Wolf Gnards

I’ve talked at length before about the humiliation of Hiro on NBC’s Heroes. But I feel like it just hasn’t sunk in just how much a travesty it really is. Hiro has become an Asian Stepin Fetchit, the Japanese Rochester. He could have been a real Hero but he could just be dragging us down with him. Someone was telling me how Hiro was on a downward slide since season 2. This was the season where he’s trapped in the past and can’t be with the woman he loves. But I think this is when Hiro was at his best. He was honorable, goofy but honorable. A fine lady was attracted to him, which is always a good thing. And while he still couldn’t control his powers 100%, he was coming into his own. And yes he got played by Adam Monroe/Takezo Kensei, but Adam was a worthy adversary, so there’s nothing wrong with that. And it’s not that he just lost girls (Charlie, Yaeko, Daphne – because she was Hiro’s before Matt Parkman stepped in), and it was more than his loss of power, it was the combined total and his overwhelming loss of dignity.

For Heroes to continue, Hiro, Peter, and Sylar all needed to be depowered in some way or another. Each were becoming so powerful that there wouldn’t much of any prolonged storylines. It’s same way that Superman can’t be featured in every issue of Justice League because he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants, and he always saves the day in a split second. So, the most powerful Heroes needed to be taken down a peg. The show simply just stopped emphasizing most of Sylar’s abilities, however, Peter and Hiro had there actual powers altered. It kind of had to be, but let’s look at what the network decided to do. Peter and Hiro both had their super powers striped by Arthur Petrelli. Peter was completely depowered for one episode. Hiro was depowered for 9 episodes. It reminds me of that scene from Quiz Show when Herb Stempel claims that “when a Jew is on the show, he always loses to a Gentile, and then the Gentile wins more money.” The clean cut white boy can only be powerless for one episode, while the persecution of the Asian most go on for 9 episodes.

Follow up:

However, all isn’t butterflies and rainbows for Peter Petrelli. Instead of being able to mimic the powers of anyone he’s met, his powers were restructured to mimic the powers of the last person he’s touched, and only one power at a time. Still one of the most powerful characters on Heroes, but significantly less powerful than before. It was similar with Hiro because when he got his powers back, he was no longer the master of Time & Space, but just the master of time. Still powerful, but less powerful. Half powered. But Hiro it turns out can’t even use his time stopping powers without the distinct possibility of his head exploding—Scanners style. Which means he’s essentially back to no powers. So, the everyone’s favorite All-America white boy is less powerful, but still effective, the Asian is now all but impotent.

A brunt of the blame can go to Tim Kring and NBC executives, but part of of blame has to go Masi Oka: the head Asian minstrel. Perhaps, Masi is just happy to be working; nodding and smiling and saying yesum and bending far too easy to the networks will. The network commands him to be goofy and powerless, and Masi Oka does a nice little soft shoe. I’m not exactly sure what an Asian minstrel show would entail (perhaps some sort of Kabuki) but it most definitely include Masi Oka. I loved Hiro when I first saw him, too. He was goofy, but lovable (and what made up for him being a stereotypical goofy Asian is that he had POWER). Now without his power, he’s just a bad caricature. Yet I tuned in every week to see how low Hiro would fall, how much will Masi Oka put up with before he makes some sort of demand. Masi Oka has to stand up and shout, “Hey, Tim Kring, NBC, I demand balls! Big hairy ones, too!”

Having an Asian lacky willing to degrade himself is not much better than yellowface than Mickey Rooney yucking it up in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Until Masi Oka makes a stand, and demands equal and fair treatment he’ll be nothing but an Uncle Tom… or is that Uncle Chen?