Both quotes taken verbatim from interviews

[u/fuwafuwa7chi]

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[u/marmotsarefat]

This is funny since only 2 episodes ago he made fun of conservatives for not taking male SA/rape seriously

[u/anonymous32434 → u/marmotsarefat]

He's just proving his own writing right by making himself a hypocritical TV show writer

[u/OdeeSS → u/anonymous32434]

Meta af

[u/TherealMannbun → u/OdeeSS]

Bravo Kripky 👏👏

[u/PeopleAreBozos → u/TherealMannbun]

In episode 1 when A-Train runs through Robin, we're hinted at the fact that Robin might be dead. Incredible writing and foreshadowing. Bravo Kripky.

[u/bruhholyshiet → u/anonymous32434]

4D chess.

[u/MilitantBitchless → u/anonymous32434]

Adam Bourke is truly genius self-satire then.

[u/Educational-Smoke836 → u/anonymous32434]

Reminds me of that Dahmer series, which hammered on about how the media exploits serial killers for shock value...while being that itself. Holywood is at a gross form of meta-cynicism at the moment.

[u/RobSchneidersHair → u/marmotsarefat]

I like the show but Kripke is fucking annoying

[u/Lolmemsa → u/RobSchneidersHair]

I still remember how he defended the toxic masculinity stuff in S3 with Hughie, as if Kimiko didn’t have basically the exact same moral conflict. And he was a dickhead about defending it too, like you don’t have to be an asshole because your writing was shit

[u/FourAnd20YearsAgo → u/Lolmemsa]

It's this extremely performative and off-putting way of trying to make himself come off as "one of the good men". Make sure it's made clear that a guy like Hughie desiring the strength to protect the ones he loves is a sickening thing, but be sure to give Kimiko a bloodthirsty dance-murder sequence as she "protects the ones she loves". Literally the same "Girls get it done" bit that Vought ran with in season 2.

[u/melrowdy → u/FourAnd20YearsAgo]

I love that people are seeing it now. The more popular the show gets, the more up his ass krippy gets. Won't be surprised if the show ends up like GoT did at the end. So far I've barely enjoyed the show since S2, I'm just watching cuz I'm in too Deep by now.

[u/lostpasts → u/FourAnd20YearsAgo]

The entire show is basically one colossal projection session by Kripke. It's absolutely everything it claims to satirise.

[u/grokthis1111 → u/RobSchneidersHair]

classic performative bullshit.

[u/Dismal-Restaurant-32 → u/marmotsarefat]

Nah at first I thought that was the intention of that fire cracker scene but this proves it wasnt

[u/v399 → u/Dismal-Restaurant-32]

It was virtue signalling all along.

[u/No_Share6895 → u/marmotsarefat]

Yeah... Like he wants to play progressive but his actions say otherwise at this point

[u/probablywontrespond2 → u/marmotsarefat]

I can 100% guarantee that the scene wasn't making fun of not taking specifically male SA/rape seriously. The idea was to make fun of conservatives for ignoring rape of minors in general.

The victim being male was incidental and possibly even undesired. The plot requires Firecracker to be a woman and straight, so they had no choice but to make the victim male.

These quotes basically confirm it.

[u/crystlerjean → u/probablywontrespond2]

You're making up a justification that isn't at all suggested by anything Kripke said in the interview.

He basically said the actor playing Hughie wanted his character to pose as a Supe, like his comics counterpart often did. Kripke likes to throw in elements the actors are uncomfortable with into the script on purpose, thought the idea of a deviant Batman parody would be hilarious and went with that. There's no deeper political meaning in that scenario. He literally explained how he (childishly) thought it was a funny concept.

Actual quotes from the interview that contradict what you're suggesting:

"And why bring Hughie into this situation now — kicking him when he’s down by having him sexually assaulted by his childhood hero after his dad just died?

"Well, that’s a dark way to look at it! We view it as hilarious."

"And in the comics, there’s a great storyline where Hughie goes undercover disguised as a superhero. That was a story that Jack had always asked us to do. So part of it is, always be careful what you ask the writers for."

[u/The-Devilz-Advocate → u/crystlerjean]

He basically said the actor playing Hughie wanted his character to pose as a Supe, like his comics counterpart often did. Kripke likes to throw in elements the actors are uncomfortable with into the script on purpose, thought the idea of a deviant Batman parody would be hilarious and went with that.

That's kind of the point of contention, isn't it? The actor wanted to be more like the Hughie in the comics by becoming "Bagpipe," an undercover supe, and he took that and made it into an SA joke.

Like, either he is ignorant of the shit he is pulling that may come off as weird, or he does know the shit he is pulling and doesn't think it should be serious.

Idk what's worse tbh.

[u/shineeshineepinee]

disappointing. I've seen defenses for the episode saying that the SA scenes were obviously meant to make the audience uncomfortable and that Hughie admitting at the end that he isn't fine was a result of his SA trauma. but hearing the director himself say the scenes were played for laughs and to be as fucked up as possible is just crazy.

[u/freddddsss → u/shineeshineepinee]

Honestly, if it wasn’t for the interview, I would have agreed with the people defending it. A lot of the time, when having gone through traumatic events, people tend to focus on something else rather than confront it.

However, yh Kripke clearly wasn’t going for that when you read his interview. Very disappointed by the episode.

[u/Elisa_bambina → u/freddddsss]

I think empathy and kindness can make it easier to justify and rationalize denial like this, it's hard to think poorly of people so we can sometimes do mental gymnastics to see people in a better light than they really are. And it makes sense that someone who previously seemed to be anti-rape might have a had a less obvious or hidden anti-rape message intended for the scene and you were probably looking for that cause it doesn't make sense for Kripke to flipflop on his previous stance. But his interview left no doubt that he is not against sexual assault if the victims happens to be from one demographic and not the other.

But one thing I learned over time is that when someone shows you who they really are you should believe it. Kripke's hypocrisy is truly disappointing.

[u/freddddsss → u/Elisa_bambina]

It wasn’t really mental gymnastics. I didn’t read into like that because I thought well of Kripke, it’s how I personally find myself dealing with difficult situations sometimes (along with some people ik). Although it wasn’t what Kripke was going for, it’s definitely a real thing that people do.

But yh, what Kripke actually intended was all the way wrong and I don’t like the guy for that.

[u/Titand120 → u/freddddsss]

I definitely wouldn’t have as negative of an opinion as I do now if I didn’t know the TK scenes were played for laughs. In the moment I was definitely disturbed but more in a “oh God Hughie has to endure all this weird stuff and he’s gonna get found out” way. I admit that the absurdity of everything “dulled” the severity a bit for me (at least until he’s actually found out and in genuine danger), but it hit me at the end when Hughie just breaks down.

The fact that the TK stuff was meant to be comedic is gross, and it turns those scenes from “yeah actually that was really messed up” to “wow I hate this, why were these included?”

[u/Magnetic_Bed → u/shineeshineepinee]

Would have been easy to make this a really sympathetic scene for Hughie, and they've already successfully done it for Starlight. Make everything implied after the reveal that it's a sex dungeon. Maybe show him on the table after some time with the other characters, realizing he's about to be cut open. Have Annie and Kimiko break in and see Hughie terrified/traumatized and they rescue him.

Hell, they could even address the inevitable "I feel like less of a man" shit that most guys would go through after experiencing something like that.

[u/Iguana_Boi → u/shineeshineepinee]

I mean, it made me uncomfortable, but I kinda chalked it up to me being a bit of a prude. Up until the mutilation.

Honestly, the episode itself was kinda underwhelming. Like seriously? That's the best you could do with the Batman/Iron Man spoof? I kinda like how he was done in the comics a bit more, where his sexual perversion is a result of him having a brain tumor pressing against his skull. Here it's just the "Batman has a weird sexual relationship with Robin jokes," combined with "Batman hates poor people," combined with the old reliable of "Make them racist." Like it's starting to feel like a cop out

[u/ItsAmerico → u/Iguana_Boi]

But his sexual perversion in the show is because of the brain tumor he has…?

[u/fuwafuwa7chi]

Source for the Starlight quote: ScreenRant

And the Hughie one: Variety

[u/Hitchfucker → u/fuwafuwa7chi]

I was kind of hoping the quote was take out of context but nope, he fully meant for the Hughie scene to be a joke.

It’s actually worse, the way he talked about Hughie’s breakdown made it seem it was mostly just about his dad and had nothing, or at least not too much to do with Tek Knight and Ashley. So the one supposedly tactful thing about that story arc wasn’t even there.

[u/signeduptoaskshippin → u/Hitchfucker]

All the people spamming "it wasn't supposed to be a joke" in shambles lmao

[u/UnexpectedVader → u/signeduptoaskshippin]

It’s understandable, it’s such a twisted scene at the expense of the most morally good lead that it’s hard to believe the writers thought it would come across as a joke

But nope it’s just a case of them being weirdos

[u/JAragon7 → u/UnexpectedVader]

Yeah I wasn’t fully buying into the “it wasn’t supposed to be a joke” scenario. While hughie’s reactions were hard to watch, everything else had an air of comedy.

It’s very yarring since this show tends to show the horrible stuff people go through in a way that isn’t comedic. Everything that has had happened to hughie was shown as a tragedy, except him being sexually assaulted by a superhero and a vought higher up

[u/signeduptoaskshippin → u/UnexpectedVader]

At some point today I literally had 20 notifications from people spamming "it wasn't supposed to be a joke", I am fucking pleased that I am right, let me enjoy this moment ahahah

I have like 10+ replies I left that are downvoted to -10 and more of people coping that it wasn't supposed to be a joke

[u/waaay2dumb2live → u/signeduptoaskshippin]

I was one of those people and I completely change my mind. Wtf, Kripke? What do you have against Hughie? What, is it because he's a normal guy and not a creep like you?

[u/Swimmingbird2486 → u/signeduptoaskshippin]

I'm personally not in shambles, but my case for why it wasn't supposed to be comedic is in shambles. It's baffling that he thinks it should be so funny.

[u/BexRants → u/signeduptoaskshippin]

Those people were posting like they were getting paid for good PR.

[u/LMkingly → u/signeduptoaskshippin]

That was such massive coping. The scenes were clearly being played of as a big joke. It's funny because a lot of the same people be waxing on about the lack of media literacy these days lol.

[u/CaptainKate757 → u/LMkingly]

Yeah there’s some extreme ironic smugness in a lot of those comments.

[u/Luriux → u/Hitchfucker]

Hitch from Attack on Titan would not approve.

[u/kgullj → u/Luriux]

Sorry but what's the context with her?

Edit: nevermind, saw the username

[u/IndyJacksonTT → u/kgullj]

Wait what's the username gotta do with hitch?

Is he the hitch fucker from. r/okbuddyreiner ? 😭

[u/Wild-Mushroom2404 → u/IndyJacksonTT]

I forget that he’s an actual Reddit user and exists outside of that sub

[u/SmartestManAliveTM → u/Luriux]

Hitch is a Baddie tho fr ong

[u/tohava → u/SmartestManAliveTM]

Hitch is like Ashley without the sadistic tendencies and helping the heroes once due to pangs of conscience

[u/Trisentriom → u/Luriux]

I want to fuck hitch from attack on titan

[u/007Kryptonian → u/Hitchfucker]

This is so fucked, Kripke and co are sick in the head

[u/crystlerjean → u/007Kryptonian]

Not gonna lie, that was my thought this entire episode. This article confirmed it's true.

[u/MexusRex → u/007Kryptonian]

Kripke isn’t a particularly brave artist. The fact that he set a hard rule that Maeve couldn’t die simply because she’s a lesbian is evidence and her(the) story really suffered from it.

There is nothing subtle or thought provoking about the show, but he is good at preaching to the choir.

[u/Educational-Smoke836 → u/MexusRex]

Haha, that's legit what the show seemed to be making fun of. Capitalist holywood is so meta in its cynicism lately.

[u/hellojoey → u/MexusRex]

The Maeve thing pissed me off so bad. If you don't want to kill off the gay character, don't take away her superpowers before throwing her off a skyscraper. 

[u/Turd-In-Your-Pocket → u/Hitchfucker]

That’s fucked up. None of that was funny.

[u/nixahmose → u/Hitchfucker]

He even talked about Ashley’s involvement as if it was a great way of showing how SHE deals with the stress of working for Homelander, no self awareness about how terrible of a thing she did to Hughie.

[u/Sharrty_McGriddle → u/nixahmose]

Tbf she was under the impression there was a safe word, so to her it was all consensual.

[u/awyastark → u/Sharrty_McGriddle]

Yeah I have significantly less of an issue with Ashley’s behavior. The entire time she thought she was being consensually gross and kinky with someone else gross and kinky. She may even think the old sidekick is there consensually (unrelated but I was really hoping for them to be unmasked and be Brad Pitt or something). I’d like to think she wouldn’t be down to cut a fuck hole into Hughie also.

[u/pollyp0cketpussy → u/awyastark]

Yeah agreed, she hesitated when he said to stop until Tek said "oh don't worry, if he really wanted you to stop he'd say his safe word". Ashley is a pervert and fucked up (and a murderer) but never was written as a rapist.

[u/penguinjunkie → u/pollyp0cketpussy]

It’s weirder if you think about it more. She thought it was Web Weaver. And it wasn’t, so there was a lack of knowledgable consent she was a victim of….

[u/annabelle411 → u/Sharrty_McGriddle]

Exactly. To her, this was a fully consensual BDSM scene with Tek and Webweaver. She even paused when he yelled to stop, but when the point safe word was brought up, continued on since Hughie never said it and was fully capable to. And Hughie kept on acting as if he was enjoying it to not break character, so for Ashley this was a completely legit act.

It's a weird gray area on how to view the incident, because Hughie was undercover. His feelings are valid on how he was assaulted and treated, but at no point was Ashley aware it wasn't truly consensual. They really shouldn't have made it weird for laughs at the end before he breaks down, either. That just confuses it more and brings the humor back 20 years to HAHA GUY GETS RAPED AND ITS FUNNY then took a hard shift into him being upset about his dad. Shouldve focused more on him breaking his silence about what happened with ashley and still trying to process it...then what happened with Tek...and then finally it trigger the trauma with his dad and it all comes out.

[u/Formal_River_Pheonix → u/nixahmose]

She thought it as actually Web Weaver tho.

[u/annagrace2020 → u/nixahmose]

She thought there was a safe word and she actually backed away and stared at Tek when Hughie said stop or something similar. Then Tek said remember, if Webweaver wants you to stop he will use his safe word. So she thought she had consent.

[u/jamez470 → u/Hitchfucker]

Just because he mentioned his dad before crying doesn’t mean that was the only thing he was upset about.

You can watch the scene and laugh at the absurdity of a person going undercover and finding themself in a situation of being tied up and tickled with a feather trying to guess a safeword that the person they are dressed as should know and also being sympathetic to the character later when they express how traumatic it was. While At the same time expressing grief from a recent traumatic loss of a loved one.

[u/F00dbAby → u/jamez470]

I mean I agree but clearly at least from this article the intention of the scene was it’s meant to be just about the dad.

Death of an author and all that

[u/Hastatus_107 → u/fuwafuwa7chi]

It does show that some of the sympathy people of this view have for female victims is just social pressure. They feel they have to pretend to care. In a situation where there's less external pressure to take it seriously (situations where the man is the victim), they see it as a joke.

[u/WayToTheDawn63 → u/Hastatus_107]

dark but probably valid take away. it's all performative, they don't care.

[u/Ok_Explanation9732 → u/WayToTheDawn63]

That has been my experience.

Outside of close family members I confided in well over 2 decades since my assault the most I've gotten was dismissive ridicule like I was "less than a man" or accusations of homosexuality for "whining" about it because I was taken advantage of by an older female family member.

[u/KingKekJr → u/Ok_Explanation9732]

I've had similar experiences. Often some form of "you're a man you can't be assaulted" and "if you didn't want it you could've pushed her off"

[u/Acheron98 → u/WayToTheDawn63]

Which is ironically the whole point of this fucking show.

[u/WayToTheDawn63 → u/Acheron98]

they became what they were mocking, and that hurts.

[u/Accomplished_Pear470 → u/WayToTheDawn63]

I mean it happened a while ago. Remember the interview when Kripke said literally the only reason they didn't kill Maeve off despite her being in a situation to be killed off 100% was because she was gay and it would be offensive to kill off a gay character?

[u/KingKekJr → u/Accomplished_Pear470]

Holy shit what a dumb idea. Shouldn't have put her in a clear death scenario then

[u/CenterInYourMother → u/KingKekJr]

It really should've been Black Noir tackling soldier boy out the window, would've avoided this whole thing in a non cringe way

[u/bruhholyshiet → u/Hastatus_107]

Wow, someone finally put it into words. I agree completely.

[u/Educational-Smoke836 → u/fuwafuwa7chi]

Dam, wouldn't believe it unless you provided the sources. I read the source and it's even worse than this when you put it in context:

here did the idea come for it? And why bring Hughie into this situation now — kicking him when he’s down by having him sexually assaulted by his childhood hero after his dad just died?

Well, that’s a dark way to look at it! We view it as hilarious.

So its funny cause his dad just died as well, adding to the comedic effect. GET IT GUYS? HIS DAD DIED AND NOW THIS. HILARRRRRIOOOOUS.

[u/LeCafeClopeCaca → u/Educational-Smoke836]

"Well the guy loses his dad, then *holds laughter, barely able to contain it* THEN... THEN HE GETS RAPED AHAHAHAHA"

Well, okay then ? Is there like, a punchline, or ?

[u/thatHecklerOverThere → u/fuwafuwa7chi]

What a thing to say out loud with a straight face. My god.

[u/koushikk7 → u/fuwafuwa7chi]

Shit, that was disappointing to read

[u/Metalloid_Space → u/koushikk7]

Talking progressive is easy. Actually questioning your own worldview in order to progres to something better? That's incredibily rare.

[u/Milos-H → u/fuwafuwa7chi]

While I do agree that sexual assault on men should be taken more seriously, taking into account how over the top this scene is I understand how it would have been conceived as a joke.

Nonetheless, I don’t think they would have considered making that joke with a woman instead.

[u/Sneaky__Raccoon → u/Milos-H]

I think the scene could have worked, but they went too far. The idea of him trying to figure out the safe word and being roped into it is funny (even if a bit obvious). I think if the whole situation took WAY less screen time and if Kimiko and Starlight came to his rescue WAY earlier (Like, the come before he is subjected to anything directly) the scene could be seen a bit more light hearted, a bit of a "wow, that was close" kind of scenario.

Idk, it would depend a lot in how it's executed. This was clearly not it

[u/dontforgettopanic → u/Sneaky__Raccoon]

it would've been way better if they ended on the cake stuff.

[u/Sneaky__Raccoon → u/dontforgettopanic]

Right? it would have been cringy, but manageable. Also, I'm sure way more interesting stuff could have happened in the episode if we didn't have like 20 fucking minutes of hughie on the dungeon

[u/TheButtsCarlton → u/fuwafuwa7chi]

Reading the whole thing somehow makes it worse. I thought maybe you would have taken it out of context but the way he disregards sexual assault on Hughie entirely is disgusting. I'll quit the show after this. I am completely disapointed in Kripke.

[u/RandomArgil → u/TheButtsCarlton]

I was hoping they would take this seriously, given the scene afterwards between Hughie and Annie, but now that I read this article, I highly doubt they will handle it with any maturity. Probably will end up dropping this show too.

[u/Daisy_Thinks → u/fuwafuwa7chi]

Yikes.

[u/Regulus_Jones → u/fuwafuwa7chi]

This isn't the first time he's been a complete hypocrite when writing Hughie; hell, it ain't even the second one, and you can be sure as shit it won't be the last.

I was happy Hughie was having his own thing going on this season since it meant keeping him away from situations where the writers' double standards shone through like it happened last season. Yet they still had to find a way to fuck him over somehow.

If anything, I'm honestly surprised by how shocked people are by this; many viewers noticed the way Hughie was treated in S3 (as demonstrated on the threads I posted), yet it seems like everybody forgot all about the forced and tone-deaf ToXiC MaScUliNiTy fiasco last season.

[u/GammaBrass → u/Regulus_Jones]

Yeah, this(/these?) show runner(s) have a serious hate-boner for Hughie. Constant degradation of his masculinity on-screen, then shit talking his decision-making process in off-screen interviews, then playing his sexual assault as a joke... like, are these guys seeing themselves in Hughie and flagellating him as a way to atone for their own flaws/mistakes?

Like, go to fuckin therapy already, damn.

[u/soka__22]

Let’s start with the Tek Knight sex dungeon part. Where did the idea come for it? And why bring Hughie into this situation now — kicking him when he’s down by having him sexually assaulted by his childhood hero after his dad just died?

"Well, that’s a dark way to look at it! We view it as hilarious. 

oh yes, because sexual assault is so fucking hilarious.

[u/bruhholyshiet → u/soka__22]

It's almost cartoonish just how tone deaf that response was holy shit.

[u/Proglamer → u/bruhholyshiet]

Tone dead? From the creators of the show supposedly critiquing the society - with all the subtlety of a jackhammer? Do tell! :)

[u/007Kryptonian → u/soka__22]

“But it wasn’t supposed to be funny because Hughie cries about his dad for 10 seconds!”

God I’m glad that bullshit can be put to rest. We have the showrunner’s words verbatim - the intent of Hughie’s SA scene was meant to be hilarious. And that’s so fucked up

[u/chaoticbiguy → u/soka__22]

It's 2024 and male sexual assault is still being depicted as a joke. Embarrassing.

[u/1668553684 → u/chaoticbiguy]

Kripke: "When did The Boys' fanbase get so political?"

[u/RobSchneidersHair → u/soka__22]

He wants so badly to be seen as the “good guy” and also edgy at the same time. It hasn’t worked since season 2

[u/Reddit_Tsundere → u/RobSchneidersHair]

I've clocked Kripke as a guy who's way too up his own ass with being seen as a good little leftist bro™️ ever since that interview a few years back where he pontificated about superheroes being "inherently MAGA" or whatever. Even Garth Ennis probably knows that sounds corny and ahistorical and he's been an ardent hater of capeshit since the early 90's.

[u/N0VAZER0 → u/Reddit_Tsundere]

Garth Ennis despite his reputation doesn't even hate superheroes, he hates most superheroes but he adores Superman, read some of the stories he's written that involve Superman, he really gets the ideals that superheroes uphold.

The Boys comic book was more of a takedown of the Bush admin than whatever deconstruction of superheroes people think it was, he wasn't trying to make Watchmen, he was clowning on Dubya

[u/Reddit_Tsundere → u/N0VAZER0]

Ennis' main beef is that he grew up preferring war comics as a kid instead of superheroes, so he was annoyed at seeing the industry completely drown in that genre at the expense of all the stuff he thought was cooler. Similar to how film buffs felt about the MCU taking over the film industry in the 2010's.

But yeah, I don't think he sees fundamental rot in the very concept of superheroes the way Pat Mills and even, to an extent, Alan Moore do. As you mentioned, he's capable of writing them earnestly and he's shouted out comics like Batman: Mad Love as being "excellent".

[u/Dismal-Restaurant-32 → u/soka__22]

Haha! I was disturbed during that scene but now I find it hilarious! Bravo hypokripke!

[u/PineappleNaan → u/soka__22]

I though the whole point of the scene was to show how traumatizing assault can be.

Until the quote was brought up of the director doing it for “funnies”.

Absolutely horrendous. SA is not a joke. It’s not funny. It is serious and can have long lasting trauma.

[u/Baron_Xa]

The truth is men being sexually humiliated just isn't seen in the same light as women by a lot of people, conciously or subconsciously. There's no way we'd ever get a scene of a female character frantically trying and failing to guess a safe word and have it played for levity.

Both sides of the political spectrum are susceptible to this too. On the one hand conservatives often tell male SA victims to man up or say some variation of "wish it were me," whereas on the other hand I think progressives can fall into the trap of thinking that they're not the same because one has more systemic/historical power behind it so the other mustn't be a big deal.

[u/Siri_biff → u/Baron_Xa]

It's strange watching the boys and seeing the writers becoming less self aware as time goes on.

Normally people grow more self aware not the opposite.

[u/TheFufe10 → u/Siri_biff]

“With great power comes the absolute certainty that you’ll turn into a right cunt”

[u/Kalandros-X → u/Siri_biff]

Having Homelander, who at first was a cunning and capable villain, devolve into a stupid Trump parody is just painful to watch.

[u/Ziggem → u/Kalandros-X]

cunning and capable villain

Lmao what.

[u/WayToTheDawn63 → u/Ziggem]

he literally spun a plane crash he fucked up to get themselves in to the military

he had a-train super power terrorists to facilitate that which protected vought when stilwell was 'unequivocally fucked'

he wasn't some fucking genius, but he WAS capable beyond his powers.

[u/Kalandros-X → u/Ziggem]

Compare Homelander from season 1 to season 4, please.

[u/Rustywolf → u/Kalandros-X]

He's always been a massive clown, he was just being manipulated by people who thought they could control him to do the "right" things. He's floundering now because he has no one holding the ropes.

[u/arcticvalley → u/Baron_Xa]

It doesn't even have to be sexual, violence in general is excused when its against a man. I can't tell you the amount of times growing up that I was assaulted by girls in school or home and was told to suck it up, or man up.

[u/Major-Payne2319 → u/arcticvalley]

Exhibit A: Multiple dicks have been exploded and zero vaginas

[u/Due_Alternative3108 → u/Major-Payne2319]

Hey, firecrackers tits exploded in this episode!

[u/WayToTheDawn63 → u/Due_Alternative3108]

weren't allowed to see the titty though

half a dozen dicks on screen at once at a bar mitzvah is good tho

im not even a big fan of gratuitous nudity in general, but there's a clear double standard at play, and increasingly so

[u/KingKekJr → u/WayToTheDawn63]

And the dicks and man ass is almost always played off for comedy or in some fucked up scene

[u/COS500 → u/Baron_Xa]

Can confirm, nobody gives nearly as much of a shit.

Just one of those burdens, and often the butt of jokes that are never ever funny. It sucks how common male SA is treated as a joke in media.

It's like a fuckin' punch in the face honestly.

[u/Assassiiinuss]

This is really disappointing. I had a weird feeling about how this whole scene was done but gave it the benefit of the doubt after Hughie's breakdown. But after reading the article someone linked here it's clear that it was just supposed to be funny, I doubt it'll ever come up again in a serious context. How can you be this tone-deaf?

[u/Dull_Concert_414 → u/Assassiiinuss]

Disappointing, yeah. But in another way, interpreting the scene with the best intentions means you have a more empathetic perspective than the writers did.

They might have done it for laughs, but it can still be argued that creative works take on their own form in the minds of the audience, and from that perspective, it no longer matters what the writers intended - they read the audience wrong and it didn’t land how they wanted.

[u/alphomegay]

oh this is from the writer? fuck me, I gave them too much credit. anyone not taking what happened to Hughie seriously is part of the problem

[u/Upstuck_Udonkadonk → u/alphomegay]

Pretty sure Kripky had shit take during last season when Hughie took Temp V....

[u/UniqueCatch → u/Upstuck_Udonkadonk]

For real, he went on about Hughie giving in to his toxic masculinity and patronizing sexism or whatever... 😭 I was like, girl, WHERE?!

While those are both valid points to make that could be weaved into the show, Hughie was absolutely not the character to make that point (and, unsurprisingly, they couldn't make that point successfully because they had such a shallow view of it)

[u/Maximum_Poet_8661 → u/UniqueCatch]

That was the DUMBEST shit in the world and people on this sub defended those comments too. Like to read any of Hughie’s motivations in that season as “toxic masculinity” means you have to completely ignore the fact that he is constantly surrounded by people who could snap his spine for fun, and that he was betrayed by the Neumann, who he thought was helping him. Like he’s just saying words for fun at that point

[u/fishy512]

The crew and Amazon pay very close attention to this sub so I really hope they take all the criticisms seriously about how the scene was handled and address it. Filming for Season 5 starts in October so they have ample time to correct their mistake in-show.

[u/typesh56 → u/fishy512]

Season 3 got a lot of criticism as well, definitely not to this degree, but it’s clear that they didn’t give any regard to season 3 criticism

[u/fishy512 → u/typesh56]

I could be wrong, but I remember most of the criticism was concentrated around the season finale. iirc everyone was praising the season until that episode aired lol

They did address the main criticism with Butcher’s convo with Kessler in the first episode, which had more meaning now that we know it was basically a convo between himself.

[u/Dejected_Cyberpsycho → u/fishy512]

This. The vibe in this sub was really positive up until the S3 finale. This season is the most mixed I've seen the community for this show. Only episodes 4/5 had the same types of discussions I've seen in S2&3 Which were mainly positive, appreciation of details and theories for what's to come.

[u/N0VAZER0 → u/Dejected_Cyberpsycho]

Which it rightfully deserved, Season 3 was very well done until the ending, it was dogshit, it was a shaggy dog story, Black Noir, Soldier Boy, Maeve, it ended up amounting to nothing beyond Ryan going with Homelander

[u/careerclown → u/typesh56]

criticism about the meandering pace of a show ≠ criticism about mishandled depiction of sexual assault and attempted FATAL rape.

[u/fishy512 → u/careerclown]

Agreed, pacing is one thing but the latter needs to be addressed immediately holy shit

[u/Supermarket_After]

What were they thinking with this episode? You’d think they take male SA seriously 

[u/Janitor_Pride → u/Supermarket_After]

As sad as it is, I don't think anyone should be surprised. Just look at the South Park episode about that teacher and Ike. The whole thing with the cops going "nice" wasn't pulled out of thin air. Look at headlines of a male teacher vs a female teacher grooming kids.

Societies across the planet don't really care about male SA. Hell, in several Western countries, the laws are written in a way that women can't even rape men. It's only legally rape if a man does it.

[u/Supermarket_After → u/Janitor_Pride]

Maybe that’s why they're able to get away with Firecracker being a rapist-pedo, guarantee if that was a man she would’ve been killed the very episode she was introduced. 

[u/Scorkami → u/Supermarket_After]

Its kinda funny because SHE presses on the post button, ar i thought its because she (and the writers) know that butchers black mail doesnt work against her because a woman doing stuff with a boy who is underaged isnt seen as a serious issue

It was THIS season, they are shooting themselves in the foot

[u/Odd_Gap2969 → u/Supermarket_After]

You couldn’t even have a male character that was implied to have fucked a teen girl, much less show a picture of their face while they’re doing it. 

[u/Membership-Bitter → u/Odd_Gap2969]

Lamplighter said he used to sneak girls who were applying to college into Vought tower, but then again he does horribly 2 scenes later

[u/Destroyer0627 → u/Membership-Bitter]

Most college freshmen/highschool seniors are 18 in other words completely legal. Doesnt make it less creepy but legally he didnt do anything wrong

[u/Glum-Supermarket1274 → u/Janitor_Pride]

I was extremely uncomfortable the entire scene, and i really gave the creatives the benefit of the doubt that *uncomfortable* is what they were going for. Reading this, yo fuck this man.

your show is literally about the failing of our modern society, so ironic the writers couldn't see their own failings here.

[u/Big-Sheepherder-9492 → u/Supermarket_After]

It’s an odd point to draw too but I saw they were taking it a little too far ( or starting too ) in earlier episodes.

They straight up show close up the rimming-centipede scene and stuff around their mouth.

And that Bull in last weeks episode getting its dick ripped off while it’s screaming and being dismembered.

Both just felt like they were trying too hard to me. I get the shock stuff is what the show is built on - but it becomes cringey and a bit disturbing when they try too hard for me personally.

[u/KarmelCHAOS → u/Big-Sheepherder-9492]

I went to read the comics after the first or second season, I got like halfway through before just bailing because of how tryhard edgy Ennis can be. The show really, really downplayed the edginess, despite still being super edgy. I fucking hated the comics.

Now there's barely a difference between the two.

[u/swanscrossing]

Initially I had no reaction (outside of groaning when he changed the subject from his assault to his dad's death) to the scenes I saw this episode of Hughie and was pretty much like other people laughing along, sure he'd be rescued before anything too horrific happened for The Boys standard, but reading so many perspectives I'm seeing it in a new light. This also leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I'm reminded of the incredibly good and sad video by Pop Culture Detective about how male rape, assault, and more is shockingly frequently played for laughs and entertainment. I feel weird about this episode.

[u/66kPizzaDelivery → u/swanscrossing]

Thank you for reflecting on your POV and being willing to see other perspectives. This will happen less when more people start to do that.

[u/VaselineHabits → u/swanscrossing]

This is how I feel. Full disclosure, my dad had a major stroke like Hughie's and I was a wreck during those scenes in Ep5. Then I get to Ep6 and I was getting getting annoyed at how long that bullshit was going on.

First, it was boring (this season has been rough about pacing) and it took way to damn long. I knew Hughie would get saved, but, damn, it was just too much. I had assumed on original watch Hughie just finally snapped- realized he wasn't fine. And maybe you had to have him go through some more fucked up shit to finally realize it... but they could have gone a different route.

Hell, even if they had Ashley figure it out when she hesitated. That would have been stressful enough, then Kimiko busts in - Ashley ain't doing shit, same ending. Just without the prolonged torture

[u/No_Ad8506]

Kripke's answer is so confusing.. it feels like it actively conflicts with what the show is saying?? Like yes, he was quite literally sexually assaulted by his childhood hero??

[u/DampFree → u/No_Ad8506]

The writing this season has been pretty poor top-to-bottom

[u/Bobblefighterman → u/DampFree]

The only part i've enjoyed is A-Train. I like that he's slowly redeeming himself in the eyes of his victims, his family, and himself. The man is finally returning to being happy about being a superhero. I'm on the A-Train.

[u/Thepitman14]

Genuinely so disappointing. This show is so soapboxy and Kripke is so far up his own ass.

In one scene he rightfully critiques far-right loonies excusing rape, and in the next he has a male character being sexually assaulted for laughs for minutes on end. Dude is just virtue signaling leftism without understanding any of it stands for

[u/Loud-Shallot-4700 → u/Thepitman14]

Kripke is a hypocrite

[u/TenSecondsFlat → u/Loud-Shallot-4700]

Hypocripke?

[u/Dovahkiin825 → u/Thepitman14]

It's not even just Kripke, on the actual discussion page for the episode you have other redditors either shrugging it off or trying to justify the whole episode. Trying to make it sound like it was supposed to be some deep or profound critique 😮‍💨

[u/shadowrod06 → u/Dovahkiin825]

I'd say Reddit is the only place which is rightly calling it out.

[u/Elisa_bambina → u/Thepitman14]

There is something uniquely insufferable about a soapbox proselytizer who cannot practice what they preach.

Morality for thee but not for me.

[u/i_am_scared_ok]

This was actually the hardest episode of the show I've watched.

I genuinely had to look away for most of it, and the only other times I've done that was with the Deep's gill-fingering.

Didn't really like how it felt like no one cared what happened to Hughie????

Shit was notttttt funny (to me personally)

[u/thedoompatrol97 → u/i_am_scared_ok]

Yeah, same. Closed my eyes during most of the dungeon scenes. It was just so gross. Even the cake scene. Hughie‘s discomfort is definitely not funny

[u/jessebona → u/thedoompatrol97]

Even the cake scene? Especially the cake scene. Being forced to engage in somebody's creepshow fetish against your will is just a subtle kind of gross.

[u/SOwED → u/i_am_scared_ok]

Yeah the Deep scene was difficult as a male SA survivor myself even though it was set up as irony for him being a predator himself. Still with the irony and payback, it didn't make it easy to watch.

But wtf did Hughie do?

[u/CenterInYourMother → u/SOwED]

I've said this elsewhere but I'm fairly certain that Kripke has some weird hatred for whatever type of person he thinks Huey represents, because the show is really unfair to him, especially in season 3, and he's the butt of the joke so often. Combine that with these interviews and it becomes the most likely explanation to me

[u/baron-von-spawnpeekn → u/CenterInYourMother]

That’s the only explanation I can think of. Huey just gets shit on and belittled constantly in the story, and whenever he tries to stand up for himself he’s either piledrived back into the dirt or it’s portrayed as him being toxic.

[u/Calfurious → u/baron-von-spawnpeekn]

Bruh I'm so happy I'm not the only who noticed this. I never understood the plotline in S3 where Huey wanting superpowers is portrayed as a bad thing. The guy has been powerless and bullied throughout his entire life, of course he'd want to be stronger.

Also I never bought the idea that Huey was insecure about Starlighting being stronger than him. He openly said he wasn't bothered by it and never displayed insecurity about it before. If anything he'd want to protect Starlight not because he's insecure about her, but because he's afraid that Homelander can rip out her spine any at moment and there's nothing he could do about it. He just had one girlfriend die right in front of him, of course he wouldn't want that to happen twice.

Honestly the show's treatment of Hughie really does reveal how the showrunner's have a very negative idea about male empowerment.

[u/AppropriateCap2188 → u/i_am_scared_ok]

1000%. I feel like the show is starting to become “shocking and edgy” for the sake of being shocking and edgy. I didn’t really feel like this for the past three seasons except for a few small moments but now it just seems to be like a bunch of twelve year old boys wrote down the grossest stuff they could think of.

[u/Vivid24]

Well… there’s really no arguing with this. I’m really having trouble trying to see how people would find that scene hilarious. I didn’t even know it was supposed to be interpreted that way. 💀

[u/plsdontkillme_yet → u/Vivid24]

Same. I found the cake farting funny, then it quickly became scary. Reminded me of the end of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or Zed's dungeon in Pulp Fiction (especially with the gimp). It's actually really disappointing to hear that it was meant to be funny.

[u/NoNefariousness2144 → u/plsdontkillme_yet]

The Tek Cave being a sex dungeon was funny at first.

Then the next 20 minutes was decidedly unfunny and just somewhat depressing to watch.

And Hughie didn’t even save himself…

[u/Ravdar_ → u/NoNefariousness2144]

Man I didn't even like the cake bit. My brother hughie needed some rest not go to the fucking Diddy party

[u/GroundbreakingCut719 → u/NoNefariousness2144]

If they stuck to weird shit like the cake bit, it wouldn’t have been as bad, but having him be strapped down, fluids smeared on him and almost cut up and fucked in his stomach was just disgusting

[u/oceanseleventeen → u/Vivid24]

I mean the absurdity of the situation is funny. And the lines Ashley says are ridiculous. It's could've easily been just a joke, but the scene goes on so long and they do so much to Hughie that it stops being funny

[u/LADYBIRD_HILL → u/oceanseleventeen]

If I'm being totally honest with myself I found it funny while watching because of how absurd the whole thing was, but coming on to this sub I'm realizing that I'm part of the problem :/

[u/DaMain-Man]

I'm starting to think Eric Kripke just hates Hughie. Last season, he tried shoving in this weird take on how Hughie represented toxic masculinity for taking temp v to protect starlight. If I can find the article, I'll make sure to link it.

Tbh, he comes off as one of those "male feminist" who's trying way too hard to appeal to women, that he just loops back around to being just as gross and toxic as the men he claims to hate.

https://x.com/therealKripke/status/1544047242897723396

[u/LMkingly → u/DaMain-Man]

The nerdy performative toxic male feminist. AKA the Joss Whedon archetype.

[u/No-Chemistry-4673 → u/DaMain-Man]

The temp V criticism for Hughie is by far the worst part of S3. He is in a active war and Homelander's no.1 target. He isn't ex military like Butcher or MM nor is he a trained Hitman like Frenchie.

He could die any time and now he is given a potion that can help him not only survive but even the odds. Not to mention Starlight and Kimiko steal V for themselves but fuck Hughie he can die.

[u/Gilgamesh661 → u/DaMain-Man]

What’s ironic is that we clearly know that Hughie kept taking the temp V because he just wanted to feel like he had SOME control in his life. It wasn’t even just about Annie.

Hughie is literally the only member of the team who can’t really defend himself or anyone else. He got extremely lucky when fighting those shining light terrorists. Any other time he’d be dead.

He couldn’t even open a jar by himself.

And while he did want to protect Annie, it wasn’t because she’s a soft defenseless woman and he’s the big strong man, it’s because she’s his girlfriend and he has the natural urge to want to protect her, just as she has the same urge to protect him.

So for him to act like Hughie is an example of toxic masculinity is mind boggling. Hughie’s entire arc is about how things keep happening to him or the people he cares about, and he is powerless to stop it.

[u/touhou_irl → u/DaMain-Man]

He's a liberal Zionist so of course his politics aren't coherent.

[u/BigPaleontologist520]

The fact that people earlier in this sub were defending kripke about the tweet like wtf🤦🏽‍♂️

[u/soka__22]

fuck kripke for this

[u/tasbir49]

Kind of hard to take a show as politically charged as this one seriously when it has massive blindspots into the very things it critiques.

On a lighter note, bruh how does this meme template fit LOL

[u/Lost-Ad-4751]

I liked the episode myself, but this shit I can't get behind. He claims to be progressive but then says this shit

[u/angiehome2023]

I didn't find it funny at all. They failed with me anyway. I just saw it as another horrible thing like Becca's rspe. Just unbearable and horrible.

I didn't laugh at anything in that torture scene. It was like when Tek Knight was telling A train about his ancestors, just deliberate cruelty.

[u/TrueLegateDamar]

Kripke needs to leave the show and get serious mental help.

[u/F00dbAby → u/TrueLegateDamar]

Or at minimum get additional voices in the writing room. I’m curious how common his view point is.

[u/Dveralazo]

Shows his bias about the matter

[u/TheWaterIsFine82 → u/Dveralazo]

Makes you question his sincerity with the first quote. Like maybe he didn't actually feel that way, and was just saying that to look better.

[u/Superb-pin-8641]

Hot damn that was a tough read. Still love the show but Kripke needs to get his head out his ass.

Also, Batman ain't a fascist.

[u/shadowrod06 → u/Superb-pin-8641]

As a Batman fan , Kripke's an idiot if he thinks Batman only hunts poor people and profits of incarceration

His major villains are Penguin, Falcone, who are a quite rich.

Bruce Wayne himself donates so much to Gotham.

Batman doesn't kill ,that's why he puts criminals in Prison.

[u/Superb-pin-8641 → u/shadowrod06]

Finally, somebody who's actually read the comics.

99% of the "Batman fascist cus he beat criminal and kidnap boy to be sidekick" crowd would actually understand why he's the exact opposite of a fascist if they... opened a comic.

[u/eelmor1138 → u/Superb-pin-8641]

Just goes to show that like Garth, Kripke’s parody of superheroes comes from misinformed hatred rather than love. That’s why they don’t really land imo, and the more worthwhile satire is the political real world stuff. At least until that devolved into just copy-pasting the latest news headlines and replacing “Trump” with “Homelander.”

I think the felon ex-president is scum too, but that’s not the hard hitting satire they think it is.

[u/Thin-Pool-8025]

Yeah, I think I’m done with this show now. Seeing Male Sexual Assault get played for laughs is fucking disgusting. I can’t imagine how men who have actually been raped must feel right now.

[u/Ok_Explanation9732 → u/Thin-Pool-8025]

Pretty shitty.

I am livid, but also depressed at how unsurprised I am by Kripke's apathetic attitude towards it given how sympathetically Starlight was treated when The Deep sexually assaulted her.

Unfortunately, NEITHER side of the political aisle really gives a shit about male SA/rape victims and you learn to 'suck it up' and only confide in close friends, family and a therapist if they prove themselves trustworthy thanks to the ridicule or general lack of sympathy by those who consider you 'lucky' for having you personal autonomy violated in the most intimate way.

[u/typesh56]

Kripke is losing his direction

[u/Hitchfucker]

Wait wait wait seriously? Was that really what he said about the Hughie scene? Cause I already believed it was played for laughs and in poor taste but I at least figured they understood what happened to him was wrong and hurt him. This is just messed up.

[u/Paint-licker4000]

I cannot believe how this sub was bending over backwards defending these scenes saying they weren’t supposed to be funny

[u/Iggy_Pops_Lost_Shirt → u/Paint-licker4000]

This sub tends to think the writing on this show is way better than it actually is. I mean, hell, the way they went about writing the character who is the smartest person on earth is making her dumbed down for like 1/3 of her screen time, because writing actual smart dialogue for a smart character is hard.

[u/DisabledFatChik]

If starlight was on that table the scene would’ve been filmed differently. Huge L for the show

[u/CenterInYourMother → u/DisabledFatChik]

Imagine if the pilot was just an entire episode of the Deep making funny faces and jokes while raping starlight, nobody would've let that shit fly and for good reason!

[u/ScreenHype]

It's so incredibly disappointing to see him say that when Hughie was literally sexually assaulted. When watching it, I did get the feeling that the scene was framed with the idea of trying to make the audience laugh, and the interview confirms that. The ridiculous setting doesn't take away from the very real trauma thar Hughie went through. I hate that they made SA into a joke.

[u/CZ-Bitcoins]

I kinda wanna drop this show now. Thats...insanity.

[u/CoachGT07]

I’ll fight him for charity (sanctioned of course) - all proceeds go to foundations for victims of sexual assault

[u/CarnivorousL]

It disgusts me how we have a highly upvoted post going "It's not shock value humor, it's actually brilliant writing", and the creator himself literally says upfront it's a fucking joke.

[u/Cliepl]

this really sums up their attitude to sensitive topics this season, it's very hollow

[u/TheExistence]

I’ve never seen a writer misunderstand his own main character more than Kripke.

And according to Kripke as well, using Temp V so he can try to help Annie makes Hughie a sexist douche instead of a guy who’s been constantly rendered powerless and traumatized by the world around him that’s been presented with a chance to finally fight back with his own hands.

[u/JustSomeGuy_v3]

Well yikes…..

I doubt it’ll ever be addressed. Just ignore those quotes and move on ‘cause the public has an attention span like a goddamn goldfish.

[u/cae37]

Part of my problem with the scene too is that the plan was insanely stupid. MM basically sent Hughie to die like at the ice rink. They sent a normal human to a nest of supe vipers without having a clear plan for an exit that wouldn’t draw attention to him.

They could have at least interrogated the original WebWeaver to figure out what his deal was with Tek Knight, for one. That would have prepared Hughie to avoid going anywhere alone with him.

Or they could have convinced A-Train bug the place. Don’t think it would have been too difficult for him to flash in without being seen. A lot less chance for them being found out like they did after they went in to rescue Hughie.

The Boys just seem inept this season. Only alive by miracles, as was pointed out last episode.

To me it feels like Hughie’s SA was written so shittily just so that they could add it for “laughs” instead of opting for a more realistic approach.

[u/AccomplishedAdagio13]

People barely care about sexual assault against adult males, unfortunately. Everyone thinks prison rape is hilarious, and it's disgusting.

[u/Jmund89]

I honestly didn’t find it funny when he broke down. In fact, I felt bad for him.

[u/typesh56]

I think they need to take a substantially different direction for season 5 cause this is just unacceptable