The BoysCredit: Amazon
Up to date 07/06/24 see updates under.
The Boys has at all times been a present decided to shock and disgust its viewers, so it’s no marvel that they preserve pushing the proverbial envelope. I’m no prude, however I’m typically loads grossed out by this present, although up to now that’s (largely) been sort of grossed out.
It’s been humorous for essentially 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 tricky scene but it surely was right here for a motive: Starlight bought her first glimpse at how vile The Seven really had been—although not the final. Quickly she’d notice 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 stunning 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 quite a bit to like, from flying “Supe” sheep to a hilarious parody of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Get woke, get yoked” is likely one of the funniest and most absurd issues this present has achieved, and the ridiculous “woke” product placement in that episode is traditional The Boys.
However it all got here crashing down in Episode 6, when Hughie (Jack Quaid) learns the saying “by no means meet your heroes” the exhausting approach—the identical approach 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 wish to discuss 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 mistaken: Showrunner Eric Kripke known as the scene “hilarious” in an interview with Selection.
The interviewer requested the next query, which is one I’d have requested, too: “Let’s begin with the Tek Knight intercourse dungeon half. The place did the concept come for it? And why convey 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 approach to take a look at it! We view it as hilarious. Clearly, Tek Knight is our model of Batman, and we wished to essentially mess around with that trope: Batman’s fascist underpinnings as a extremely rich dude who hunts poor folks, after which income of the incarceration. In order that was one. Tek Knight was already set as much as be a freak, so we had 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 could be a intercourse dungeon. Like, even the true Batcave is simply this aspect of being a intercourse dungeon. It’s actually darkish, and there’s rubber fits in all places. 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 an awesome 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 concept 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 totally 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 secure phrase. It’s similar to a fantastic comedy setup that he’s looking for it the entire time.”
Not figuring out your personal secure 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 could possibly 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 wished to get it proper. I had a number of conversations with a number of ladies, a few of which had been very painful. And I did my best possible to get the f– out of the way in which, and simply allow them to converse, and never attempt to steer it a method or one other. After which, in the end, sort of, y’know, boil it all the way 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 must stay in and play it. And so, I’ll say this: I’ve by no means labored so exhausting or careworn a lot a couple of scene in my life earlier than or since. As a result of if I bought that mistaken, it’s not simply that it might fail as a scene, it might be hurtful. And I felt that strain and duty all all through.
Think about if he stated the Starlight scene was “hilarious” and waved it off the identical approach as he does with Hughie’s horrific scene. There’s a number of stigma round male victims of sexual assault, and fairly than tackling that in a severe 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 in search of.
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 latest miniseries Child Reindeer, which dove headfirst into how trauma can destroy your life. How terribly disappointing.
Replace: You’ll be able to watch the present’s creator and among the forged joking round about this scene in essentially the most weird approach proper right here. It’s prefer it by no means occurred to anybody after they had been making this scene that it was sexual assault in any respect. Simply wow.
Replace 2:
Lots of people are leaping by way of hoops to defend this scene. One widespread protection I’ve learn is that Hughie knowingly put himself on this state of affairs, so it will possibly’t be nonconsensual. One other is that as a result of each Tek Knight and Ashley thought he was Webweaver, they believed it was nonconsensual. That could be the case, however I don’t assume it adjustments something almost about what occurred to Hughie, who positively didn’t plan on participating in any sexual actions in any respect when he went in disguised as Spider-Man-Adjoining.
One other factor I wished to touch upon is simply how tiresome it will get when each single Supe is a sexual deviant, and never in a approach that’s even related to their characters or powers. No less than earlier on within the present, the writers tried to make it make sense. Translucent was a peeping Tom, for example, as a result of he may flip invisible. The Deep is into sea creatures. Now, the present appears to simply wish to up the ante time and again. There’s a way of desperation to it, which is sort of unhappy.
It’s additionally sort of unhappy that Hughie wasn’t even given an episode to grieve his father’s extremely tragic demise, and as a substitute they throw him on this gross scene for laughs.
Lastly, I’ve a query: Has this season superior the plot in any significant approach? Gen V launched the Supe-killing virus, however The Boys has barely moved the story ahead in any respect. It’s simply wheel-spinning and shock worth and nothing else.