I think that the show "The Boys" has become the thing it criticizes, amirite?

Lmfao the rights to the show are owned by one of the largest companies

by Anonymous 7 months ago

They actually fooled me into thinking "oh, they are making a show that doesn't portray them in a nice way without realizing, the writers must be hiding the underlying themes to the producers"

by Anonymous 7 months ago

You think they care about being made fun of? Why would they care? They are making money. 20th century Fox studios used to let the simpsons make fun of them for decades. John Oliver constantly makes fun of AT&T and now Discovery. They don't care. They only care if it makes them money

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Think about how many things South Park has made fun of and it's a massive media presence.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

"Fox turned into a pornographic channel so gradually I didn't even realize"

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Exact same with Family Guy. They would roast Fox and Conservatives endlessly, despite being owned by the same parent company.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I loved in the comedy show Reboot on Hulu that there was a character who was a Hulu executive that didn't understand comedy.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Smiling Friends had a similar bit.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Half of The Rehearsal is literally just Nathan Fielder making fun of the things he got HBO to pay for.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Another phenomenal example is how Mattel was able to completely reverse public opinion of them by admitting to half the stuff they actually did as 'jokes' in the Barbie movie. They're fine with being the butt of the joke and being 'outed' for their weird corporate shenanigans. It just makes them even more money.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Jon Stewart torched AT&T on TDS for years.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Do you realize how silly it is to think that the same people that run Corporations like that are apparently also stupid enough to be "tricked" like that? I think the main issue here is that you are naive.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I mean, they're definitely stupid enough to be tricked like that, it doesn't take any kind of superior intellect to do what they do. They just don't care because they can comfort themselves with millions of dollars.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Thinking they're ignorant, is empowering them. They want you to think they're stupid.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I'm not saying they have superior intellect, but you don't need superior intellect to see themes in the boys. And they certainly aren't stupid. They can pick up those themes too. They're aware.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

It's based on the comic book series "the boys". The producers would have known the themes from the start.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The show is nothing like the comic.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Lol you think Hollywood executives *read*? They hire people to read and summarize the scripts of the property it's based on. Read the original story. Insane.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

the ole "You fool! You've been fooled!"

by Anonymous 7 months ago

So innocent. They will pander to you any way you like, literally nothing but money matters.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Even if the writers were "hiding" the underlying themes, the writers aren't the ones that decided to green light the COD crossover so it wouldn't matter.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Basically all media about raging against the machine is made by the machine. Music, games, movies, shows, whatever. We're cattle on the farm being told/sold we're fierce wild animals.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

It's simple enough to know the creative team and the studio accountants aren't the same people. This same criticism could be leveled at the original rights holders for licensing with Amazon in the first place, back before one episode aired, or back when the show was still "pure". Art and Commerce have always had a symbiotic relationship.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

This really needs to be emphasized.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

commerce has a parasitic relationship on the arts* at this point tbh

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Art has to be commercialised to get real exposure

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The artists kinda need money to live 🥲. Commercialization is undeniably beneficial to the wellbeing of the artist

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Commerce is what makes the arts a viable aspiration for everybody who isn't sitting on a pile of daddy's money…

by Anonymous 7 months ago

As a creative, I'm fine with that because it means I don't need to sell my plasma to survive.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

It's a satirical tv show. Not a way of life.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

It's an entertainment show... not an actual ideology. >Why does everyone seem to be ok with this? Because I just want to watch the show and play as Homelander in Mortal Kombat. The show is entertainment for me, not a religion. I don't take it seriously.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Exactly. Its why I enjoy anime. If I wanted realism, I'd live my life.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

>Why does everyone seem to be okay with this? Because it's an entertaining show, and fun to watch.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The irony still doesn't sit well for some people though, as OP is pointing out

by Anonymous 7 months ago

And those people take things too seriously lol

by Anonymous 7 months ago

And it's weird af to take it that srsly when you think about it. "*Why does everyone seem to be ok with this*? It's a TV show. It doesn't have any meaning in real life other than to entertain which it does very well lol

by Anonymous 7 months ago

How can anyon be OK with Arrow's endless resetting?!?!! Turns TV back on to watch ridiculously beautiful people with limited acting ability run around shirtless and look concerned.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Ok but you cannot deny the hypocrisy while also not taking it seriously Coming from a guy who does watch the show seriously similar to watching Breaking Bad the first time. It's entertaining and fun, funny at times too. But I don't laugh if a character I empathize with dies which I might do in a purely comedic or mostly comedic type show.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

It's a show about people with magic powers. I really don't care. It's a plotline, not a manifesto.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The creative team behind the boys are not who owns the ip. Amazon will use their licenses to make as much money as possible.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Merchandising will always happen when something becomes big enough, doesn't devalue the show imo

by Anonymous 7 months ago

It's totally on brand for something that homelander would actually do... Try to get in CoD and be pissed that he could be killed.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I'll just remind everyone that two shows about a Superman like character actually turning out to be evil (Invincible and the Boys) are currently being produced by a bald billionaire. Now I'm not saying Lex Bezos has an agenda or anything but it's just something to think about.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

To answer your question "why does everyone seem ok with this?" Not only is it not that deep but we don't care.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

"Hahah, little man was a sounding rod!"

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Nobody gets mad about getting skins added to the game like cod fans haha.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I'm not sure what you expected from an Amazon Original. I think The Boys is pretty ok but it's not exactly high satire. Have you gotten to the bit where Billy Butcher orders Connect 4 via next-day delivery yet?

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Because that's not the only theme of the show? And only an idiot would be surprised that the product of a mega corporation has mega corporation monetization going on.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I can't believe Disney sells Star Wars toys when that's clearly not something Yoda would approve of.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

"Give me a cut of the profits so I don't live in a swamp hut, I wish"

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Ah the classic "I think we should have a different system" "And yet you participate in the system. Curious!" Argument that has always made very much sense yes.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Butcher doesn't produce The Boys, he's just a character.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I think op is chronically online and out of touch with reality.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Have you tries reading it?

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The Boys isn't thematically anti-corporation. It's making a mockery of superheroes, by aligning superheroes with corp shills. The objective is comparable to The Watchmen, it's exploring the idea of the how superheroes would exist in "real world" as opposed to the Marvel/DC fantasy worlds.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

>The Boys isn't thematically anti-corporation. It's making a mockery of superheroes, by aligning superheroes with corp shills. This is just pedantry imo. By exploring these themes through the lens of mocking superheroes and aligning them with corporations, it is taking a very obvious anti corporation stance. They aren't mutually exclusive.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

It's a business, plain and simple. Plus it was probably fun for the players. The finishers I've seem are cool

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The truth is Showrunners and writers really don't have much of a say in those kind of decisions, if at all. It's two completely separate departments at Amazon studios (commercial endorsements and TV lit) so it's not like the beliefs and themes the creatives behind the show believe in factors into the decision making of who buys and sells the IP at all. In a strange way I agree with you though, just not that the show's writing and narrative itself has fallen into the trap. The fact The Boys is produced by Amazon, one of the largest corporations in the world, makes it all the more intriguing to me tbh. TV has a pretty great tradition of shows outwardly criticizing the network they air on (see: Mostly thanks to The Simpsons) and in a way The Boys are just the most recent example of that phenomenon. And what's funnier is Amazon doesn't even care, like you said they just warp the show's success into the corporate cash cow that the narrative is criticizing, but paradoxically it's the very system that gives them the money to keep producing it. In fact Art in general has a long history of this. Most famous artists throughout history were funded by rich benefactors, even the ones that outwardly criticized the wealthy. I think ultimately it's better to have these kinds of shows that satirize and hold a mirror up to our culture exist and be funded by the corporations getting satirized than for them not to exist at all. But that's just my opinion on it. Art funding and the commercialization of art is a nuanced issue that smarter people than you or I have spent a lot of time talking about and I don't see there ever being a "right" or "wrong" answer on the issue, so we're just left with a bunch of hypocritical, messy opinions. That's life for ya.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The Boys has a lot to say but doesn't really say anything. And the culture references date the show really fast. And I can't stand the constant ironic and pessimistic tone. The sincerity of Invincible while still being a deconstruction of superhero genre makes it so much better.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

This is the better criticism of the show. It's all just cynicism but with nothing insightful to say. The source comic is flawed but Garth Ennis was at least consistent in his portrayal of supes as useless corporate pawns. The show(s) cannot even keep that aspect straight and muddles the message constantly (with GenV being the most obvious culprit).

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I feel bad dunking on this because it's like a little kid's view of the world. It's an entertaining TV show, man. Don't get too caught up in it.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Why shouldn't this be OK lol? "The Boys" is not a messiah who must have no sins. "The Boys" is a satirical show that is meant to be funny and entertaining. And it fully corresponds to the assigned tasks. Even if "The Boys" has become the thing it criticizes it doesn't matter.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Color me unsurprised.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

it's a tv show, not real life, calm down

by Anonymous 7 months ago

> I always liked how The Boys criticized mega corporations using realistic parallels with the real world despite being a show produced by Amazon but now that has no meaning because the IP is being used to sell dumb skins in a game that for many represents the decline of the industry I understand what you're trying to say, but cynically speaking, counterculture is just as much of a brand as mainstream culture. Punk rock bands sell merch in the same ways that pop singers sell merch. Amazon bought the rights to The Boys and Invincible because they want to market themselves as counter-Marvel, not because they actually believe in the messaging of those IPs.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

On no!!! A TV show that costs tens of millions to be made by one of the biggest companies in the World to sell their streaming service is being used by said company to make even more money!!!!!

by Anonymous 7 months ago

This always happens. When something is attempting to be counter-cultural and ends up successful, people will latch onto it until it becomes cultural. Shrek is a great example, and The Simpsons to a degree. The real silly thing about The Boys is that it's critical of superheroes as a genre but ends up just doing exactly what the genre does anyway, what with its spin offs and convoluted plot (Season 3 specifically; 1 and 2 were a complete story, but the show got another season so they had to do something nutty to keep going).

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The message and themes of the The Boys show hasn't changed just because Amazon decides to do collabs with other products. They're a company. They're trying to make a buck. This is how it's always been.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The Boys is absolutely not about "criticizing mega corporations." That is not the point of the show.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I mean yeah but like…the message still stands? Its not like amazon made the property. Its based on comic books. Which still have the message

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Because why are you expecting an entertainment product to have ideals or morals? It's not a person, it's a machine that turns attention into dollars. Just enjoy the show

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I do think it is in danger of doing so. This season should definitely be the last.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Rules of acquisition number 10 and 98 apply here. "Every man has his price." "Greed is eternal."

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Also people who watch it don't understand it. The amount of online pics of not only dude dressed up as homelander for Halloween but also kids, it really does show fiction is just reality sometimes..

by Anonymous 7 months ago

You conflated the artists making the show and the business people that own and monetize it. They are two groups with different motivations that are working together on the same project. One can not exist without the other to make a show of with this level of production value. You simply do not know how anything is the real world works so of course your expectations were dashed. You are the exact kind of person that propagandists love because you believe everything you see.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

It wasn't the writers who agreed to that collaboration, it was the executives. If anything it furthers proves the narrative of souless, corporate greed by appropriating an anti-corporate show for military industrial complex funded entertainment.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

You wouldn't take the money? I would.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

lol this coming right before a premiere just seems like marketing to me

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I don't think it's really all that anti corporation. I think it's just a potentially realistic depiction of superheroes.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Almost nobody makes any media you're likely to see in a mainstream source for anything other than profit.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The "show" isn't becoming anything different, its IP owners are just doing things with the IP. If the show started preaching how that stuff was good, then you'd have a point, but the show isn't doing that

by Anonymous 7 months ago

It's not that deep bro lol

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I'm so glad I'm not this naive

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I feel like you REALLY missed the point of the show if this seems like its off-brand to you. What gave you the idea that pointing out that the world is a garbage place full of garbage people somehow obligates someone to pretend that the world isn't a garbage place full of garbage people? Honestly, "The Boys" refusing to sell out would be way more off-brand than this.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

The boys is about the dangers of unchecked, unsupervised super people. That's it. You're overanalyzing. The tv show pushes some other ideas and makes fun of like the Pepsi commercial and celebrities being stupid, but the core concept is the same as the comics

by Anonymous 7 months ago

It's a dumb skin in a game. Yea, it kind of defeats the show's lesson in the smallest sense. But we all have to live in crapatalism and are forced to participate in it. It's not like we can all be like Huey and do domestic terrorism. We're just the apathetic masses of a culture that eats it's own insides. Nihilism for the win.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Because irony ![gif](giphy|SA00ENEG45W8yNao7V|downsized)

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Please, the show blew from day 1.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I wouldn't make it a criticism of the Boys, more a self-aware sort of thing, because throwing Homelander in Mortal Kombat and putting supes in CoD is classic Vought behaviour.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

I like how the boys criticizes big corporations because by definition big corporations are run by evil madmen, NOT because they became extraordinarily successful by fulfilling a need and making life better for millions of people. Cuz that would never occur to me.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Those are not mutually exclusive ideas

by Anonymous 7 months ago

People are hypocritical. It's ok. It's human nature. As my parents used to say, "Do as I say, not as I do."

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Ignoring the fact that The Boys is just a franchise owned by a mega corporation, I'm pretty sure that corporations are not the main target of criticism within the show.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

This is so dumb. Mega corporations aren't bad simply because they sell things people want. If people want to be able to play as Homelander in cod they should be able to pay to do that.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

Okay with this? I don't care. It sounds like you were tricked into thinking an Amazon tv show was actually a force for revolutionary change or something. Not all media has to be 100% to MY personal preferences. I'm okay with seeing shows or movies do what they want even if it isn't what I would do or want.

by Anonymous 7 months ago

There was already a bunch of Amazon commercial in season 1 in the show. I don't think it ever was criticizing money oriented cinematographic industry. It was just a satyr of marvel and their repetitive scenarios of bad guy vs good guy imo.

by Anonymous 7 months ago