The O-town Scene

TV Matters |by Jenny Ortiz Learn from mutants about acceptance magine being capable of overriding a person's will. Or have the sensitivity to smell precancerous cells on someone's breath. These powers can create love and disgust … but mostly unease. As a human race, we have tended to react with aversion and hatred when it comes to experiencing someone and some- thing different. Most television programs do a poor job at helping groups interconnect, but the sci-fi genre has always found a way to show that humans and other species can coexist … if the human race is willing. As a science fiction fan, I've come to look forward to being educated through alien worlds, alternate dimen- sions, dystopias, robots, zombies as well as govern- ment created and experimented super-soldiers. It's through these worlds that sci-fi produces an accurate and chilling social commentary of today. With this in mind, I was excited to see if "Alphas" on SyFy could follow the footsteps of what I consider the best social commentary of my generation: "X-Men, The Animated Series" (1992-97). As a little girl, I was given the harsh reality of American culture. There are groups in our country that are devalued, ignored, spit upon and segregated. I This Saturday morning cartoon did more than entertain a group of children in the '90s; It placed us in the Civil Rights marches, in the Women's Rights movement, etc. We learned at a very young age that if we discriminated against the people around us, then it would only be a matter of time before we'd be discriminated against. With this mindset, I saw "Alphas" as a show focused on calling attention to the groups still being hurt be- cause of discrimination: not everyone can get married, not everyone has the right to good health care, people are not given equal opportunities at their jobs, and so forth. Dr. Rosen (David Strathaim) leads a team of Alphas (humans that at the gene level are capable of extraor- dinary feats both physically and mentally). Although Alphas are the minority within the world's population, the mutations that give these people their unique abili- ties are slowly being seen in more and more individu- als. There are groups that want to stop the creation of such "freaks," and there are others that want to exploit them. Rosen, on the other hand, seeks them out to help them better understand who they are and how to bet- ter handle their Alpha ability (think Professor X minus the high-level telepathy). For most Alphas, their abilities are seen as something to be ashamed of, so they never learn how to control their talents and use them as defense mechanisms to hurt those who hurt them. This problem leads to social misunderstanding and a greater hatred among the groups. And while the Alpha Team runs around saving hu- 6 O-Town Scene Nov. 10, 2011 Contributed Alphas with extraordinary mutant powers are people, too. mans and other Alphas from the violence that discrimi- nation creates (as seen in the season finale when the government calls Alphas terrorists and guns down a large population of them rallying peacefully at a private facility), they are also dealing with very human situations: an arranged marriage, divorce, high-functioning autism, the prospect of children, learning from one's mistakes and past experiences etc. Through "Alphas," viewers of the show are being exposed to a group unlike themselves and they are sympathizing with this group. They are seeing these Alphas as people who deserve the same rights and values that we give everyone else. If this show can get viewers to accept mu- tants, then isn't it also getting the same viewers to accept other minorities in America? "X-Men" showed me that before I could accept people, I needed to accept myself, my identity and my culture. With this acceptance I could then accept everyone around me regardless of gender, sexuality, religion, culture or the mutant ability to control the weather. In the end, what "Alphas" has presented is simple: humanity is seen more within a population of mutants than anyone else and if this is the case, then they truly aren't like us and they can teach us what it means to be human. What a relief. With this acceptance I could then accept everyone around me regardless of gender, sexuality, religion, culture or the mutant ability to control the weather. When Jenny Ortiz isn't pleading with Kurt Sutter via Twitter to be her mentor, she teaches at St. John's Uni- versity, Adelphi University and LaGuardia Community College. Her writing can be found at fictionatwork. com, Blink-ink.com, Jersey Devil Press, dogeatcrow. com, Eighty Percent Magazine and InkSpill Magazine. She can be followed at twitter.com/jnylynn.

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