The AntiHero

The other day I was reading an article about an upcoming movie, a remake of a classic monster movie. The monster was considered by the director to be an 'antihero," I thought that was an odd choice, but for the director the monster represented Mother Nature and the consequences of the way humans have damaged Earth. The monster was an antihero because it's actions while destructive and atrocious bring a sort of balance to the Earth. Still for me that idea was a stretch...

I grew up enjoying the X-Men comics and seeing one of the great comic book story-lines come to the silver screen has recently got me thinking about antiheroes and why they are so popular. Magneto, The Wolverine, DCI John Luther, Raymond "Red" Reddington, Malcolm Reynolds, all three of the current incarnations of Sherlock Holmes. All of these characters are antiheroes, and rightly so, none of them have the qualities that you would associate with a classic hero. Interestingly each of them rather have major character flaws that both endear us to them and quite honestly can repel us.

Magneto, Wolverine, and Reynolds all have been or continue to reside in the grey area of doing good when it suits them or having good come about as an unexpected side effect of some action they have taken, on the other hand Luther and the "Sherlocks" exhibit nearly psychopathic behavior that brings down those on the wrong side of them or the law, whichever is convenient. In either case, the good that comes as a result of the bad in them outweighs the bad that they cannot or will not distance themselves from.

"Red" Reddington is one of the most recent additions to the list of antihero, in his case Red falls into the "grey area" antihero, his actions, giving the FBI information leading to the arrests of the worst criminals they don't know about, at first seems to be for the greater good. We slowly begin to see that his motivation appears to be first, to protect himself and second to protect FBI agent Elizabeth Keen. The connection between Keen and Red has not been made clear however that connection is what makes Red an antihero! Whether he likes it or not, and whether Keen likes it or not, Red has done good, he has protected Keen, and so far as we can tell he has never lied to her. What makes Red an antihero is the fact that he is a bad guy that you can't help but love. He has his moments, all I have to say is Swan Lake...

But knowing all these characters are antiheroes still begs the question, "Why?" Why are we drawn to each of these characters? In my own experience I think each of us has an antihero, someone that despite their imperfections, their flaws, sometimes even harsh attitudes has done something heroic for us. In the face of the bad that is a part of them, the good they have done has outweighed that.

For a long time I have known that my dad is my antihero. There was no question that he did good in spite of the bad that was a part of him. He knew he had his demons and he worked hard to fight them off. He knew that he needed to put on a good face to help bring us up, he did that for years, and then after years he couldn't keep up the hero act. He went off and indulged in the drugs and alcohol that threatened to overwhelm him. Then because someone told him he couldn't do it, he kicked the drugs and the alcohol and even the cigarettes.

I sometimes think he knew he was my hero, I know that he knew he was my hero. But kicking the crack and booze and smokes wasn't why, it was because he made the decision to try even when the odds were against him... He knew that it wasn't going to be easy, but the fact that he thought someone said it was impossible for him made it worth trying to do. That was part of what made him my hero in the first place. His grandmother told him his black friends had to come in the house through the side door, rather than the front door, my dad's response, "They are my friends and they will come in whatever door I damn well choose!" There was never a word about it spoken again. My dad taught me to believe that I was no more or less than any other person, and because I could see he lived his life that way it made an impression on me.

I knew the scar on his face came from an Afro-pick that was jabbed into his face while on a bus after hearing about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. His best friend at the time Bodey Tilley, (the same one that Grandma got upset about coming through the front door), pushed him out of the window of a moving bus so my dad's attackers couldn't finish the job. Bodey knew what kind of man my dad was, and Bodey stuck his neck out to save him. Those two incidents in my dad's life cemented the kind of man he would always strive to be. And those incidents have been for me the touchstone by which I have measured my life. Would I be able to stand up for people around me? Would I be able to take the punishment handed out by the ignorant and the foolish? Would I be undeterred by the fact that I was told it was impossible?

Sometimes it takes time to realize that those are questions that you ask yourself. Sometimes it takes time to consider that who you are is shaped not just by the good that people do but also the bad, and that to embrace that good you have to forgive the bad. Doing that we don't just remember our heroes or antiheroes, we celebrate them, every time we protect someone, every time we take one on the chin, every time we look in the mirror and see them looking back at us.

Unlike the monster remake antihero I talked about earlier, my antiheroes have a purpose, my biggest antihero had a purpose, he protected me from the worst that was in others and he sheltered me from the worst that was in him.

My Weekend Adventure - Grand Central Market

Downtown is not someplace we go very often, Chinatown sure! San Gabriel Valley definitely! Out to the South Bay of course! Downtown though not highest on my list of places to go. My weekend adventure at the Grand Central Market is a place I plan to go back to.

At first you might think, "What's another market in a city like Los Angeles?"
In my one visit I can say that it isn't just another market. While the layout of the place is something you can find on the internet it doesn't really do it justice, the open air stalls and the smell of food add something to the atmosphere that reminds me of similar markets I visited in Mexico City. I think that similarity was cemented in the first couple of minutes into our visit.

Las Morelianas

As you enter the market on Broadway you are greeted by the Las Morelianas. Roughly translated it's The Ladies From Morelia, Morelia is the capital of Michoacan. This is meaningless unless you realize some of the best carnitas come from Michoacan! But I digress! As we stood looking up at the menu the fellow behind the counter offered us a sample.

In this one bite I relived all of the meals in my Uncle's restaurant in Mexico City. It was the simplest of samples, the shredded carnitas, just enough to have a bit in every bite of a warm tortilla. Carnitas is one of my favorite foods, it is a bit of my heritage that I am most appreciative of. Every time I see carnitas on a menu I look to it for some comfort. I had come to the market to eat, so I only ordered one taco. Elena loves chewy textures so when the cook asked if we wanted skin (cueritos I knew she would enjoy it. 
Tasty doesn't cover this. The meat I can't say enough about, the fire of the onions mellowed in some vinegar, with the great floral bite of Mexican oregano, and to top it all off, literally, the cilantro and chopped onions. And then just like home I added some salsa made of red chilies. Most of the time I say "That was the best I ever had!" I try not to exaggerate, this was some of the best carnitas I have had in years.

DTLA Cheese

At first if you walk up to this counter it looks like a 8 foot section of a cheese counter. Some of the cheeses in there looked really good, I probably would have bought something if the couple in front of us didn't want to talk about all of the different cheeses in the case.


But I digress... I'm going to do that a lot in this post. What got me to stop was the menu, when the menu starts with "Cheesey Potatoes" as the first item, I'm hooked. There are two choices, Manchego or Cheddar...  I chose the Cheddar mostly because of the bacon... and the creme fraiche... and the chives. It is such a classic combination that you can't go wrong, but the roasted baby potatoes were cooked perfectly and that elevated the whole thing. Each bite of the potatoes may not have had every element that was slathered on top of the wonderfully roasted potatoes but each potato was done just right and that is not an easy task... I know this because I ate the potatoes by themselves, then I would savor the starchy sweetness, then take a bite of the salty, tangy, cheesey, bacon, creme fraiche goodness. Can you tell I liked this? Can you tell I'm going to get it again?

A&B Coffee

Like the Grand Central Market website says "Don't let the name fool you!" What this place is, is a one stop shop for just about an Latino seasoning.

What I really enjoyed here was the selection of mole. Typically what mole that we find here in the store is muddy flavored and sometimes rancid because the oils from the nuts don't keep for very long. What A & B Coffee has is fresh mole trucked in from Oaxaca on a regular basis. 

As you can see the mole when it is fresh stands up on its own. 

As we stood at the counter and talked to the young lady about the moles it was clear she knew what she was talking about. Each mole has it's own characteristics, each one has an individual flair that separates it from the other moles. From the earthy chocolatey flavors of the mole negro, to the nutty sweetness of the mole verde. There were seven different moles in the case, and we were able to sample several of them. In the end we took home the mole verde and the roja. 

Look for this sign to find the mole!

Sun's Produce

Our second to last stop was Sun Produce, really this is what people expect, fresh produce fairly inexpensive prices and really some lines. The cramped space was filled with fresh produce, some of it on the edge of freshness, our avocados for instance were on the back end of fresh. I mean what did I expect when they were 2 for $1? But I digress, again. It seemed like an anomaly out here in the middle of the kebabs, Mexican, and Chinese foods. But there on the other side of the aisle stood another small market with the same long lines and fresh produce. 

Walking Around the Market

We actually made more than one circuit around the market. The first time around the line at the Ana Maria taco stand was down the aisle, the second time it was nonexistent!  Then on the far side of the market was Belcampo Meat Co. I'll just show you what caught my eye there.

Granted there were beautiful cuts of meat, smoked meats, sausage, and like DTLA cheese there was a kitchen. The Twice Cooked Duck sandwich and the Belcampo burger were enough to keep me there.

As we walked back to towards Broadway, we saw the Better Booch, fresh kombucha was sounding pretty good as I got more and more full. And La Huerta, basically a dried fruit and nut stand, there was fresh seafood at Lupita's Seafood. But what we both wanted was more carnitas, at this point I was too full to eat another taco, really what had I eaten, a monster taco, and some awesome Cheesey Potatoes. I figured we spent a little more than $25, but it was worth it. Elena didn't eat any potatoes so she had room for more tacos. And she did enjoy them.

On down the road the mole became a couple of meals, while the avocados didn't pan out the mushrooms were a topping for a steak. And the carnitas, will be something I keep going back for. The lardo butter... Definitely in my future, just like the Twice Cooked Duck sandwich from Belcampo.

This was my weekend adventure, downtown traffic, the memories of my visits to Mexico City, and Cheesey Potatoes. All rolled into a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon. Something I plan to do again? For sure and for certain!