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. Quick reminder here that if you’re enjoying
this video, drop a like, subscribe, hit the bell button, and let me know you thoughts
on all this down below! Also after the vid check out my podcast The
Poorly Planned Podcast, alright back to the vid. 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 I do with a friend of mine where we talk about
movies, TV shows, a bunch of nonsense, it’s 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.
