In today’s world, even if you’re superman with all his powers – flight, heat vision, x-ray vision, super hearing, super strength, super speed, and being practically invulnerable, all of that still is not enough to overthrow the corrupt powers ruling the world. In the popular TV show, The Boys, Homelander is a parody of Superman, possessing the same powers. He is the strongest in the world with no equal match, yet he is at the mercy of Vought, a corporation that manufactures compound V, the substance that gave Homelander and all other superheroes their abilities. Homelander is also mentally disturbed since he was raised in a lab by doctors since infancy. He still carries the trauma, but Vought morphs him into what they want him to be. Still, Homelander pretty much kills whomever he pleases and intimidates the other superheroes at Vought. However, he is kept under control due to his need to be loved by the public, but later in the show, Homelander defects and tries to warn the public about Vought’s web of lies –
All my life people have tried to control me, my whole life. Rich people, powerful people tried to muzzle me, cancel me, keep me impotent and obedient like I’m a fucking puppet, and you know what it worked, because I allowed it to work. Guess what if they can control me then you can bet your ass they can control you, they already do you just don’t realize it. – Homelander
Homelander blows the whistle on mainstream media and Vought, saying that rich and powerful forces, who operate in the shadows, are never seen or heard of but they are the ones pulling the strings, and they’re everywhere.
Even though the show has Illuminati symbolism like when Homelander took out one of Queen Mave’s eyes, but there are some hints dropped in here and there about how the system works and the power structure dynamic. It depicts just how imprisoned people are, no matter how powerful, to the opinions of others and the social order. No amount of money can stop the corrupt establishment as they have unlimited funds. The Boys accurately depicts the toxic pop culture we live in and how phony the media is along with celebrity figures. We see the superheros both in front and behind the camera, and we see the fake smiles, artificial personalities, and them pretending to care about the American people when it’s all just one big theatrical performance to increase ratings and shareholder value. It’s all about money.
One cannot muscle his way to victory, the structure of society doesn’t allow it. The majority of the world can be easily swayed into believing any one man or country is the enemy solely because mainstream media said so. News has become a powerful weapon of epic proportions never before seen in history as billions can be almost instantaneously programmed into believing just about anything.
Even though Homelander can topple societal infrastructure whenever he wants, his hands are chained because his whole identity and existence depends on his social ratings. In other words, his deep need to be loved and accepted is his kryptonite, hence why his adversaries can threaten to release a video of him which he knows will ruin his reputation.
This accurately reflects the prison people live in the real world. Everyone is tip toeing over their speech and actions fearing they’ll be cancelled out of society. It’s become dangerous to be an individuals, or to have a different opinion. People literally are owned by companies, and they must abide by their rules else risk losing their livelihood.
Even if you have all the power in the world, if you do something the public doesn’t approve of, you risk being socially castrated and canceled by society forcing you to either live in the mountains isolated, or to succumb to what is socially acceptable, which is still bullshit.
