After years of jokes flying over their heads, it’s finally clicked
Viewers of Prime Video’s The Boys might have finally caught up with the rest of us and realised their reviews and obsession with the “woke agenda” are being mocked in 4k.
Unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Eric Kripke’s dark and twisted take on the superhero genre is not afraid to pull in real-world stories for satirical purposes. Though season one did a better job at hiding the societal commentary behind crude jokes and sudden explosions of gore, the writers doubled down on the trend in the subsequent seasons to really get the point across.
The Boys is reading your reviews
‘THE BOYS’ has released an awards FYC advertisement that includes negative reviews accusing the show of having a “woke agenda” and being “communist propaganda” pic.twitter.com/mHw8rCXFyW
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) November 20, 2024
In the lead-up to season five of The Boys, which will be the show’s last, The Boys released a hilarious advertisement that has since gone viral, racking up 23k likes on Discussing Film’s post alone. The post featured the show’s leading psycho-in-chief Homelander, played by Anthony Starr, in his signature pose as he was surrounded by actual reviews the show had received.
The reviews included tidbits like “an attack on our values” and “this season is what’s wrong with America right now”, but the focal point was undoubtedly the word woke featured not once, but four times.
“Communist propaganda,” one scathing review read, as another angry viewer simply claimed that the “woke agenda is being spewed every episode.”
This show clearly thinks it is a trenchant satire, and it’s not. It depicts right-wing weirdos like Pizzagaters as if there’s no left wing analogues like people who still wear masks and nonbinary pronoun people. It lampoons Fox News as if MSNBC and The View aren’t sillier. https://t.co/kYBOL40IgV
— Daniel Friedman (@DanFriedman81) November 21, 2024
The Boys has never shied away from tackling difficult social issues, from A-Train’s character arc that illustrated issues like police brutality, to Queen Maeve grappling with rainbow-washing after being forced out of the closet. Unfortunately, the satirical mocking of right-wing views and figures like Donald Trump often goes straight over the heads of people who need to hear it the most.
Nonetheless, the gag poster has been well received online, as one person penned: “Whoever runs The Boys advertising sure does a great job at knowing how to troll and keep people talking about the show long after the season has been released.”
In contrast, others seem to finally be realizing that The Boys is not the bro fan service they initially thought, as one noted: “The left ruins everything.”
omg i still cant believe it took 4 whole seasons for conservatives to realize the show was making fun of them https://t.co/C2n8Hnw9c1
— moo deng eater 🎸 (@scythegenderr) November 21, 2024
“I miss when the show was subtle with this stuff,” another said, while a third added, “Haven’t seen the 4th season but I did think the previous three were more nuanced than just ‘conservatives bad’ in ways that I haven’t seen people discuss much.”
A collection of scathing reviews for your enjoyment
After years of being subtle with their digs, The Boys seemingly abandoned the approach to offer a more clear-cut view of its TV show. Of course, this meant that more people realised it was mocking them, see below.
On Rotten Tomatoes, one person said: “This show started out awesome. By season four it’s all political BS that we watch shows like this to escape.”
“Why this show hates its fans now…..I mean it became big and successful thanks to us,” another questioned.
Someone else raged: “Absurdly political with not an ounce of subtlety. The writers clearly decided it was more important to issue a one-sided ideological sermon than to deliver a good story. Still, some good moments, and the cast continue to bring the goods.”
Another penned in frustration: “So, my concern is that the show makers are overtly and blatantly encouraging actual and real violence against American conservatives or people who simply do want to Make America Great Again. They’ve killed so many people in effigy on the Right gleefully and with expectant audience applause, I’m concerned that this violence (though ‘imaginary’) will turn real.”
