Have you ever been reading or watching something on TV and then you see or hear something that breaks your flow and makes you feel as if you've slammed head first into a brick wall? Well, that was me two minutes ago while reading a review of last night's Heroes episode.
Now, I'm a big fan of NBC's Heroes. And every Tuesday I meet the graphic artists here at the newspaper and we have our "Briefing" where we discuss the latest episode and hash out conspiracy theories, what we liked and disliked and where we think the show is going to go. I also read the reviews on Entertainment Weekly and IGN. I generally disagree with the EW reviewer but I'm OK with differing opinions, they offer insight. So imagine my shock this week that I'm actually agreeing with what the reviewer, Mark Bernardine, has written and then BLAM, I run into this:
All in all, a pretty solid episode, because it stuck to the core characters and pretended that the Oilies and New Orleans' Magical Negro don't exist. And even if we didn't get any real storytelling resolution, we got some emotional closure. (Click here to read the whole review.)
WTF? OK, I don't know about anyone else, but that offended me and I'm not even African American. I also read the comments other readers make about the review and many other readers were quite ticked off about that line. So I went to post my own comment then caught site of the Report Inappropriate Language, clicked that instead and posted this:
I think that Mark Bernardin's language this week was completely inappropriate when he referred to one of Heroes' African American characters as a "New Orleans' Magical Negro." I agree with his view that not seeing the character in this episode was a welcome relief but that comment was completley out of line. I even noticed that the word "negro" is blocked in EW's comments so how is it right that Bernardin is free to use it in his review? It's also grow negligence on the part of his editor letting that slip past, and I would certainly hope that it did in fact slip past and was not consciously allowed. I have no problem if a reviewer's opinion of an episode differs from mine but I think it's complete inappropriate when a reviewer's dislike of a character results in racial name calling. Very shameful.
Then, of course, I had to come here and blog about it. Now I'm going to find some way on that Web site to send that message to someone else.
Addendum:
Maybe it's my PMS why I'm being so irrational, but I know that I don't think that particular character serves any purpose this season but I sure don't think that kind of language is appropriate for the show. I spoke to my boss (the joys of working at a newspaper where everything is fodder for discussion) and we looked up the "magical negro" concept on Wiki. I can see where Bernardin was trying to go, but then when you look at Heroes as a show with its multi-ethnic cast, it still doesn't seem appropriate. I guess we'll see, my messages will probably just get trashed anyway.
Poppy Day Memories
Yesterday we observed Veteran's Day. J was off but of course, the paper never sleeps so I was here at my desk by 9 am. We received a lot of letters of the weekend one of which was from a WW I vet who wrote about his thoughts as he raised his American flag on his balcony. He mentioned a poem "In Flanders Fields" which got me thinking about the war (hard not to around here we have lots of vets and military members, courtesy of two installations). The poem mentions poppies and after wondering about any opium references, I Googled the poem and while reading its Wiki page, it hit me... poppies, bobby pins, tins of change, prep school collection drives... we too have our own vets. Norman Manley's own brother died in 1917 in Flanders fields in Belgium. We fought with the British Imperial Army and according to a Gleaner story by Marcia Thomas, Wolmer's Boys and Munro have lists of those Jamaicans who made the "ultimate sacrifice for King and country." (Click here to read the full story.)We sacrificed then and there are Jamaicans serving and sacrificing now. Amazing how these linkages exist between the developed and developing world.
Maybe it's because I'm now a military wife, but I think that's something to pause and reflect on. So I did, I paused for maybe a minute or so and gave thanks for the vets and for own national heroes whose sacrifice has no matter how indirectly impacted my life and helped me reach where I am today.
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