The BoysCredit: Amazon
The Boys has at all times been a present decided to shock and disgust its viewers, so it’s no marvel that they maintain pushing the proverbial envelope. I’m no prude, however I’m typically a lot grossed out by this present, although up to now that’s (principally) been a superb sort of grossed out.
It’s been humorous for probably the most half, although early on within the collection Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is sexually assaulted by the superhero The Deep (Chace Crawford). That scene was deeply disturbing, and it was imagined to be. It was a troublesome scene but it surely was right here for a motive: Starlight obtained her first glimpse at how vile The Seven actually have been—although not the final. Quickly she’d understand that even the golden boy, Homelander (Antony Starr) was a villain.
On this week’s episode of The Boys, nevertheless, issues are taken too far and never in a great way. There’s shock worth after which there’s shock worth. Season 4, Episode 6—titled ‘Soiled Enterprise’—is barely surprising in its lack of empathy for victims of sexual assault. Spoilers forward.
It’s odd, as a result of final week was the primary time this season that I genuinely thought to myself “That is lastly getting good.” The episode had so much to like, from flying “Supe” sheep to a hilarious parody of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Get woke, get yoked” is among the funniest and most absurd issues this present has accomplished, and the ridiculous “woke” product placement in that episode is basic The Boys.
But it surely all got here crashing down in Episode 6, when Hughie (Jack Quaid) learns the saying “by no means meet your heroes” the arduous manner—the identical manner that Starlight did again in Season 1. This time, nevertheless, the sexual assault is tackled with all of the nuance of a freight practice crashing right into a brick wall.
Content material warning.
My colleague Paul Tassi has already detailed why this scene is so tousled, so I’ll simply direct you to his synopsis and critique. I need to speak in regards to the authorial intent, which makes all of it a lot worse. So far as I may inform, watching the scene and its aftermath, The Boys was enjoying Hughie’s struggling for laughs. I used to be a bit mollified by his emotional breakdown after the very fact, but it surely seems that I used to be fallacious: Showrunner Eric Kripke referred to as the scene “hilarious” in an interview with Selection.
The interviewer requested the next query, which is one I might have requested, too: “Let’s begin with the Tek Knight intercourse dungeon half. The place did the thought come for it? And why carry Hughie into this example now — kicking him when he’s down by having him sexually assaulted by his childhood hero after his dad simply died?”
Kripke’s reply, in full, reads:
Nicely, that’s a darkish manner to take a look at it! We view it as hilarious. Clearly, Tek Knight is our model of Batman, and we needed to actually mess around with that trope: Batman’s fascist underpinnings as a extremely rich dude who hunts poor individuals, after which income of the incarceration. In order that was one. Tek Knight was already set as much as be a freak, so we have been sort of already midway there. Then the notion got here up of, he ought to have a Batcave — however let’s be sincere, the Batcave can be a intercourse dungeon. Like, even the true Batcave is simply this facet of being a intercourse dungeon. It’s actually darkish, and there’s rubber fits all over the place. It’s not that a lot of a push so as to add a pair dildos after which a bizarre urinal that turns right into a face masks.
And within the comics, there’s a terrific storyline the place Hughie goes undercover disguised as a superhero. That was a narrative that Jack had at all times requested us to do. So a part of it’s, at all times watch out what you ask the writers for. Then we lastly had this Webweaver character and the thought of Spider-Man taking place to be kink tickled within the Batcave is simply too good to go up. I’m sorry, I simply couldn’t depart that on the desk.
Kink tickled? I’m sorry, this wasn’t “kink” this was completely non-consensual. The truth that the present’s creator views it as “hilarious” and waves it off as some sort of humorous intercourse dungeon scene is extra disturbing than the scene itself.
When requested if there was ever a time that Amazon stated that this was taking issues too far, Kripke provides:
“I like that it’s simply such an ideal setup that he doesn’t know his personal protected phrase. It’s identical to a lovely comedy setup that he’s looking for it the entire time.”
Not figuring out your personal protected phrase is simply in regards to the farthest factor from humorous I can consider, and I’m completely baffled that somebody answerable for a significant tv collection might be this tone-deaf.
This wasn’t simply “shock worth” so far as I’m involved, any greater than Starlight’s assault was, but it surely’s weird to see how Kripke views it as only a enjoyable section, fairly than one thing that ought to be taken very, very significantly. Distinction his feedback with what he stated about Starlight’s scene on the time:
I needed to get it proper. I had lots of conversations with lots of girls, a few of which have been very painful. And I did my very best to get the f– out of the best way, and simply allow them to communicate, and never attempt to steer it a technique or one other. After which, in the end, sort of, y’know, boil it right down to Starlight’s expertise, each in that second, after which within the aftermath of that second. Then when it got here time to loop in Erin, after which Chace… we went by way of that course of yet again. As a result of the actors really should reside in and play it. And so, I’ll say this: I’ve by no means labored so arduous or pressured a lot a couple of scene in my life earlier than or since. As a result of if I obtained that fallacious, it’s not simply that it could fail as a scene, it could be hurtful. And I felt that stress and accountability all all through.
Think about if he stated the Starlight scene was “hilarious” and waved it off the identical manner as he does with Hughie’s horrific scene. There’s lots of stigma round male victims of sexual assault, and fairly than tackling that in a critical method, The Boys simply amplifies that stigma. It’s hypocritical and greater than somewhat revolting. I’d name it a disgrace, however that’s not fairly sturdy sufficient.
Reprehensible. That’s the phrase I’m searching for.
Once more, think about that this scene wasn’t Hughie, however Starlight or Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara). Then examine how this present is dealing with such a devastating second with Netflix’s current miniseries Child Reindeer, which dove headfirst into how trauma can destroy your life. How terribly disappointing.