only the present. He isn't omnipotent, after all, and he certainly can't do the job alone.

Along the way, Hiro learns something of his own future: another of the show's heroes, Peter, has been visited by a Hiro from the future. This one is decked out like one of his pop-culture heroes, in a dark suit, long hair in a ponytail and with a sword strapped to his back. He later sees a picture drawn by an artist who is able to depict future events — it shows Hiro with drawn sword facing off against a T. rex. "I really need to find that sword!" he exclaims. Slowly, Hiro's journey has brought him across the paths of other like-minded individuals who will work with him to save the world.

Our Journey

Hiro's journey reminds me of my own in certain ways. As a new Christian, I was excited and enthralled at the dimension of life that had opened before me. There was a sense that God's activity was alive in the world, working for good through his people. A supernatural reality unfolded before me that was exciting and real but quite mysterious to me. I knew that in some sense I was called to participate with God, to be a co-worker in whatever He was doing in the world. I began to understand that he had gifted me with talents that made me more than a blank cipher. Sometimes, reading Scripture, I got a strong sense that God was speaking to me personally about how certain passages applied to my life and future and that long ago God had prepared good works for me to perform.

Along the journey, I began to discover various gifts or talents that I could take no credit for, but that were an innate part of who I was. I experienced the thrill of using them and knowing that they were meant to serve God and others. To recognize that we have certain gifts and motivations that drive us is exciting — but it doesn't mean that we're ready for what was promised. As I interacted with real life with other people, that's when I found out that it takes faith to persevere when things stop being clear and when the path isn't easy to follow. I learned it would take years to become what I was called to be — many years, in my case.

One thing I had to learn is that my gifts aren't all about my gratification. They are for serving others. In fact, I really couldn't discover how they worked unless I worked with others in service. Fortunately, Hiro seems to have that lesson down already.

Heroes seems to have a thematic dialogue going between fate and free will and between evolution and destiny. Portentous voiceovers begin and often end the show, discussing the mysterious forces at work in the heroes' lives, asking hard questions such as "where does morality belong in an evolving species?" The title "Heroes" implies the moral quality of nobility, if these individuals will choose to use their powers for good. When Hiro gets a phone call leading him further into the world-saving mission, he tells his friend Ando that destiny has just called. Ando, uneasy at their increasingly dangerous mission, replies, "I wish destiny would lose our number."

Christians, on the other hand, can be pretty clear about the source of their gifts, and how and why they should use them, as Romans 12:6 describes. Various places in Scripture also reveal the source of our gifts — God Himself — and their purpose — the service to and building up of others.

I have long seen superhero team-ups as an image of the Body of Christ working together in harmony to be Jesus Christ to the watching world, calling people into reconciliation with God and standing against the darkness without.

Just as the hero's journey was fulfilled in history, in Christ, so we can see this recurring tale of a gifted band who deny their individual selves and willingly choose to serve humanity as a pop-culture type of the Church. No hero can do the job as a solo act, but only by working with others.

Hiro gladly welcomes those like him who can join him in fulfilling their calling. This is everything he's dreamed of. Receiving his call with childlike faith, he has matured faster than other characters who struggle with their strange new natures and ambivalent motivations.

If the series follows the trajectory of the classic comic superhero team story, we will see the characters overcome, with some personal sacrifice, their private struggles and strivings and work together to achieve a much greater good than any single one of them could manage. And in real life, that's the way it works in the Church.

 

Alex Wainer teaches communication and mass media at Palm Beach Atlantic University. He is also a regular contributor to The Culture Beat. He can be reached at commdocalex@netscape.net.

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