Yeah sure sure. Bunch of Zionists just so happen to think of a reason to portray Muslims as terrorists but can’t find an Israeli symbol anywhere. Or wait should they just go full antisemitism? Ohh religious discrimination is only fine against Muslims I forgot.
Buddy you misunderstood the point. The whole show is a massive criticism of both capitalism and racism. The fact that this guy was a caricature was intentional, both in the boys and as a meta statement by the author. It’s saying that western fear of middle eastern terrorists is driven by racist propaganda meant to trick people into accepting forever wars to fund the military industrial complex.
That’s the excuse but in the end they got a Muslim on screen blowing himself up and that’s what sticks in people’s heads. You go to his wiki page and it says “Islamic terrorist”.
I’m not sure how the author’s message can be more face up. In the end media literacy is a responsibility of the audience to some degree, and criticizing satire for that which it portrays, or in this case criticizing messaging for that which it mocks is a failure to understand the message.
If you’re trying to send a political message, like any other kind of propaganda or PR or messaging in general, it’s on you to tailor it to the audience you want to reach. If your audience doesn’t understand your message, it’s because you didn’t convey it correctly. Remember, your audience has no obligation to listen to you at all, much less put in the work to understand an overly subtle or complex message. They are going to take your message the way they understand it.
And if you’re writing anti-fascist satire, it has to be understood as satire by the target audience, or you’ve accidentally produced fascist propaganda instead of satire. And that is literally what happened with Helldivers, and The Boys, and the Punisher, and Starship Troopers, which is a hilarious example because Heinlein originally wrote the novel as fascist propaganda, and Verhoeven tried and failed to turn it into satire, because he underestimated just how fucking much Americans love the taste of boot.
(And that’s not even counting the amount of actual fascist propaganda that hides behind “satire” as a fig leaf to deflect criticism - like the shit dribbling out of the American White House Twitter accounts, eg, portraying black women as deformed apes.)
Americans are, as a society, illiterate, pig ignorant, and so poisoned by arrogance and contempt that they think their ignorance is a strength. All this is true. But if you fail to understand your audience and fail to communicate in a language they understand, it’s not the fault of your audience. It’s yours.
tldr: Americans are too stupid for satire, so if you’re making media for Americans stop fucking trying to use satire, kthx.
I am (due to circumstances of my birth) an American, and yet I understood the messages that The Boys were making. I disagree that art should be brought down to the lowest common denominator. Instead, discussions like this bring everyone up instead
Tbf, the entire point of this guy is that he was made a supe terrorist by a racist asshole fascist super hero, playing the public.
The important thing is to not portray arabs as having self-agency
Yeah sure sure. Bunch of Zionists just so happen to think of a reason to portray Muslims as terrorists but can’t find an Israeli symbol anywhere. Or wait should they just go full antisemitism? Ohh religious discrimination is only fine against Muslims I forgot.
Buddy you misunderstood the point. The whole show is a massive criticism of both capitalism and racism. The fact that this guy was a caricature was intentional, both in the boys and as a meta statement by the author. It’s saying that western fear of middle eastern terrorists is driven by racist propaganda meant to trick people into accepting forever wars to fund the military industrial complex.
That’s the excuse but in the end they got a Muslim on screen blowing himself up and that’s what sticks in people’s heads. You go to his wiki page and it says “Islamic terrorist”.
I’m not sure how the author’s message can be more face up. In the end media literacy is a responsibility of the audience to some degree, and criticizing satire for that which it portrays, or in this case criticizing messaging for that which it mocks is a failure to understand the message.
I want to agree with you, but I don’t.
If you’re trying to send a political message, like any other kind of propaganda or PR or messaging in general, it’s on you to tailor it to the audience you want to reach. If your audience doesn’t understand your message, it’s because you didn’t convey it correctly. Remember, your audience has no obligation to listen to you at all, much less put in the work to understand an overly subtle or complex message. They are going to take your message the way they understand it.
And if you’re writing anti-fascist satire, it has to be understood as satire by the target audience, or you’ve accidentally produced fascist propaganda instead of satire. And that is literally what happened with Helldivers, and The Boys, and the Punisher, and Starship Troopers, which is a hilarious example because Heinlein originally wrote the novel as fascist propaganda, and Verhoeven tried and failed to turn it into satire, because he underestimated just how fucking much Americans love the taste of boot.
(And that’s not even counting the amount of actual fascist propaganda that hides behind “satire” as a fig leaf to deflect criticism - like the shit dribbling out of the American White House Twitter accounts, eg, portraying black women as deformed apes.)
Americans are, as a society, illiterate, pig ignorant, and so poisoned by arrogance and contempt that they think their ignorance is a strength. All this is true. But if you fail to understand your audience and fail to communicate in a language they understand, it’s not the fault of your audience. It’s yours.
tldr: Americans are too stupid for satire, so if you’re making media for Americans stop fucking trying to use satire, kthx.
I am (due to circumstances of my birth) an American, and yet I understood the messages that The Boys were making. I disagree that art should be brought down to the lowest common denominator. Instead, discussions like this bring everyone up instead
Yes, and. The people in most need of hearing anti-fascist messages are the ones least likely to engage in discussions like this.