The Boys

[Some Schmo]

Anyone watch The Boys? It's an Amazon Original (so it's free on Prime). There are two seasons so far with the third coming out starting in June. A friend of mine turned me on to it recently.

Basically it's a show that flips the script on superheroes. The ones in this show are for the most part the bad guys, and The Boys are basically a crew of super hero hunters. I know the premise sounds a little cheesy, but it's actually a very smart show, albeit really damned weird.

I'm not really bringing the show up because of the premise so much, but because of all the religious and political themes in it. Somebody on that writing team had to have grown up in a religious home only to realize it was all BS, because that is a major theme. I'm also pretty impressed with the way they are providing commentary on neo nazis.

I don't want to give anything away, but I'm curious if anyone else watched this show and wondered what religion(s) the writer(s) grew up enduring.

I guess I should say that I only recommend it if you can handle over-the-top gore. I don't really care for that part of it, but the show is entertaining enough for me to endure the less palatable scenes.

[Res Ipsa]

It's on my list, but I haven't got to it yet.

[honorentheos]

I've watched both seasons. My guess is one of the writers has experienced the cult that is Evangelical Christianity. I think the parallels between corporate profit seeking, nationalism, and consumerism were it's best targets, subsuming religion into them, but there wasn't much it could insightfully say after making the parallels apparent in the parody of American culture that is the show. The superheroes embody American hero worship that scores it's points by smashing celebrity with military fetishizing and making a cartoon of the military industrial political complex plus a spoiler industry villain. Clever enough but where to go with that? I found the first 2/3 of season 1 interesting but didn't think it stuck the landing. And season 2 is meh.

[Gadianton]

I watched most of season 1. They are right that superheroes would almost certainly become corrupt and detached, but there's just only so much you can do with that, and it comes down to the day-to-day grind, it was decent, but didn't draw me in. I also recall it was pretty gory, which isn't my thing.

[honorentheos]

...there's just only so much you can do with that...

Yep.

To add, I think the movie Chronicle does a decent job saying superpowers would likely be abused in an easier to digest amount of time. The commentary about society is a nice addition but they had nothing more than the premise to share, not knowing where to take it that could be considered insightful.

[Some Schmo]

I also recall it was pretty gory, which isn't my thing.

I really do wonder who is entertained by exploding corpses. I mean, a lot of people must be, but I guess I'm surprised by that.

I think the show would be better if they toned down the gore. I'm not offended by it, but find it distracting. That part of the show is just gore porn.

[Some Schmo]

I've watched both seasons. My guess is one of the writers has experienced the cult that is Evangelical Christianity.

Agreed.

I think the parallels between corporate profit seeking, nationalism, and consumerism were it's best targets, subsuming religion into them, but there wasn't much it could insightfully say after making the parallels apparent in the parody of American culture that is the show.

I thought the thing they did with the kid hearing the same news over and over again was an excellent demonstration of a particular aspect of American culture.

The show has found a way to re-contextualize much of what can be said about American culture today in a way that exposes just how ludicrous everyone is acting (by setting it against the backdrop of crazy super heroes).

I can totally understand it not being everyone's cup of tea, though. In the OP, I was hesitant to recommend it (mostly because I'm not sure my wife would enjoy it, for instance). I enjoyed it for a lot of different reasons, largely the people playing the parts, but can completely imagine others not liking it at all.

[MeDotOrg]

I've watched both seasons. My guess is one of the writers has experienced the cult that is Evangelical Christianity. I think the parallels between corporate profit seeking, nationalism, and consumerism were it's best targets, subsuming religion into them, but there wasn't much it could insightfully say after making the parallels apparent in the parody of American culture that is the show. The superheroes embody American hero worship that scores it's points by smashing celebrity with military fetishizing and making a cartoon of the military industrial political complex plus a spoiler industry villain. Clever enough but where to go with that? I found the first 2/3 of season 1 interesting but didn't think it stuck the landing. And season 2 is meh.

Good analysis, which is to say I agree with you. ;-

[honorentheos]

Hey Schmo,

I should say I really appreciate you starting the thread. It's fun to talk about critiques of popular media, in my opinion. My wife had to get used to me talking about a movie or show we watched, after finishing it. When dating and even long into our marriage, she assumed I hated most shows or movies. It took time and many a discussing to realize I am just that way, allowing a show to either entertain or not at a simple binary level, while simultaneously analysing it, deconstructing it, digging into the structure, etc. She used to ask why I couldn't just watch to which I couldn't answer other than it seemed like a waste of time to "just watch" anything. I learned she didn't enjoy that, and I found other outlets. One of my brothers has always been the same way so we usually bounce thoughts off one another.

That is all a long winded way of saying I don't think of my take on the series as a value judgement. It isn't meant to say anything about the show being good or bad. My favorite single season of television ever, True Detective Season 1, is still subject to the same treatment.

Speaking about the gore, I would agree that it seemed often gratuitous. But I took that as part of the overall commentary that drove the show. Like a meta-commentary on the audience watching it. The first death, when the girlfriend was obliterated by the speeding Flash-like hero, was shocking which I thought served a narrative purpose. It shocked me, anyway. But after a while it became clear the gore was a mirror being held up to the audience.

[honorentheos]

I think enough people have watched Squid Games to be able to talk about it, but spoilers ahead, just in case.

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I have a similar view about the gore and violence in Squid Games, where I imagine the violence is meant to mirror the economic violence done to the desperate and lowest strata of society. Is it necessary to tell the story? Probably not. Does it help the story? The first instances of it being used in the Red Light-Green Light game are effective in communicating the shocking reveal that the game being played is one of life-and-death. But after a while the effect is numbing and loses any real narrative value. Which,...well, there's a meta-narrative point there, too.

Tangentially, I kind of love how badly written the uber-wealthy westerners are in the show. It's my go-to example I use to point out how offensive stereotypes in American movies might not seem to be a big deal to American audiences who see the stereotype and unpack it unconsciously without getting distracted from the show, but that is kinda what makes them offensive. Sucks that the poorly written stupid Western in the show effectively communicates how we Americans often appear to others but that's the trope it reveals.