Algumas palavras sobre Heroes

Peguei alguns trechos de entrevistas na web (em inglês), com os produtores e escritores da série Heroes. Dá para ter uma idéia do porque de tanto sucesso. Sem dúvida, essas respostas me indicam que eles estão no caminho certo:

Entrevista com Tim Kring (produtor executivo)

DL- I sent you the trade compilation of J. Michael Stracynzki's "Rising Stars," a now fully complete story about a group of kids all from the same town who develop supernatural abilities (and are thusly labeled "Specials")... my question: Why didn't you read it? (and "no time" is not an acceptable answer, pal!)

TK- I'm intrigued by this question because obviously something I've done with HEROES proves to you that I didn't read it. The problem is, since I didn't read it, I don't know what that is. Did I miss something I should have stolen? Did I steal something and don't know it? I fear the latter from the tone of your question. But the truth is I didn't read it for a couple reasons.

First and foremost, because this show deals in the arena of the super hero and comic book world, I didn't want to be tempted or discouraged by other ideas out there. Very early on in the process, I went to see my friend Jeph Loeb for just this reason. I told him I was not well versed in this world and wanted him to steer me away from anything that was derivative or just out and out stealing. Unfortunately EVERYTHING I pitched to him had not only been done once, but many times in many ways. I literally went home that night convinced that I couldn't touch this subject without reinventing the wheel at best, and outright plagiarism at worst.

I finally decided, maybe foolishly so, not to read anything. In this way, at least my conscience is clear. And I have surrounded myself here with enough comic book folks who can tell me what to veer away from.

And there is actually another reason that I didn't read it. A more personal one. I have some form (never diagnosed) of dyslexia or reading problem that makes it nearly impossible for me to read anything that is not laid out neatly and logically on the page. I get extremely confused by the dialogue bubbles. My eye never knows whether to go left or right or up or down. I get easily frustrated and give up very quickly whenever I've tried to read comics.

DL- Do you feel a need to start familiarizing yourself with the superhero genre... or do you feel the less you know the more "grounded" your show will be? And since when is grounded a good thing?

TK- To continue this thought from earlier — I am a little afraid of knowing too much. I guess my fear is that I could get too invested in the "powers" and lose sight of what attracted me to these characters. I feel that HEROES is, at it's core, a character based saga. I'm much more fascinated by the personal struggles that these abilities present to the characters. I want to know more about who these people are. Much more than I know right now. What are their fears and ambitions. Twenty two episodes a year of a television show gives you the opportunity to invest in the details of your characters. I really want HEROES to feel real — like this could happen to any one of us. So I guess the answer is yes, I do feel less I know, the more grounded it will be. Is grounded better? Ask me after the first season.

Entrevista completa

Entrevista com Joe Pokaski e Aron Coleite (escritores e produtores)

Everyone in the office and a number of readers had the same question – the doomsday scenario Linderman described seems to share some similarities with the groundbreaking graphic novel "Watchmen" and the characters of Ozymandias. How much of an influence, if at all, did this graphic novel play on the final outcome of "Heroes?"

Comics have a huge influence on us. “Watchmen.” “Days of Future Past.” “Y The Last Man.” “Dark Knight Returns.” “Long Halloween.” These are all books that all of the writers hold very dear. So to say that these books did not have an influence on us and our writing would be disingenuous, but to say that Alan Moore invented and owns the doomsday scenario is also untrue.

We were also influenced by the 9/11 documentary “Loose Change” and Mario Puzo's lesser known novel “The Fourth K.” All writers are influenced by previous work. It's what inspires us to tell great stories.

We're putting our own spin on our story to make it uniquely “Heroes.”

Entrevista completa