It’s X-men meets X-Files. Heroes is the phenomenon of the ’06-’07 television season. Its characters are interesting, its plot is tightly woven, and it offers the perfect balance of mystery, conspiracy, providence, and the supernatural. It takes the best qualities of the X-Files, Lost, and comic book superheroes and draws them together into a story line that, so far, features all the best elements of its predecessors but at a pace more pleasing to those of us who are tired of having our appetite for answers handed out in crumbs and bare mouthfuls over three seasons of Lost. As is still the trend in TV, Heroes sometimes develops themes of violence or sexuality, but it also offers insights both timely and timeless.

Seeking the Supernatural

I always said of the X-Files, “When we deny the supernatural, we replace our angels with aliens; and when we remove the mysteries from life, we replace them with conspiracies.” The theology of Heroes is a combination of evolution and earth goddess. The show’s controlling concept is that, in a time of world crisis, evolution will invoke remarkable changes, giving some people super powers that will help avert global disaster. Of course the unspoken contradiction behind the vision is that an impersonal rock with a thin layer of life on its surface could make any choices to invoke anything at all! But these are exactly the kinds of contradictions we’re likely to find in our post-modern American culture.

Evolution becomes the religion of Heroes. It’s not just that people find themselves with strange supernatural powers (flight, invulnerability, mind reading, super strength, time travel, prophetic visions, and more); they also find themselves brought together by the hand of some supernatural but clearly intelligent power—brought together for no other purpose than to save the world.

The popularity of Heroes is a testament to human desire for divine encounter. The desire for a divine plan—a guided fate—continues to break through, even in the most secular of shows and movies. The reason we like stories of superheroes with super powers is because we know we were meant for supernatural lives. We cannot imagine what Adam and Eve were like before the fall, and we can’t imagine what we’ll be like living the glorified life that Paul hints at in 1 Corinthians 15. But I don’t hesitate to think that human beings in the kingdom of God are themselves “godlike” after the manner which God intended for us (see John 10:34). We were meant to be super powered people all along.

Hoping for Heroes

Heroes is also a testament to our need to have heroes in our lives. A few months ago I wrote an essay in this column called “Right vs. Cool” where I talked about the importance of heroes in the moral development of children and even in moral motivation in adults. Heroes inspire us, convict us, and influence us. They motivate us to be better than we are or shame us for settling into comfortable lives of complacency and mediocrity.

In the show, various characters frequently face the temptation to live a normal life. They’re told not to take risks, not to use their powers for good (in fact not to use them at all), and not to seek their purpose—the reason behind why they are what they are. Some try to ignore their abilities, to live normal lives. Some try to run away from trouble only to find they can’t. A few choose to accept their calling and, though they’re almost clueless as to how their powers work or what they should be doing, they forge ahead anyway in the hope that some greater purpose is guiding them in the path heroes should take. What a wonderful way of looking at the Christian life. God has called us to be heroes. Will fear, selfishness, or complacency cause us to deny the call?

An unusual chapter in the book of Hebrews makes perfect sense in light of the simple truth that heroes are role models who inspire us to be better than we would otherwise be. Hebrews 11, often called the “roll call of the faithful,” is a long list of people faithful to God and their achievements in this life. The list is there to inspire us to be better than we are—to follow the heroic examples of these great heroes of faith.

Inspiring ideas do not motivate us to lives of moral excellence; inspiring examples do. The amazing life moves us out of complacency; heroes push us farther than we could push ourselves. Paul tells us to imitate God (Ephesians 5:1). But even Paul recognized the need for visual examples, so he also said, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, New American Standard Version). Paul knew that Christ seen in the lives of Christians is inspiring, something we desperately need if we want our lives as Christians to be lived as heroes. |L

Dr. Charlie Starr teaches English, Humanities, and Film at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky.

OTHER COLUMNS:
November 8, 2009 - Why I believe in God
October 25, 2009 - Commuting in days of evil
October 11, 2009 - Poets and don’t know it
September 27, 2009 - How Hollywood proves abortion is wrong
September 13, 2009 - Significance
August 30, 2009 - Dance alternatives
August 16, 2009 - Gluttons for gossip
August 2, 2009 - Truth from Twilight
July 19, 2009 - Visitor-friendly churches
July 5, 2009 - The Shack
June 21, 2009 - When forgiveness fails
June 7, 2009 - Re-imagining Education (Part Six)
May 24, 2009 - We are not alone
May 3, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part five)
April 26, 2009 - Conviction
April 12, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part four)
March 29, 2009 - An evangelistic proposal
March 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part three)
March 1, 2009 - He makes me sick
February 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (Part Two)
February 1, 2009 - Spiritual insecurity
January 18, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part one)
January 4, 2009 - Church and politics
December 21, 2008 - Heaven’s music
December 7, 2008 - The church and marriage
November 23, 2008 - God and the president
November 9, 2008 - A time for courage
October 26, 2008 - Likes and dislikes: the Prince Caspian movie
October 12, 2008 - What’s that noise?
September 28, 2008 - Modesty matters (part two)
September 14, 2008 - All it takes is some TLC
August 31, 2008 - Modesty matters (part one)
August 17, 2008 - What would you fight for?
August 3, 2008 - Staying through the credits
July 20, 2008 - Honor to whom honor
July 6, 2008 - Tyler Perry and the movies you’re missing
June 22, 2008 - The peaceable kingdom
May 25, 2008 - Another generation grew up
May 25, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part two)
May 11, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part one)
April 27, 2008 - What is truth?
April 13, 2008 - And the geek shall inherit the earth
March 30, 2008 - A charactered God
March 16, 2008 - The college choice (part two)
March 2, 2008 - Good news can be hard to hear
February 17, 2008 - The college choice (part one)
February 5, 2008 - Ten suggestions for a godly standard of living
January 20, 2008 - Expelled: that “Bueller” guy’s pro-God movie
January 6, 2008 - Choosing a lifestyle
December 23, 2007 - Teachable TV?
December 9, 2007 - Owners or stewards?
November 25, 2007 - Christians teaching Christians to change TV and film
November 11, 2007 - My money is God’s business
October 28, 2007 - Navigating under the radar
October 14, 2007 - The things God values
September 30, 2007 - Movie moments
September 16, 2007 - God’s economics
September 2, 2007 - The best books to read
August 19, 2007 - There’s a rat in ‘separate’
August 5, 2007 - The art of reading
July 22, 2007 - Atheist chic
July 8, 2007 - Why books matter: the sequel
June 10, 2007 - Books: why they matter
June 3, 2007 - The non-impact of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
May 27, 2007 - The universal gospel
May 13, 2007 - Loving Muslims through culture
April 29, 2007 - Hope
April 15, 2007 - God in the dark
April 1, 2007 - The gospel goes to the movies
March 18, 2007 - What the Bible movies can teach us
March 4, 2007 - What will you hurt for?
February 4, 2007 - Give peace a chance
January 21, 2007 - When fairy tales are true
January 7, 2007 - WYSIWYG lives
December 31, 2006 - What’s coming next?
December 17, 2006 - Mercy, mercy
December 3, 2006 - Proof of evolution!
November 19, 2006 - Hungering for God
November 5, 2006 - Violence and government, war and peace
October 22, 2006 - The mighty meek
October 8, 2006 - The Battlestar and the Bible
September 24, 2006 - Soap for the soul
September 10, 2006 - Right vs. cool
August 27, 2006 - The painful truth
August 13, 2006 - More Lies Hollywood Tells
July 30, 2006 - Christian counter culture
July 16, 2006 - The lies Hollywood tells