Blog 13: “Hero”

In episode nine of Angel, “Hero” Doyle got the chance to be the hero. There was a family of half-breeds that were being hunted by The Scourge, and Doyle who is also a half-breed could relate. The Scourge had even taken the lives of some of Doyle’s family. In this episode Doyle sacrifices his life to save all the half-breeds, including Angel, and Cordelia, from the Beacon. The Beacon is a device that vaporizes anything with “inferior” human blood running through its veins.

I found it interesting that this is the episode I happened to watch on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Reverend King stood up for what he believed in, gave a voice to the oppressed, and sacrificed his life to better the world we share. In Doyle’s case, he believed that The Scourge was oppressing the half-breeds and he helped them the best he could and in the end sacrificed his life. I have so much respect for Martin Luther King, Jr. and for Doyle’s character. It takes a strong person to stand up and fight for your beliefs, especially when they aren't shared by the majority.

Another parallel in the episode to real life is genocide. The Scourge considered themselves to be superior beings compared to the inferior half-breeds and humans. They made it their mission to cleanse the Earth of all those with mixed blood. This isn’t something that’s made up for good television. This is real life. It’s happened in the past, we’ve all heard the horror stories of The Holocaust. The sad thing is that to this day it continues, mainly in Africa, to my knowledge.

It breaks my heart that people can still feel this way about other people. After reading the history books and learning from them we shouldn’t be repeating this behavior. We are supposed to be progressing, not regressing. People are people, no matter their race, religion, etc. Thank God for the Marin Luther King Junior’s of the world, thank God for the Allies, and thank God for anyone who fights against the evils in this world.