So The Boys season 3 wrapped up and I wanted to make a review but when I thought about
it, all my thoughts were basically the same as what I’d thought about the previous seasons:
it’s an excellent show, with amazing performances and fun action and crazy brutal moments and
really well thought out storylines that weave together in an interesting way.
However, there was one aspect of this season in particular that stood out to me, that was
also present in previous seasons but was most interesting here, and today I wanted to talk
about why The Boys’ political satire is so successful.
I find it fascinating, because the social and political parallels this show draws to
real life are such a massive part of the show and are not remotely subtle, and yet for some
reason it works really well.
I think the reason that surprises me is that since around 2015/2016, when politics started
to get let’s say even more divisive than they were before and politics became much
more prevalent in mainstream content, a lot of stuff that’s trying to have a message
relating to politics has started to inherently feel cringey and overdone, regardless of what
side it’s on.
And yes, sometimes it is poorly done, but in general whenever a show or piece of media
is trying to address a political issue, on the right or the left, some people now just
kind of tune it out go ack, I don’t even wanna deal with this anymore.
And yes there are also people who call stuff political when really it isn’t and that's
a whole other discussion, but I just found it very interesting that The Boys hasn’t
suffered from that, I haven't seen any takes really that are like The Boys sucks cuz it’s
trying too hard to push it's agenda and it's message, and I think in the current climate
that's pretty impressive.
So how does it do that?
One reason I’d say is the way it mixes its political satire with the superhero genre.
The Boys has a lot of not at all subtle parody in it already, obviously parodying superhero
tropes, superhero media, movie studios and whatnot, and that works as well because the
show isn’t trying to be subtle about it.
It goes quite obvious with its parody so it can add more of its own world’s flavor,
it isn’t just like a Scary Movie situation where it’s like, look here’s a superhero
thing but a little different and naughtier so it’s funny.
It does that upfront and very obviously, and then that's just one layer to the show’s
interesting aspects, then add on top of that unique storylines for characters, unique takes
on the tropes that are being parodied, and then political satire on top of that.
That is just one aspect of the show, just like the superhero movie parody stuff is only
one aspect of the show, and it isn’t just thrown in there for no reason, it is worked
organically in from the characters.
The comparisons to real life, especially with Homelander and his supporters being compared
to, y'know a general idea in politics that may or may not be linked to one specific politician,
is actually a really clever riff to put on this character.
It doesn't feel like they just forced this type of storyline on a character that it didn't
work for, we built up this character independently of that and a story that has parallels to
the real world fit perfectly for that character's progression.
I mean I’m trying to avoid talking about the direct comparisons cuz this is the Internet
and I just don’t wanna get involved in the dumpster fire of Internet political talk,
but I mean again the show is not subtle, look at the supporters and the way Homelander talks
and how some of the rhetoric is literally taken from real life.
My point is, it’s a clever way that real life comparisons can be drawn from the characters
in the show, rather than characters being made just for real life comparisons to be
drawn, and that's what makes it work.
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I also wanna be clear here that when I say political and talk about shows getting political,
I know that term is thrown around way too much and some people, some dumb people, just
apply it to when shows have different cultures in them, and I’d like to stress that's not
what I’m talking about when I say that, just so I don’t get lumped in that camp.
I’m talking about when shows actually try to parody and talk about real life politics
and social issues, which again, some do well, some don’t.
I also think another reason this aspect of the show works so well is that it draws really
funny comparisons to the real world in making fun of some of this stuff and pointing out
its ridiculousness by viewing it through this ridiculous superhero lens.
Of course there are more serious allegories to real world social issues like the Bluehawk
storyline, but stuff like the ongoing news network that Homelander goes on, and the way
Vought tries to manipulate the public and twist stories can lead to some hilarious comparisons
to the real world, just like the superhero movie parody stuff can be hilarious.
Now this is gonna be some dicey territory here cuz, I try not to talk about my political
views just cuz again trying to stay away from the dumpster fire, and I know people don’t
care.
I talk about movies and shows who care what my political views are.
But just for the sake of explaining how some political humor can be ineffective, I’d
like to look at Stephen Colbert’s Late Show real quick, which I used to be a pretty big
fan of and now don’t really love.
And the thing is, I agree with pretty much everything that's said on that show, like
the ideas and politics match up with my personal ideas pretty spot on.
However, I don’t really enjoy those monologues anymore because it’s not really that inventive
and gets a bit tired, it’s just the same, very predictable jokes over and over again,
that's something I’ve thought about making a video on by the way.
My point with all this is, you can agree with someone’s
political opinions and still think their jokes and satire relating to it aren’t really
that great.
The Boys makes jokes about the ridiculousness of some stuff in our real world that I agree
should be made fun of, and when it's not making fun of them but rather making a point about
them in a more serious way I agree with should be addressed and talked about, but I don’t
think it’s good just because I agree with it.
It’s actually handled in a creative and unique way and that's why it’s effective.
I think part of that again comes from this grander superhero scale that this show is
following, which allows for more interesting ways of communicating a message and addressing
this kind of stuff rather than just pointing something out and being like look, we did
a thing that relates to the real world that isn't that clever.
I’d say another example would be the last season of Brooklyn 99 where they introduced
that new police chief character, or whatever, again, a show where I agree with all the political
and social messages in it, I just thought the way that was handled was kind of lazily
written and predictable and not that funny, and sort of stuck out about the show.
I’m not saying The Boys always does it 100% perfectly, sometimes it’s so on the nose
that it’s a little much even for me, but generally speaking doing funny and clever
parody that fits with the show’s style and comes organically from the world and characters
the show has built up is why I think The Boys’ political satire is so effective, and has
been frequent in a very popular show without alienating audiences and drawing criticism
that other shows and movies have for trying a similar thing in recent years.
Woo, ok so that felt like navigating a bit of a minefield.
I’ve been thinking about making this video for a while and I think it’s a shame that
the Internet is in such a state that I don’t wanna make a video that is about a show and
a show’s writing specifically just because it involves politics.
I’m not trying to dive into politics here, I honestly just thought the way the show handles
this stuff is weirdly really well done, and by the way there’s way more to it than I
even covered here, like with Stormfront’s supporters and some stuff with Starlight and
a bunch of stuff with Soldier Boy and how the season ends, MM’s wife’s new husband
and all that, there’s also the reality TV parody part of it that also leads a bit into
the social political side of things, I mean there's much more to dive into here but I
just wanted to give my two cents on it and then step away from it, even though I know
the comments are still probably gonna be a bit more chaotic than usual.
But hey, this is my channel and I talk about what I wanna talk about.
I might make a video on how I feel about Late Night shows like I mentioned earlier just
cuz again from the perspective of how those are written and presented I find that interesting,
but hey we’ll see.
Anyway, The Boys season 3 was awesome by the way.
If you want my review, that's it.
It was great, just as good as the other two.
The Boys is one of the best shows these days.
Could’ve done without that one scene in episode 1, you know the one, but hey that's
The Boys.
So those were some of my thoughts on how The Boys handles its political satire.
What did you think of the latest season?
Let me know all your thoughts down below in the comments.
While you’re at it, be sure to like this video, check out my Instagram and Twitter
@bhl_hudson, my TikTok @bhlhudson, my Letterboxd @realbhlhudson, check out this podcast that
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called The Poorly Planned Podcast, and subscribe for more videos like the one you just watched.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see ya next time.