A Quiet Day

[mousme]

Spent the day hanging out with Peggy, who continues to be an extremely good dog all around. She mostly didn't even attempt to unlock the back door.

On a friend's recommendation I started watching The Boys, and, uh, yikes. It starts with fridging a woman of colour, and goes downhill from there. Everyone in the show is an asshole to some degree (except Starlight, she has her moments), and it is horrifically violent. I say this, and I watch slasher films for fun. Maybe it's because it's only got moments of extreme violence, so the contrast is especially stark, and the person who recommended it to me didn't warn me about any of it: the fridging, the violence, the subtle misogyny and homophobia, the works. It was billed to me as a satire about superheroes, and instead it's more like a bargain bin Watchmen. I didn't especially enjoy that either, but I think it was done better.

Anyway, so far I can't recommend it unless you really enjoy all of the things I mentioned above. If you are into dark narratives about how superheroes are raping, murdering assholes ruled by corporations and motivated only by self-interest and greed, then you might enjoy this. I think I could enjoy it if there were less rape, and if I weren't being asked to accept yet another woman gruesomely killed off in order to further a man's plotline (actually, the show has several women killed to further the plotlines of men), and if it were better written. The writing is okay, but I feel like better writing could have elevated this show into something really great to watch.

I will fully own that I have watched several episodes. I kind of can't look away, kind of like when I was still watching 24, not matter how bad it got. I'm interested in seeing where the overarching plot goes in the first season, and then I think I will let it drop. Luckily the seasons are short ones.

On that note, it is time to put the puppy to bed, and then eventually myself.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

I've never watched The Boys based on the trailer and I'm glad I didn't.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can't in good conscience recommend it. It has a lot of potential, but it's not that good and seems to be engaging in upsetting subject matter mostly for kicks without truly questioning or examining what it's doing.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

If you want more superheroes, I recommend this book series (https://users.livejournal.com/-profiterole-/395322.html). (Actually, there are a couple of violent scenes, but it's less shocking in writing.)

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Interesting. That seems more straight-up superheroes than "superheroes would probably be jerks, actually." Am I wrong in interpreting it that way? Also, is it YA? (Nothing against YA, just asking because I like to know what genres I'm getting into.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

They're definitely not jerks here. And yep, it's YA. I think all the queer superhero novels I've read are YA.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen The Boys mainly because I'm just not interested in it.

I tend to be very selective with the "superheroes who are assholes" variant because when it's executed well it can be very good, especially with deconstructing what it means to be a "superhero" in that particular universe by exploring the darker and more cynical sides. But when done badly, it's just mere shock value with no rhyme or reason behind it other than to be edgy. So while I haven't watched it to make a judgment on whether it is the former or the latter, The Boys just doesn't really appeal to me on a personal level. The only character that seems remotely interesting, just from the little I've been exposed to it through fandom osmosis, is Karen Fukuhara's character who is mute and communicates through sign language throughout the show, which is pretty cool, but even with that is not enough to convince me to watch the show.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

I can tell you right now that her character is not handled the way you describe at all. She doesn't speak but also doesn't communicate in sign language in any meaningful sense. She's portrayed as quasi-feral at first, and I was not especially impressed by how it was all done. It wasn't bad, but also it seemed like very little thought was put into it.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay. I've only seen gifsets of her character so I can only base my impressions on that alone, and from those it seemed like she was communicating with sign language, but I'm also recalling that some of those moments weren't really, I guess, based on actual sign language in a coherent sense.