Source: Unsplash by Kelly Sikkerna
It’s fair to say that just about everyone is talking about Stranger Things these days. I know – Eddie was too good to go (let me talk to you about the death of Sirius Black and other childhood traumas in another article). It was not long before this that everyone was talking about the new Doctor Strange movie and how good it was (yes, it was, but Wanda deserved better!).
I guess what we could say, then, is that the concept of a hero or a team of heroes who are able to save the world from troubles has been heavily invested in the film industry over the years. To be fair, who doesn’t want a good fairytale where, for two hours, you get to believe that good will always fight evil. Nowadays, we can see that heroes can have problems too, from the newest Batman to the latest Doctor Strange, but these are usually hidden under the bubble of happily ever after or by finding a better purpose in their life; there is always hope. Superheroes illustrate the hero that everyone hides and it would be a lie if any of us claimed to never have wished they were a secret superhero once in our life.
But what if the Superheroes were actually problematic personas and products of marketing? What if, behind them, there is a huge team of people who make millions of dollars and feed their ego? What if the whole idea of superheroes has actually based on a deeply racist idea of the Aryan race (Nazi background drops the mic)? Take all these questions, blended with a lot of punches and kicks, a lot of blood, and some die-hard characters, you have the perfect combo of a very brutal anti-superhero TV series.
Now, you will ask me how exactly are you selling this product to me? Let me tell you: the show is set up in such a way that viewers are made to hate these superheroes so much that you want to see them fall. Of course, there is a team full of antiheroes who want to stop them, but the golden nugget is that once again the battle between good and evil both rest in a grey zone. It makes you really think about what is actually good and that the bad is actually really bad. However, there is a bigger issue in what the term bad reflects in these series; the problems are deeper than good or bad characters. The problematic superheroes are reflecting a problematic society and this is where The BOYS win my vote for a great TV series.
Every season is getting darker, more brutal, and more vicious. I do want to stress that the show has several scenes that aren’t suitable for sensitive eyes. However, it’s a price that you pay for a great TV series that is unapologetically real and is not afraid to get its hands dirty.
You can watch the TV series on Amazon; the third season is finishing on the 8th of July with the fourth one already in place. Please let me know your thoughts on the show in the comments below and let’s have a whole conversation on how we hate Homelander.