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00:00I don't know if they really want you to be a hero.
00:03I think they just want you to look like one."
00:05The Boys parodies our collective obsession with superheroes.
00:10I could be doing so much more.
00:11But no, Vought just wants me to make my big,
00:14pretty dives in the water and flash my biceps for Instagram.
00:17By taking a look at each character,
00:19and which famous superhero they satirize,
00:22we can see the deeper meaning in each of those parallels.
00:25From Homelander's twist on Superman and Captain America,
00:29to Maeve's spin on Wonder Woman and the Deep's parody of Aquaman.
00:33I mean, yeah, I can talk to fish, so what?
00:37How often do you need to be saved by a school of salmon?
00:40Here's our take on the underlying messages of The Boys Seasons 1 and 2,
00:45its view of the American identity,
00:47and the warning it offers about superhero fantasies
00:50that focus too much on the super and not enough on the hero.
00:54See, people love that cozy feeling that soup's given.
00:58But if you knew half the s*** that they get up to,
01:03die bonk 줄.
01:09If you're new here, be sure to subscribe
01:11and hit the bell to be notified about all of our new videos.
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01:42To understand these deeper meanings,
01:44let's take a look at each member of the Seven and what they represent.
01:52Homelander combines the all-American uprightness of Captain America
01:56with the vast powers of Superman.
01:59Like Superman, Homelander has multiple abilities that,
02:02individually, would be plenty for any superhero.
02:05Flight, super speed, super strength, laser eyes.
02:08But unlike the virtuous Captain America or Superman,
02:11Homelander shows us how having godlike strength
02:14would also likely lead to an inability to feel for or value others.
02:19What would happen if superheroes existed in the real world?
02:22How would a Superman-like character feel?
02:25They'd become sociopathic.
02:27Homelander is pathologically selfish,
02:30I'm the Homelander,
02:32and I can do whatever the f**k I want,
02:34and dangerously violent when he doesn't get his way.
02:37No more lies.
02:40In many ways, Homelander evokes the original incarnation of Superman,
02:44when writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster wrote the 1933 short story
02:49The Reign of the Superman, it was about a vagrant who's given enormous superpowers,
02:54which he then uses for personal gain and his own cruel amusement.
02:58When Superman was reconceived as a comic book character,
03:02he became a crime-fighting hero.
03:04Easy, miss. I've got you.
03:06But even in this more wholesome version,
03:08Superman still has an unsettling parallel to Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of the Ubermensch,
03:14a superior version of man for regular people to aspire to.
03:18Be their hero, Clark.
03:21Be their monument. Be their angel.
03:24Be anything they need you to be.
03:26The Ubermensch was an inspiration to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party,
03:30who used it to formulate the idea of a master race
03:34that would rule over the biologically inferior.
03:37So it makes a lot of sense that, in season two of The Boys,
03:41Homelander falls prey to some of these same ideas.
03:44We're a different f***ing breed.
03:46We shine with the golden light of Providence, but you,
03:50you've been helping these f***ing want people to go against us.
03:56He becomes the lover of fellow superhero Stormfront,
03:59who has direct ties to the Nazi Party.
04:01But we can fight back with an army of supermen millions strong.
04:07Stormfront sees Homelander, a classically Aryan-looking man with blonde hair and blue eyes,
04:12as the embodiment of everything her movement is about.
04:15You are everything that we dreamed of.
04:20Homelander proves susceptible to Stormfront's poisonous ideas
04:23because of his exceedingly high self-regard.
04:26He believes strength is all that matters,
04:28so he doesn't respect the vulnerable and the weak.
04:31He doesn't understand the importance of caring.
04:33Take these two!
04:34No, no!
04:35Trust these two!
04:36No, what?
04:36So they can tell the world that we left the rest of them to f***ing die?
04:40Nor does he appreciate any of the gifts that make others unique.
04:44Sometimes it's hard,
04:46Ryan, being superior to every single other person on the planet.
04:52Homelander also embodies something essential about the American identity,
04:56and in this, he most closely resembles Captain America.
05:00But on The Boys, this jingoistic appeal is portrayed as a more blatantly cynical manipulation.
05:06You remember when you wanted me in the red cape and I said,
05:09no, no, no, no, make it the flag?
05:12His cartoonish patriotism is more like an American brand identity,
05:16playing on our national self-image of self-superiority and exceptionalism.
05:20This used to be a beautiful country, remember?
05:24Right before these godless, inhuman supervillains started pouring across our borders.
05:30And it exposes its undercurrent of callousness and lack of regard for human life,
05:35while Captain America strives to represent America at its best.
05:39The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery, and sacrifice.
05:45Homelander exposes its darker flipside.
05:47He fights to preserve the status quo for the social elite,
05:51where only the lives of the strong, the wealthy, and the super matter.
05:55What made you think I would ever allow a cripple into the Seven?
06:04Queen Maeve is clearly inspired by Wonder Woman,
06:07right down to her royal lineage and her armored skirt costume.
06:10Wonder Woman is often held up as a paragon of truth and virtue,
06:14her actions motivated by love and her feminine power.
06:17Only love can truly save the world.
06:21But as with Homelander's patriotism,
06:23The Boys uses Maeve to explore how these high-minded ideals
06:27can often overlap with crass commercialism and even exploitation.
06:31We're proud to fly alongside them, and now we could use your support.
06:36The demand for stories that center and empower female characters
06:40has often been watered down into generic opportunistic messages of girl power,
06:44which co-opt feminist movements to uphold a patriarchal status quo.
06:48The Boys satirizes this kind of empty corporatization in Season 2,
06:52when Vaught mounts a marketing campaign around Maeve,
06:55Starlight, and Stormfront under the glib slogan,
06:58Girls Get It Done.
06:59Don't worry.
07:03Girls get it done.
07:04Eventually, Maeve turns against some of her seven teammates,
07:08because unlike them, she really does believe in the values
07:11she's supposed to represent.
07:13Okay, you take everybody one by one, you fly them to the ground.
07:18Come back 123 times?
07:20Maeve, think.
07:22She's loving and idealistic, and she genuinely cares about people,
07:26especially other women.
07:28I really did break every bone in my right arm.
07:31What?
07:32Stopping the bus from falling?
07:34You said the marketing guys made it up.
07:36It was me.
07:37This makes her the inverse of Homelander's toxic masculinity,
07:40and his disregard for the little people.
07:42But Maeve also shows us a Wonder Woman who's been put through
07:45the ringer of shameless capitalism.
07:47Everything about her is subject to exploitation,
07:50even her sexuality.
07:51Few research shows that two feminine women in a relationship
07:54sends a problematic message.
07:56Yeah, this isn't penthouse forum.
07:57Americans are more accepting of gays when they're in a clear-cut
08:01gender role relationship, like Ellen and Portia.
08:04After she's outed without her consent,
08:06We have a gay hero.
08:08Really? Who in the Seven is gay?
08:11Queen Maeve.
08:12She sees this co-opted into yet another media campaign.
08:16I'm afraid to show the world who I am.
08:20I'm a lot like you.
08:23I'm gay.
08:28All of this leaves one of the most powerful women in the world
08:32feeling trapped and powerless.
08:34And that drives her to act cruelly.
08:36Leave me alone. I'm not in the mood.
08:38Not in the mood for what?
08:40Your bottomless casual cruelty.
08:43Like Homelander, she learns to despise weakness and naivete in others.
08:48The only thing she's guilty of is being stupid.
08:51And she's conditioned to detest the very same traits
08:54that remind her of her truest self.
08:56Despite the facile, brave Maeve slogan, Maeve does exhibit bravery.
09:01And despite her hardening, she can't resist her innate drive to help people.
09:05I really did want to make a difference.
09:08I really did care.
09:10Though the show is often cynical about the superficialities of superheroes,
09:13it also recognizes how Maeve's inner virtues,
09:16her ability to love, her desire to help others,
09:19and her instincts to defend women really can unlock true sustainable power,
09:24even as the world tries to convince you that these are pointless acts.
09:33Stormfront doesn't have an obvious superhero equivalent.
09:37She can produce blasts of electricity, propel herself through the air,
09:40and she seems to have some Wolverine-like healing abilities.
09:44But her true power is manipulation.
09:47Just talk to him.
09:50Be the man I know you are.
09:51She doesn't do this through comic book-style mind-control powers.
09:55Instead, Stormfront uses her mastery of social media.
09:58Here I go, you guys. Wish me luck.
10:01Oh, FYI, not a real base.
10:03She understands how to come across as a hip, woke, and unfiltered personality
10:08who speaks directly to her many followers.
10:11And her easy success with memes and viral posts
10:14seems to illustrate how the world of fame and celebrity is changing.
10:18You spent $273 million on that saving America bullshit.
10:23And I am running circles around you with five guys on laptops churning out memes.
10:28But eventually, Stormfront's persona is revealed as a performance,
10:32one she's using to bring her fascist ideology into the mainstream.
10:36We are in a war for the culture.
10:40The other races are grinding us down and taking what is rightfully ours.
10:44Stormfront looks young, but she's been around for nearly a century.
10:49I was born in 1919 in Berlin.
10:53She formed her ideals about white supremacy and fascist control in Nazi Germany,
10:58then channeled them into racially motivated police brutality in the 70s.
11:02Your car was involved in a robbery tonight.
11:05No, it wasn't. I had it. I don't know nothing about any robbery.
11:08Just confess.
11:10Finally, she reemerges in the modern era,
11:12repackaging these old ideas as slick digital content,
11:17a commentary on the many modern, alt-right influencers
11:20who have utilized social media to do the same.
11:23What do SJWs like Victoria Newman want us to do?
11:27Just let them in and give them a cup of iced tea,
11:31and then punish us for trying to stop them.
11:34Stormfront is likewise backed by a huge corporation
11:37that allows her to peddle her Nazism.
11:40Stoke fears about immigrants and exacerbate racial divides.
11:43Has there ever been anyone in history more persecuted
11:46just for trying to protect their own?
11:48All because she brings them money and attention.
11:51We are at war. We need more Compound V.
11:54Absolutely.
11:55We need more soup!
11:57Corporate amorality enables Stormfront's vile beliefs,
12:01much as it does our own social media-ruled world.
12:09A-Train, whose powers of super speed are modeled on The Flash,
12:12offers the show's direct commentary on professional athletes.
12:16This is the race of the century.
12:19And the ruthlessness of celebrity itself.
12:22You don't fuck with the money.
12:26You never fuck with the money.
12:29A-Train is the fastest,
12:31a quintessential superhero trait that's also a factor in sports.
12:35I can outrun anybody or anything.
12:38And his abilities come with inherent anxieties.
12:41What if I lose?
12:41You're not gonna lose.
12:43You're the fastest man alive.
12:46Until I'm not.
12:47A-Train spends most of his time terrified of being overtaken and replaced,
12:52obsessed with his status and abusing performance-enhancing drugs
12:55just to maintain it.
12:56If I don't win, I'm out.
12:58A-Train becomes the show's first foray into exploring the moral failings of superheroes.
13:03In the very first episode, A-Train kills Huey's girlfriend, Robin,
13:06while high on Compound V.
13:08I can't stop, I can't stop, I can't stop,
13:10then callously speeds off.
13:12Yet, as the show goes on, we're also able to sympathize with A-Train
13:16to understand the unique pressure he's under,
13:18and to see how he reflects the way celebrity and race intersect in America.
13:22We learn that A-Train grew up with nothing.
13:25Well, we lost my dad at a young age,
13:27and my mom, she worked two jobs,
13:28so it was my older brother Nathan who pretty much raised me up.
13:32The wealth and fame he's achieved have completely changed his life,
13:36and it makes him willing to do anything to keep from losing it.
13:40I have to win this thing.
13:42I don't want to be some washed-up B-Squatter.
13:44Deep down, A-Train is still an insecure little kid
13:47who isn't sure where his next meal will come from.
13:49There are more important things.
13:52You know the only people that say that?
13:55Are the people who grew up with money.
13:57This all adds up to a nuanced portrayal of a man of color,
14:01who has achieved a position of precarious power.
14:03A-Train doesn't feel especially powerful or free.
14:06He's limited in ways that his fellow heroes are not.
14:09His race is exploited by Vought, which sometimes uses him as a token,
14:13We've got A-Train, he's a black man.
14:15and other times uses his race against him.
14:18That place used to be pure,
14:20and then they just started letting all kinds of people in, you know?
14:24I don't know.
14:25He may be a superhero, but he's also a black man in America,
14:28and he's trapped by knowing how much can be taken away from him at any time.
14:33A-Train is a trademark.
14:34You are just another nobody from the south side of Chicago.
14:42The Deep is obviously modeled on Aquaman,
14:45the Justice League member who's most famous for his ability to talk to sea creatures.
14:49My name's Osborn.
14:51What's yours?
14:52You guys hungry?
14:53But unlike the charming, well-meaning aqua dude played by Jason Momoa,
14:57the boy's version of Aquaman embodies another, even darker aspect of toxic masculinity,
15:03one that allows it to explore the Me Too movement with nuance and complexity.
15:07Is this about the other night again?
15:11Jesus Christ.
15:13Besides, you had a crush on me, remember?
15:16Almost immediately, The Deep is revealed to be a perpetuator of sexual harassment
15:21and sexual assault.
15:23And while the show doesn't excuse this behavior,
15:26it does dig into why he feels the need to humiliate and demean women.
15:30If you don't have any self-esteem issues,
15:33why are you constantly demeaning women?
15:35That's a good question, Deep.
15:36The Deep's vain public image masks an inner self-loathing.
15:40He not only grapples with his marginalized role on The Seven,
15:43he's also intensely self-conscious about his gills,
15:46a shame that's only reinforced by the others.
15:48Your gill is showing. Cover it up.
15:52The Deep is especially vulnerable to those influences
15:55because he doesn't have the gravity to counter them.
15:57His name is an ironic joke about his lack of, well, depth.
16:02You're just the fish guy.
16:04He's a guy who has few opinions or viewpoints of his own.
16:07He may have a caring side, as seen in his love for sea creatures
16:11and his ability to talk to them.
16:13What's up, man?
16:14But this part of him has never really been nurtured.
16:16Vaught rejects his environmental initiatives,
16:19tacitly dismissing his concerns as unimportant.
16:22I'd just like to, you know, maybe do something with a little more substance.
16:25Okay, I hear you.
16:27Deep, play to your strengths.
16:33Seeing how all these things have affected The Deep elicits some sympathy,
16:37but his Season 2 storyline also parodies the cynical path to redemption
16:41taken by so many real-world abusers like him.
16:44He's adopted by the Church of the Collective,
16:46a Scientology-like organization that sets about resuscitating his public image
16:51by pairing him with a bride to make him appear non-threatening,
16:54rehabilitated, and normal.
16:56It's about rehabilitating your image and getting you back in the Seven.
17:01That is what you want, isn't it?
17:02It's a plot that, again, suggests The Deep is something of a victim himself,
17:06a lost and vulnerable man who's preyed upon by a cult-like religion
17:10that exploits his fears and weaknesses for financial gain.
17:15Tell her what?
17:17About your drinking.
17:19About your self-esteem issues.
17:21Really open up, Deep.
17:22But it also shows us just how easy it is for men like The Deep
17:26to achieve so-called redemption,
17:28without ever actually examining or changing the actual reasons
17:32for their transgressions.
17:33We've all been there.
17:35It's tough.
17:39Been where?
17:40Rock bottom.
17:45One of the scariest members of The Seven is the one we know the least about.
17:50Black Noir is entirely concealed by his black, full-body costume,
17:54a deadly ninja who doesn't relate, or even really speak, to anyone.
17:59We haven't properly met yet.
18:00I'm Starlight.
18:09With his super strength, agility, and martial arts skills,
18:12Black Noir feels like a play on cool vigilantes like Batman or Deadpool,
18:17minus the grim backstory, the brooding, or the blackly comic sense of humor.
18:22You may be wondering why the red suit.
18:24Well, that's so bad guys can't see me bleed.
18:26We do get a few glimpses of his humanity that suggest there's something underneath.
18:31But mostly, Black Noir isn't really a character at all.
18:34And according to showrunner Eric Kripke, that's intentional.
18:37He's a cipher, a blank slate who represents a natural endpoint
18:41for the morally compromised vigilante hero.
18:44And he's a symbol of our ability to project humanity
18:47onto even the most inhuman of superheroes.
18:50Starlight is the newest addition to the Seven,
18:57and her struggle to fit in and assert herself is reflected in her lack
19:00of a real counterpart among our more established superheroes.
19:04She vaguely resembles DC characters like Stargirl, Powergirl, or Supergirl,
19:10young women who often have a streak of Superman-like idealism.
19:13And Starlight similarly represents the struggle to keep those ideals alive,
19:18in a messy, thorny, modern world.
19:20Why would you get into this business if not to save the world?
19:26That's all I have ever wanted.
19:29And much of the show's plot is about what happens when this pure innocent
19:33is confronted with the cynical corporate reality
19:35behind the superhero world she worships.
19:38I haven't done anything yet.
19:40Yeah, exactly.
19:41You're already up two and a half points with Midwesterners
19:43and conservative Christians in 18 to 49.
19:45Because Starlight is our point of entry to the world of the boys,
19:48we experience this disillusionment along with her.
19:51She's repeatedly let down by and even abused at the hands of these supposed heroes.
19:56It's just a question of how bad you want to be in the Seven.
19:58Forcing us to reckon with the question of whether it's possible
20:01to hold onto your ideals and do some good,
20:04while also achieving success in our corporate capitalist society.
20:08You have a huge boost with men for the ass-kicking, of course,
20:11but with women too. They love the empowerment. 16 points with females 18 to 49.
20:17Eventually, Starlight comes to the conclusion that no,
20:20it's not really possible to reconcile these things.
20:24In order to be a good person and save the world,
20:27she has to become an enemy of Vought and work to sabotage the machine.
20:31I need this chip out now.
20:33When Starlight takes her place in the Seven,
20:35her first instinct is to call out the injustices she sees.
20:39What's immoral is the guy who shoved his dick in my face.
20:45But eventually her fight becomes more complex,
20:47as she understands that she may have to pretend to be things that she's not,
20:51in order to most effectively achieve her goals.
20:53She accepts the objectifying costume she hates.
20:56I can't wear that.
20:58What?
20:59Why not?
21:00It's beautiful.
21:01And she plays the role of the sweet, wholesome, crush-worthy sex symbol,
21:04knowing the disguise makes it easier to further her ultimate cause,
21:08bringing Vought and the Seven down from the inside.
21:11Let's burn those f***ers down.
21:14Starlight's acceptance is also indicative of how we ourselves can't quit superheroes,
21:19even as we recognize some of the most harmful power structures
21:23they represent and uphold.
21:24After the events of Season 2, it would be understandable if Starlight left Vought,
21:29going underground or rebelling against them more actively.
21:32But having her stay allows the show to maintain its own status quo,
21:36I'm not a sellout.
21:37And it allows us to continue enjoying the superheroes' exploits,
21:40even as the show critiques them.
21:47Ultimately, The Boys is a cautionary tale
21:49about our society's wrong-minded tendency to prize the super over the hero.
21:54Through the central non-super characters,
21:57Huey, Butcher, Mother's Milk, and Frenchie,
21:59the show underlines that what's not lucrative,
22:02popular, or rewarded in our society, human decency,
22:05remains most valuable of all.
22:07If I'm gonna make a difference,
22:09I just feel more comfortable doing it on a smaller scale.
22:12I'm a motherf***er with a heart.
22:13The true heroes of this story don't have superpowers,
22:16but the show makes their lack of superiority aspirational.
22:20It lends them a larger-than-life mythical feel through their superhero-like nicknames.
22:25Huey, Mother's Milk.
22:27That, uh, nickname?
22:29No, my mother actually named me Mother's Milk.
22:31Despite not having any discernible special abilities,
22:34Billy Butcher still represents more of a threat to God-like Homelander
22:38than anyone else on the planet.
22:40You are pretty darn impressive.
22:42I mean, especially for, you know, one of you.
22:46The character is empowered by a fierce sense of purpose,
22:49and it's as if the story itself is fueled by Butcher's hatred
22:53for the superhero's elitist mentality that they can do whatever they feel like
22:57and treat regular people as expendable.
23:00Since you're all the same, every f***ing one of them.
23:02Butcher is based on The Punisher, the grim antihero vigilante
23:06who was revived by The Boys creator Garth Ennis in the early 2000s.
23:09And like Butcher, Ennis himself is no fan of superheroes,
23:13regarding them as delusional power fantasies.
23:16Early on, Huey wonders aloud if he could be like Harry Potter,
23:19the ordinary person who's revealed to be extraordinary.
23:22But I could be Harry Potter, or, you know, John Connor,
23:28or what's-her-name from The Hunger Games.
23:31And the show's answer to this is a yes and a no.
23:34He is the ordinary person with a special part to play,
23:37but not because he's secretly extraordinary.
23:39He finds a special purpose and mission,
23:41while remaining decidedly ordinary throughout.
23:44And this is a good thing.
23:45The point is, I could be that person that nobody thinks is awesome,
23:49but it turns out they're kind of f***ing awesome.
23:51Because what's wrong with most of the superheroes, and with Vought,
23:54is that they've forgotten that the whole point is saving the faceless,
23:58nameless, vulnerable regular people who need help.
24:01They've made the superhero game all about worshiping power and celebrity,
24:05instead of the strong working tirelessly
24:08and sacrificing themselves to save the weak.
24:10He's your canary.
24:13What canary?
24:15You let your canary die?
24:17How you gonna know when you're going too far?
24:20The fact that the story is called The Boys and Not The Seven
24:23puts these non-supers at the center.
24:25They're implicitly the real heroes,
24:27and they urge us to shift our cultural priorities to think of them that way.
24:32The show suggests that we're living in a superhero's world,
24:35and that it's morally corrupt.
24:37What we do means nothing.
24:39It's just all for money.
24:40So instead of worshiping glossy, famous supers,
24:43we should be valuing the ordinary, anonymous heroes,
24:47and striving to become one of them ourselves.
24:50Don't get me wrong, I still want to fight Vought,
24:52I just, I want to do it the right way.
24:56This is The Take.
24:57What do you want our take on next?
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26:00I'll be right back!
26:05End of your day!
26:05Any good Reese with brightenen tanks or non-stop iron bottleneck in your body?
26:09We'll go home with a majorly press Давай.
26:11We'll try and bridge the top of your reach and faith.
26:13And cheer me, and me.
26:14You can play once more, any more oftentimes more?
26:16shovel me to commit an effort into playoffness.
26:16It's always talked to me about, like,
26:18can't forget Nice!
26:19And I can try and explore theseędas.
26:21And be fun!
26:23And with Arduinoimi Kate,
26:24there's definitely more VR rooms!
26:25Hope has a meeting in which frame of the game!
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