TV Series Thread

[Hydra009]

Eeeehhhhh. There are definitely shades of gray in the show. The main idea of the story basically seems to be, "What if the Justice League was corrupt?"

The story idea was initially "what if the Justice League was real?" and the inevitable conclusion is that it would be corrupt and supes would mostly be vainglorious pricks who care more about their image then about actually saving people.  Also, some might be super duper evil.  Behold/Beware the superman!

[drunkenshoe]

The show is not about "what if the league is corrupt", but "what if the league is real". Exactly like real life people, they're not completely good or evil or this or that in a black and white way -which are fairy tale type of characters- but concerned about money, power, their reputation, fame and image, and their way of living, again exactly like the people in real world. That's the main criticism axle with American culture, in current human culture overall.

Of course, people in real world do have jobs with high responsibilities. Which keep diminishing and diminishing while the amount of people keep rising. It's not the blood, it is the blood supply.

The show itself, is a criticism of the hero concept in its greatest scope as well as superhero movies and shows. The fairy tale of one sided 'good', defending your own because of course only your own is good and worthy. Race, gender, sexuality, nation, religion, job, status...even hobbies and what you like.

As you know this subject and the problem of 'hero' goes back to ancient world because humans looking up to a hero to save themselves has always been the main problem itself. The heroes of ancient religions and myths, then the men we call ancient philosophers -who we know were actually looked upon as prophets in their times- then the prophets of Abrahamic religions, and the god. Always a saviour. Like a child who needs a parent life long. Nietzsche has a strong criticism about the humanity's need of saviours and heroes; its relation to roots of modernity, civilization and the ultimate need of abandoning the notion altogether, nevertheless falling to the final path of failure. Because 'it's only human', and fuck humanity. We are 6 year old children.

Concerning the Christian god, the culture is the perfect one to create the modern superhero culture, which it has in many different levels with the other big C. Capitalism. It's not just Superman; it's the athlete, the celebrity...anything to worship. While the money being the biggest incentive in everything seems like a law of nature today, obviously it's the main cause of this general downfall. Because it is not enough. It's never been enough. That's why democracy is a failure.

In my opinion, there is a some sort of a relation between the rise of the superhero pop-culture and rise of the right wing and religious; divisive and demonizing politics. Interestingly enough, even in atheist groups.

SPOILERS
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Homelander is a white, heterosexual male psychopath because overwhelming amount of the people at the top have been and are. (No need to take any offense for the male gender, because almost nobody has anything even remotely close to those real life characters.) Politicians, presidents, prime ministers, CEOs... big bosses... There is a sharp distinction between Homelander and every other character in the show as far as I can see. While everyone of them has some personal or life created reason/motivation to be/do something good and/or bad, his only goal is to be and remain as himself, which he has a very clear definition; 'I'm the greatest thing alive, I've always been and you are all inferior to me. I'm above every rule and law' in a nutshell.

Parallel to what Sorginak said, they make him break down and say those absurd things out loud on stage, but instead of most people recognizing the situation, his points go up because people -and mostly his race/gender group- think he was being 'unapologetic', 'honest' and 'telling the truth out right'. Does that sound very familiar?

He also talks about Nazism as something so natural, but as a misunderstood thing in its essence, arriving to something like 'it's actually me'. It's not racism. It's not bad. It's just about me. As long as I'm here at the top doing what I want, saying what I want...

And the media. Oh boy, perfect presentation. Overall, the show is fucking scary as hell. Because it is very realistic.

Anyway, sorry, got too long. There are so many things in that show to talk about... lol. But yeah, it's about 'what if superheroes were real', not 'what if they were corrupt', because look how thoroughly we have managed to fuck up without any super powers, can you imagine us getting some?

[drunkenshoe]

By the way, with money and power, I'm referring to real life. Homelander does not really need to make money, in his position he is bound to have it. He is just accepted invincible and 'divine' by his powers.

SPOILERS
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And we learn how him, and others get those powers. It's given. It's not worked for. It's not earned. He does not even do the job. Almost nothing is real, just the way in the real life.

[GSOgymrat]

I enjoy watching Bargain Block, one of the many HGTV renovation shows. A gay couple buys severely distressed and abandoned properties in Detroit, often for $1000. The guys live in the property and do almost all of the work themselves, just one factor which keeps their costs down — the other being their use of low-cost materials, second-hand items, and lots of DIY. Each home the team renovates is truly unique with its own theme-- these aren't cookie-cutter flips. As they improve homes in the area they create higher comps. The profit margins are slim and sometimes they lose money.

The properties are often public health hazards filled with garbage and "poop". In one house the entire back of the house had rotted and fallen off. They dumpster dive for old furniture which they repurpose for decorations. The before and after results are remarkable but what makes it even more interesting is how hard they work to revitalize these neighborhoods and give people an opportunity to own a designer home for less than 100K.

[Blackleaf]

Episode 3 of Moon Knight in a nutshell:

"Hey, guys. This guy is bad, and will kill millions."

"That's a big accusation. Let's bring him here. Hey, you. This guy says you're bad. Are you bad?"

"No."

"Good enough for us. Meeting over."

I swear. Any time there's a counsel or group who have the power to stop the bad guy, they're always written as complete fucking morons. Of course, if they weren't the story would be over pretty fast, but still. Very annoying. It's like plot armor, but for villains, where those in power will believe any accusation thrown at the hero, but none of the accusations brought against the villain. And they always cut the meeting short without having looked into anything or considered any evidence.

[Hydra009]

Episode 3 of Moon Knight in a nutshell:

"Hey, guys. This guy is bad, and will kill millions."

"That's a big accusation. Let's bring him here. Hey, you. This guy says you're bad. Are you bad?"

"No."

"Good enough for us. Meeting over."

In fairness, their history with Konshu is so bad that they're predisposed to not believing him and Konshu came at them with no evidence talking through an insane person.  I'd be predisposed to dismiss charges, too.

BUT...I'd keep an eye on the accused all the same, which is where the Egyptian Gods totally failed.

Though at the same time, Earth is of very little importance to them and so maybe they feel little obligation to do anything.

[Blackleaf]

In fairness, their history with Konshu is so bad that they're predisposed to not believing him and Konshu came at them with no evidence talking through an insane person.  I'd be predisposed to dismiss charges, too.

BUT...I'd keep an eye on the accused all the same, which is where the Egyptian Gods totally failed.

Though at the same time, Earth is of very little importance to them and so maybe they feel little obligation to do anything.

They didn't even give Konshu a chance to present evidence. Mark literally went, "If you would just listen to me for a second..." Then they interrupted him to declare the bad guy innocent.

Here's what could have happened, if the other gods had any sense:

Mark: "I am unwell, but this man is dangerous! If you would just listen to me for a second! He has his men digging up the tomb as we speak!"

"Ugh... Alright. Let's reconvene at the tomb. I hope you're telling the truth, because if we reveal the location of the tomb, and you're lying, we're going to have to move it. And that would be such a pain."

*They take portals to the tomb.*

"Oh, look at that. You were right. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Konshu! This could have ended very badly."

[Hydra009]

They don't know the location of the tomb.  All they know is that Konshu's former avatar is wandering in the desert and Konshu's current avatar - a crazy person - has beef with him and Konshu demands his arrest or whatever.

Reads more like petty drama than a legitimate threat.  Very beneath a God's notice.

[Blackleaf]

How do none of the gods know where the tomb is? Aren't the ones who sealed her there? Okay, if they didn't know the location, it still could have gone this way:

"I, Mark, who has NO REASON to lie, am telling you that this man has started a death cult! He told me that waiting for someone to do evil and then punishing them for it is acting too late, and that he wants to 'cut evil from the root.' He uses a glowing staff with alligator heads on it to judge people based on the actions they may take in the future, and he murders them with magic if they don't pass! He says he wants to release this goddess so that she could do the same on a global scale!"

"Huh. Well, that sounds like something a follower of that crazy goddess would do. We'll look into this."

I mean, if you're going to go through the trouble of gathering for the first time in gods know how long, you might as well get all the facts before you go, "Eh. It's probably nothing."

[Blackleaf]

Holy shit. I didn't expect episode 5 to be such a rollercoaster. Jesus. The relationship between Steven and Mark is way different from what I thought.

[Hydra009]

Holy shit. I didn't expect episode 5 to be such a rollercoaster. Jesus. The relationship between Steven and Mark is way different from what I thought.

I know, right!  I want my twin to see it so bad since we have a similar dynamic (and similar frustrations) as those two.  Alas, he doesn't want to watch any "superhero" shows.

This show is only tangentially a superhero show, imo.  It's actually more about a guy going to therapy tbh.  :P

[Blackleaf]

I know, right!  I want my twin to see it so bad since we have a similar dynamic (and similar frustrations) as those two.  Alas, he doesn't want to watch any "superhero" shows.

This show is only tangentially a superhero show, imo.  It's actually more about a guy going to therapy tbh.  :P

Tell him it's a prequel to The Mummy, and Steven is Brendan Fraser.

[Hydra009]

He doesn't like the Mummy or ancient Egyptian history/religion.  I find it fascinating.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"Wellington Paranormal". Very silly. Good match for "What We Do In The Shadows."

[trdsf]

Jonah is as good as he was in the Netflix seasons, new host Emily is great and just keeps belting them out of the park, Joel is back and hasn't lost his touch, the new Gizmoplex MST3K is fantastic.

That is all.