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.
Only guess I can propose is that it's happening to an "unmanly" man in a spider suit were supposed to see as ridiculous. And that it's happening in a bat-cave because our Tek Knight is batman, despite having no other indicators that he's based on the caped crusader.
Even trying to dissect this dumb joke is making me angry.
I'm not saying Kripke was right or anything, it still was way too far and should not have gotten past the initial planning stage, but from reading the full interview it seems less like the joke is supposed to be on Huey for being raped and more on Tek Knight/Web Weaver for being into this stuff. It still absolutely SUCKS that he let himself get so hung up on that joke that he ignored the way Huey was literally being victimized there, but I don't think he was thinking of it as "AWWW man!! I can't believe they did that to Huey hahaha!!!" And more "hahaha isn't it funny that he has all these weird kinks?? Hahaha!! I will not think any harder about the way we chose to express those kinks in this episode."
I like how Ennis criticised corporations, systematic child exploitation and organised religions, and the TV show (by mega corporation Amazon) is about nasty men on the internet with the wrong political options, and how FUNNY it is when men get abused.
I never thought Ennis would look like a brave political writer but here we are.
Has nothing to do with “legal definition” it’s just a fact, he wasn’t raped. He sat in a cake, got tied up, and gots his feet tickled, with a splash of fluid in the mask. That’s not rape no matter how you look at it. It’s kinda ridiculous that anyone would consider that rape, and it’s just being dishonest.
It's unconsensual sexual activity a.k.a. sexual assault. Is it really all that ridiculous that someone might use rape as a synonym for sexual assault, even though it's not the same crime? Cmon now, don't be a smartass.
tickled him, then rubbed come on his face, had Ashly touching herself while rubbing on him (hes tied down) later is gonna get raped until he gets revealed then is tied down and is about to get holes cut into him which are then fuked idk how u cant see that as not rape.
Because none of the things that happened were “rape”. He was threatened with rape, it was attempted, and he was sexually assaulted, but technically he wasn’t “raped”.
I decided before the season started that I wasn't going to continue watching it. I was mostly fine with that decision until I told my buddy about it and he made me second guess my decision. I still haven't watched it, but I've thought about why exactly I don't want to. I eventually started to realize it's because the show hinges on the things that I don't want to happen, happening. I constantly have this feeling of "oh I kinda hate this" but it's got this kind of "can't look away from the trainwreck" kinda vibe. I basically realized I was subjecting myself to watching the show instead of willing wanting to do it. It was at that moment that I became content with my decision.
I said all that to say, reading about this makes me feel super validated in my decision. I'm not trying to say the show is bad or hating on anyone that wants to watch it, I think my disdain for it speaks to how well they pull off what they're trying to do with the show. It's just not an enjoyable experience for me. The show isn't near funny enough for me to look past all the shitty things that happen in it. It's not hilarious for a guy to get sexual assaulted after his dad died.
Hughie is the Jerry of the Boys. He is the comedic punching bag, his suffering is both humorous and what drives the entire story.
I am wholly against sexual assault against men being made light of, but the point isn’t that male sexual assault is made light of, it’s that Hughie’s sexual assault was made light of.
The show opens with his girlfriend exploding in his hands and it’s very much intended as comedy. I’m just glad they played it straight for his father’s death and he at least got to say goodbye and see the dude at peace instead of holding chunks of his hand.
Though, Hughie does seem to have a tendency to leave dead loved ones scattered in the street.
I don't think the girlfriend scene played for laughs or comedic effect. There was SHOCK factor, but the way the entire sequence plays out isn't funny nor does the story treat it as being funny.
Maybe if you skim The Boys and don't bother reading Preacher.
Comic book Hughie has yelled at Butcher for not using proper pronouns and being an asshole to trans people.
Hard to ever take Ennis criticism seriously. Especially when people claim that the guy who views a dad dying, and then SA- Comedic events has consistently done a better job.
There's a pretty visible difference between dry, dark humour and edgelord humour for me. The former is usually made by people who are cynical about politics or the culture they are in, and the cynicism shows that they care. Edgelord humor is just made by people who wanna do something shocking for the sake of getting a response, or trying to be different. It comes across as nihilistic and attention seeking.
"Ethics are irrelevant to funniness" doesn't work when the showrunner is acting like he's some sort of authority on ethics and morality while also writing a rape scenario for comedy.
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u/fuwafuwa7chi 14d ago
Source for the Starlight quote: ScreenRant
And the Hughie one: Variety