bjornwilde (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bjornwilde) wrote2020-10-20 02:59 pm
bjornwilde) wrote2020-10-20 02:59 pm
More thoughts on "The Boys" and superhero deconstructions
Behind a cut as I'm not sure if I'll get into spoilers and if you even care about my thoughts.
I've now successful finished episode 01 and well, I don't regret the time but if I wasn't so curious about Queen Maeve's story I don't think I would bother with the show. In fact I am tempted to drop it in favor of Lovecraft Country, though I will watch both eventually.
The problem I have with how people approach deconstructing the superhero trope is they aim to make superheroes a bad idea. I do agree that in the real world, vigilantes and the superhero power fantasy are dangerous and I am certain pretty much everyone who reads superhero comics knows this. But just saying superhero are bad or are really assholes, you are being lazy as all hell.
I mean, you want to deconstruct the superhero trope? Get into the legal complications of having super-powered people. Taking an American POV, ask questions like would their abilities count under the Second Amendment? How would citizen arrests work? Dig into the ethic complications of whether helping the people suffering under poverty or economically challenged areas get a leg up if you have the ability to take down the slum lord. Is it morally correct to take the law into your own hands when it is so obviously not being enforced by the police? Maybe the police like having someone who can do the things they can't, dangerous as that road is.
Or how about a story about learning how to use the powers in the first place? Spider-man touches on this and I think the late 90s Fantastic Four movie did with Ben's strength, but imagine having to figure out how to safely learn to pick up an egg when you can crush steel like it was paper.
This is all reminding me of one of my favorite DMs take on how to scale a campaign to maturity level. Kids, the goblins are raiding the village and need to be killed/stopped. Middle school, the goblins have kids. Is it okay to kill them too? Teens and adult, the village has been taking the land from the goblins for farming and now the goblins have no where else to live or produce their own goods. How do you solve this?
I think deconstructions of any trope should be handled the same way. Dig into the basics of the trope and figure out how to challenge the ideas beyond just going mirror-verse.
I've now successful finished episode 01 and well, I don't regret the time but if I wasn't so curious about Queen Maeve's story I don't think I would bother with the show. In fact I am tempted to drop it in favor of Lovecraft Country, though I will watch both eventually.
The problem I have with how people approach deconstructing the superhero trope is they aim to make superheroes a bad idea. I do agree that in the real world, vigilantes and the superhero power fantasy are dangerous and I am certain pretty much everyone who reads superhero comics knows this. But just saying superhero are bad or are really assholes, you are being lazy as all hell.
I mean, you want to deconstruct the superhero trope? Get into the legal complications of having super-powered people. Taking an American POV, ask questions like would their abilities count under the Second Amendment? How would citizen arrests work? Dig into the ethic complications of whether helping the people suffering under poverty or economically challenged areas get a leg up if you have the ability to take down the slum lord. Is it morally correct to take the law into your own hands when it is so obviously not being enforced by the police? Maybe the police like having someone who can do the things they can't, dangerous as that road is.
Or how about a story about learning how to use the powers in the first place? Spider-man touches on this and I think the late 90s Fantastic Four movie did with Ben's strength, but imagine having to figure out how to safely learn to pick up an egg when you can crush steel like it was paper.
This is all reminding me of one of my favorite DMs take on how to scale a campaign to maturity level. Kids, the goblins are raiding the village and need to be killed/stopped. Middle school, the goblins have kids. Is it okay to kill them too? Teens and adult, the village has been taking the land from the goblins for farming and now the goblins have no where else to live or produce their own goods. How do you solve this?
I think deconstructions of any trope should be handled the same way. Dig into the basics of the trope and figure out how to challenge the ideas beyond just going mirror-verse.