The Boys: Brutal, Profane, But Realistically Portrays the “Superhero” Genre
Exploding heads? Overt misogyny including a forced blowjob? The C word as part of normal dialogue for one character? A whale gutted? Any of those turn you off, then forget about The Boys which turns the superhero concept on its head.
The Supes are the bad guys here. Although they are billed as the good guys. But corporate America knows a good deal when it sees it. This is satire at its best as we see how the handlers of The Seven, the most elite of the Supes, control their merchandizing and publicity, damn the collateral damage, which is what starts the protagonist down his path against them as his girlfriend is wiped out by the blur of Supe “A-Train” flashing by.
We quickly see how the ordinary person doesn’t matter at all.
The Boys is the bloodiest, dirtiest thing I’ve seen on television. It’s on Amazon Prime. But it’s worth the ride as it touches on so much of what’s wrong with us. Being up front, I’m not a fan of the superhero franchises. They present problems as solvable if someone is bulletproof, possessing extraordinary powers, can fly and unlike the rest of us mortals. And the rules of physics don’t exist. But if power corrupts, doesn’t extraordinary power corrupt the most? That’s what The Boys points out.
And when I say “realistically portrays the superhero genre” you see the inherent conflict.
