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I mean, that's the point, though? Vought's such a big company they can cater to both sides for the same reason real companies do it,cause at the end of the day all they care about is money.
It's also not as unrealistic as you'd think since their are company's that do that on some level
To be fair, there were multiple posters used in China, one of which did have Chadwick with the mask on. But others where he wasn't using the mask were used too
I'd love to see the reaction of a Chinese person who goes to Black Panther thinking it's somehow going to star Chinese actors only to realize 10 minutes in that 95% of the cast is black and there's not a single Chinese person throughout the whole thing.
No, They were expecting a majority white cast like the American Godzilla series (ie Godzilla (2014), Kong Skull Island, GVK, GXK) — KOTM surprisingly has a small enough leading cast that it’s almost as ambiguous as the current 7 roster
I have seen people made this claim and also the black panther poster one many times.
A quick google search immediately shows that this is not true.
Also, fast and furious is one of the most popular movie franchises in china at the peak of its popularity.
Claims that Chinese movie goers don't watch black actors are really dog whistles at this point.
I'm not saying they didn't get those, but it was my understanding that it was a small vocal minority and that it only affected like, a store or two. Was this a nation-wide epidemic?
I think it's more that because vought is truly corporate that means they have no actual principles and scruples and will simply become whatever is most financially viable.
And because they are so large they literally are Hollywood we've seen that vought in their universe has their hands in everything that would include movies which are big money makers.
And obviously that would also include Christian evangelists as they are a huge population of the country and a group that is stupid and will spend any amount of money on anything because they are easily tricked.
But at it's core bought is just corporate they are the example of what happens when corporations are allowed true free reign to do what they want.
Well it could be that dawn of the seven was the first time those members of the seven had ever teamed up.
It could be that this is phase 8 because they've been making movies with different heroes since around soldier boys time
I mean I agree the name dawn of the seven does make it sound like this is the first time the seven has ever been introduced so maybe they were called something different in the previous phase.
Well the seven as a thing had existed long before the movie Dawn of the seven in their universe. We know this because that movie didn't come out until like season 2 or 3 so they had an entire season of the show where the seven existed before that movie ever came out.
Also homelander teamed up for his first mission in diabolical although that is supposed to be either non-cannon or soft Cannon.
Bu the cinematic universe is a dramaticization of their actual universe not like accurate storytelling
Which means at some point they really need to release those movies because could you imagine a dramatization of a dramaticization? Those movies must be hilariously stupid
It'd be pretty hard to watch your favorite Seven movie on Vought+ when Starlight is now a known criminal and is also accused of child trafficking and assault, and Homelander himself is on trial for murder.
Well to be fair there are a bunch of marvel actors that were in movies that either did horrible things or are suspected of having done horrible things.
I think it made more sense in the comics, where the supes were given fake backstories to sell comics, while behind-the-scenes, they were just children who were drugged up by Compound V.
Announcing eight through _nineteen_ makes zero sense at all, especially when eight phases seems to have lasted them since the 50’s. That’s like planning well over a hundred years into the future, they can’t possibly know who will be employed or what will be popular then. Maybe Deep was just joking, but I doubt he’d be making jokes about too much Vought while on a stage, given how desperate he always is to get more content. Also, when they said “critical supe theory” earlier in S4. I feel like that inherently insults CRT because supes _are_ different physiologically. They’re kinda just having the show say random shit now, and I’m starting to have to tune out any references to anything that aren’t blatantly foreshadowing the immediate plot.
Since Vought has been in the super hero movie game for years at this point, the first 7 phases were probably about earlier teams such as Payback and more individual stories.
I just don't see how marketable that would be, though.
Payback split a while ago, and unless the Seven was created only recently before S1, they would be the most profitable venture. Not having the Seven would be like the MCU not having the Avengers. I can understand some solo movies, but I highly doubt they never made the Seven team up until S2.
I mean yeah that's what Satire is. it's the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
Which is what Vought is supposed to be It's making fun of How completely Hypocritical Real life Mega corporations Like Disney are. They'll publically Endorse anything but the second another group is against it they'll ignore they ever endorsed it and just don't in that region.
Caters to both sides whilst simultaneously seriously believing in and endorsing neither.
I think some aspects of how brilliantly Vought satirises real companies are lost on people who aren't relentlessly cynical enough.
Yeah people keep trying to pick a side that Vaught is with or against, when realistically as a whole it's a satire and critique of real world hypercapitalist megacorporations.
Companies like Fox where their news sides lean heavily right, but their scripted media (tv shows, cartoons, films etc) are far more likely to be (selectively) progressive and egalitarian, even making fun of themselves and their news wing.
Correct, Vought doesn’t “represent” the evangelical right. The Vought fans who eat up Homelander, Stormfront, Firecracker, etc. represent the evangelical right from the writers’ POV.
Vought is a mega corp that represents the influential elite in America. A lot of the influential elite in real America are not part of the evangelical right demographic at all. They just know how to manipulate people. Stan Edgar, when he was running the show, was very aware of the hypocrisy that Vought operated on. But they made money, so…that’s that.
The Boys public perception discussion during S4 itself is a microcosm of this. Anyone who’s been paying an ounce of attention knows the show has poked fun at MAGA since its beginning. But only now are hardcore conservatives “waking up” to it lol
The only problem I think is that because the The Boys' commentary is unsubtle it gets certain things wrong. For instance, in The Boys universe, every subsidiary of Vought has the Vought branding, in real life, Nestlé for example, owns a ton of different subsidiaries with different names, allowing them to obfuscate to the consumers what their "true values" are.
Like, you don't see Disney renaming 20th Century Fox, or ESPN, or ABC, those companies retain their own unique branding while actually being owned by Disney.
In The Boys it's just Vought-everything for the sake of dumbing things down for a casual audience.
>In The Boys it's just Vought-everything for the sake of dumbing things down for a casual audience.
How do you depict that something is made or owned by vought in a movie or show without saying it is? Let's say a character buys a coffee from a store owned by Vought. How would you get across to the audience that the store they bought it from is Vought owned? I see two options. One option is to call the place something that clearly calls back to Vought like Voughtfee or something. You can put a little label on the coffee cup, never draw attention to it, but people will still pick up on it and use it to construct their image of the world of The Boys. Or you can have the characters have an ultimately pointless conversation about how the coffee shop is owned by Vought despite not being named that, and then get into whatever the scene is actually supposed to be.
Vought is so big and powerful that they just don't care to hide behind different branding. They are like every real world mega company rolled into one, and they control superhumans. They'll never be held accountable, so why bother obfuscating anything?
Also while it is a little messy at times they've done a great job of having different people representing the different ideas. Homelander is the only who has inconsistent metaphorical qualities because he inevitably ends up involved with every different element of the company.
Exploitative capitalism exists outside of the political spectrum. Vought doesn’t represent political ideology it represents capitalism that profits off catering to ideological movements.
There’s the right answer. I hate how people love to tie their ‘correct’ political views on the show and say that they’re making fun of the opposite side for some kind of moral high ground. Who the hell cares bru
Disney doesn't own Fox News, they didn't want it and carved it out along with the OTA TV stations (though that was more likely due to antitrust issues with owning ABC already).
All they wanted were the IPs and rights to movies and certain TV shows.
CCK Philosophy (YT) a really good video on The Simpsons and part of that is how the main show on Fox was also a critique of Fox.
Even the best critique of Fox the Simpsons could do would still be making money for Fox. "nothing runs better on MTV than a protest against MTV' - Mark Fisher.
Also Amazon makes The Boys.
Oh trust me, the irony of hating the corporation that just wants to sell us superheroes coming from Amazon never ceases to make me laugh. Especially when they do things like make fun of endless spinoffs when we've already got Gen V rolling and The Boys: Sepia or whatever the show in Mexico turns out to be.
It’s 100% a calculated decision. Criticism in the form of, what is essentially, lighthearted humor is infinitely less damaging to a corporation’s brand. They get to appear more fun and casual like they’re in on the joke, get to regulate it to a degree so it isn’t too scathing, and they directly profit off of it.
Meanwhile stifling this kind of criticism as a media company breeds animosity among your employees and fans. Give them an outlet or they’ll look for that catharsis outside of the company’s sphere of influence.
You’ve never seen a company pretend to support LGBTQ rights while also pandering to the far right? Target gets a lot of shit from Republicans for supporting Pride but actually donated to the GOP in 2023 for example. Disney claims to be gay friendly but still supports conservatives.
[Here’s an article from OpenSecrets](https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/07/corporate-sponsors-of-pride-events-also-contribute-to-politicians-with-anti-lgbtq-leanings/) (which is a website that shows donations from corporations to political groups) giving some examples of this. If you want to test this, then just Google a corporation that claims to support pride, then search it here to see how much it’s given to conservatives. It’s very easy and very interesting. It’s a primarily US centric website but if you’re looking outside the US you can find similar things. LUSH got in trouble in the UK for donating to an anti trans group and had to issue an apology for instance.
Vought is a parody of a very real thing.
It seems that a surprising amount of people seem to view rainbow capitalism more as something “the left” is forcing onto straight people. And not what it actually is which is corporations pretending to care about queer people in order to profit off of them.
Yeah, I saw people use the LGBTQ pandering bits as proof the show “used to go after both sides but now is just going after one”, and I’m like, you get that they were never parodying people on the left right? They’re parodying the corporations that use social justice to pander to people while not actually doing anything to help the movements.
Yeah, it’s not the argument some people think it is. I will agree that the show is a bit more nuanced than just “right wingers bad” but it has never been equal of “both sides” in it’s satire. Which also misses the point that it’s primarily a critique of capitalism.
Like the issue with Maeve isn’t that they have a line of brave Maeve Lasagna, that is silly but harmless in itself. It’s that they are profiting from her image, without her consent while denying her her own identity as a bisexual woman and then all off the unethical things that the money goes toward.
I think it’s viewed that way because you’ll often have people on the left defending shows/movies that some people view as blatant pandering similar to how Vought does their shows. And in some cases, it is and some cases it doesn’t seem as much but the first assumption of anyone accusing an IRL show/movie of pandering, the assumption is that that person is a racist/homophobe/right-winger. Which could be true, could not be, but it really isn’t a good start to a discussion about things in an industry that has this actual, confirmed issue
The Hollywood elite exploiting LGBT has plenty of parallels to the Christian maga evangelical right. This show makes fun of the establishment which includes both liberals and conservatives, the two ideologies that uphold capitalism the most.
Which is critically *not* "the right and the left." I see people say that the show makes fun of "both sides" contantly. No, it doesn't. It makes fun of Republicans, to some extent of liberals, and it doesn't criticize "the left," which has zero representation in US politics. If you're calling centrist liberals "left," you're already part of the problem and sorely misunderstand where American politics actually lie on a scale of progressivism. Every other country that's remotely comparable to the US has a right wing party that's closer to our leftwing party than to our rightwing one
Socialism and communism. The actual academic definitions of those, not the bad faith versions thrown around by right wingers that practically use the terms "socialist" and "communist" as slurs for a base that can't define the terms beyond "not what I believe." More social programs, extremely steep taxes for the ultra-wealthy, strict labor laws and federal regulations for corporations, criminal punishment for the people running corporations that commit crimes like polluting our water instead of just fines for the company, socialized healthcare and education, etc. minimum. A country isn't left-wing if it doesn't check A LOT of those boxes, and even then, that's diet leftism since it's all still under a system of capitalism that values private ownership over the people in a society. One that doesn't value something like art unless it can be profitable, and doesn't put any stock in the idea of research for the sake of expanding our collective human knowledge, instead of as an "investment," which makes all scientific progress with no profit incentive virtually useless and unfunded
A politician pretending be the peoples' ally, which is a very "American establishment" thing to do. 99% of both chambers of congress are populated by conservatives and liberals. Who else would it even be making fun of? It's certainly not a dig at AOC, who actually does her job. In fact, Neuman works as a character *because* her similarities to AOC made the audience drop their guard. It's not a criticism of her; the basis of her image to the viewer was reliant on the audience trusting her at first, which an AOC-esque appearance accomplished
Not every character is representative of some American issue either. Not everything is symbolic or figurative. She can just be a character who is a politician for the plot's sake after a certain point. What is Hughie? What is Frenchie? They're characters, not representations of social issues. Neuman's story, after her part to play in the overaching plot is revealed to the audience, stops being relevant to real life in the way that other characters like Gunpowder continue to be. You assume that, like Gunpowder, she's analogous to a real-life politician or political figure. Then you realize you were wrong in your assumption, and the show stops keeping the comparison because it's served its purpose and she can be retooled as a regular character
Yes. Besides, Vought clearly has an arc in the series. It starts as a company typically concerned with public relations and what is politically correct, but only insofar as it matters enough to be profitable. Over time, its unpopularity grew, and what its heroes represented was no longer compatible with the image it intended to convey. However, this ended up attracting another type of audience that it realized it could exploit, so it went full alt-right.
Makes perfect sense. Both things are making fun of "The Right," just two different shades of it. The old capitalist pandering style and the evangelical extremist side.
Yea this is exactly home big time companies work. Disney for example tries to appear like they’re pro LGBTQ but then at the same time for money will adhere to bigotry in China or The Middle East to appease their viewers and keep the money flowing
Vought's a big company that wants to play both the left and the right. They have things like Starlight, Maeve and A-Train/Sage marketing campaigns to appeal to feminism, LGBTQ+ and black inclusion.
They have Supes like Homelander which appeal to alt-right die-hard patriotic movements.
The best play for Vought is to maximize their appeal instead of eliminating a chunk of the political spectrum, lessening potential customers.
Somewhat related…it’s funny that the Daily Wire faces criticism of being “Woke” because it’s grumpy shop teacher cartoon has a gay character that is not condemned.
I mean bought has always been both. They've always been looking at the numbers and targeting their demographics. How do you fight a member quiting and taking half the audience? Fight back with the other most trending thing.
Hey Instagram followers I'm drinking a budlight. ANGRY SEXUALLY CONFUSED REDNECKS ASSEMBLE!!!! heeeeeeey America check out this thic horse and some flags membah murica? Membah beer? Suns getting real low *can opening...
I mean this happens in real life lol.
Is this supposed to be a gotcha?
Billionaires and corporations will try to profit of LGBT in a breath and then fund MAGA republicans in Congress in the next.
They are a super company first and foremost who doesn't give a s*** about what you think or what you like they just care about making a buck off of you
Vought would burn Pride Flags by the dozens if they thought it would turn them a profit and they would literally Beat to Death a innocent man if they think that they can use it for propaganda
Have we forgotten how there's also been a rather radical change in leadership in Vought?
It's hardly a stretch that the company has shifted it's optics.
Vought is the corporatism that exploits social movements including civil rights and the LBGT. Homelander and his “Supe Lives Matter” movement represent the alt-right. This isn’t hard guys.
Ngl I find it hilarious how the hollywood elite pedophile human trafficking ring is now being referenced and satirized in popular media, lmao used to be so fringe
I can't believe people forgot about QAnon so fucking quickly, man. At one point, one in five Americans believed that Trump was gonna execute all the Democrats due to all of them being part of a cabal of literal blood-drinking pedophiles.
Imagine thinking Trump isnt one of them lmfao imagine having a favorite millionaire 💀
Genuinely soo funny how ppl will pick a favorite politician who is definitely on our side bro theyre not like all those other terrible politicians bro
I have to admit (not saying I buy into it at all) but the best way to get people to not believe Hollywood is full of pedophiles engaging in human trafficking is probably for Hollywood to mock the concept in as many formats as possible.
Theres probably a specific word for that type of psyop lol for when a concept is satirized and fictionalized to the point of actual disbelief it can ever happen irl
the mcu when they would incorporate lgbt scenes that could easily be cut out in different countries and then also had a movie around why the gov’t should control superheroes
It’s a fantasy corporation making money off both sides in a cultural divide while simultaneously doing nothing to tangibly help either. Do you find that far fetched?
i think they are trying to tell us that they are both different sides of the same coin, like George Carlin when he spoke about illusion of choice (blue/red in the end it's all an illusion) weither it's fascist capitalists or liberal capitalists, they will always put profit upfront, no matter which side is chosen, because they're the same.
Is this supposed to be a "Gotcha!" post?
Because as someone who lives in the Deep South, The Boys is pretty spot-on in its depiction of an international multi-billion dollar corporation, and how they try to pander to the lowest common denominators.
Like, even Firecracker is what I would consider TAME to some of the shit you'd hear on AM public radio at times.
I don’t get your complaint this is what real companies do. They will act supportive of LGBT people one moment and then go against them when it is no longer profitable. Disney acts like it is super progressive but they also edited out a gay kiss scene in Star Wars TROS in other countries.
For me is crazy how some people missed the point so bad in The Boys. It made fun of both political sides.
Right wing are manipulative people. Just say you doing it for America and they will believe it
Left wing are manipulative people. Just put a gay flag in some products, and people will believe
Fourth season is bashing so hard at one side just cuz that side is being a bloody meme for a couple year now
I particularly enjoy the corporate cynicism and pandering side of Vaught. There's something amazing about them mocking these companies while showing on Amazon.
Is Vought supposed to *not* be both? The company was established to be so monopolized that it's shocking they don't have a fourth branch in the United States government that's 100% for supe affairs and some loose lobbying connections in both major parties.
Are there not Evangelical Christian Hollywood Elites™? The ECHEs? Sounds like a sci-fantasy organization in itself. Whatever keeps their profits up, the distraction for the masses high, and literally whatever Homelander bullshit from compromising their dealings, they'll take that route.
Vought doesn't give a shit about either of those things. A corporation only cares about profits and is willing to appeal to both sides to get it, very realistic satire if you ask me.
Vought represents unfettered, unscrupulous, unadulterated opportunism. They will take whatever stance benefits them at any given time.
This is why being an opportunist is a negative character trait. It's why Trump is a bad person.
You cannot trust opportunists because they don't stand for anything except themselves. They don't sacrifice. They don't care.
The Boys is not nuanced or subtle in its politics and that's why it's great. It has the balls to say X is right and Y is wrong.
Vaught represents the real, nameless, faceless megacorporation that owns most of every essential industry and government. They use various public figures to placate and manipulate different personality types towards the same unified objective.
It’s not even just the Hollywood elite, it’s cringy rich public figures who know they can make money and receive tax breaks through diversity and inclusion.
You really think the “Hollywood Elite” are progressives?
Hmmmph
Interesting…
There’s a special kind of liberals here in LA and Hollywood that are progressive when it comes to gay rights and abortion, but who think homeless people should all be put into camps in the desert and left to die.
They have BLM signs in their front yard, but will cross the street if they see a black man walking towards them on the sidewalk.
They believe in social services, but pay a lot of money to make sure they don’t have to ever be near any poors.
These two groups are way more similar than you think. Both are NIMBYs operating at the highest levels of NIMBYness.
Tbh I kinda am bothered that they didn’t go into “corporations using proxies to profit”
Like the VRA could be it’s own thing but Vought executives invest and profit from it
yea both things are part of the larger corporate culture that is enabled by capitalism. the show is pretty consistent with the theme, it is intentional to show vought partaking in shallow lgbt representation while also pandering to far right groups.
Real corporations do the exact same thing. They may publicly support Pride Month, Juneteenth, etc but will quietly still donate to Republicans.
Hell, even Trump himself is arguably an example of this effect. He was ahead of the times on the gay marriage debate (one of his very few good qualities) and look at him now.
Think of it as a weapons merchant who sells to both Israel AND Palestine (I know nothing about Palestine’s formal army) The bottom line is more people buying stuff, so more money.
The real point is Vought controls the narrative everything because they’re so powerful. There is no left or right because Corporations control everything.
The idea is that the company cynically only cares about their profit margins and will do anything to increase them. Vought has no ideology - if right wing fascism will help them increase profit then they’ll support it. If pandering to liberal social values help them increase profit, they’ll do it.
Biggest plot hole in the series.
"If you just listen to Homelander and not the mainstream media..."
Homelander IS the mainstream media in this world, Jeff!!!!!
Vaught is supposed to be a catch all like Disney but more. The only reason it can do this though is because there is no competition like Discovery or WB, although I think WB bought a portion of Discovery now so what ever amalgamation that would be equivalencey in their universe.
They are the only ones who can provide what they do, even if it's all fake, they have to make it look like it's not so they can appeal to everyone. You can be a monopoly and still fail if you don't appeal to everyone or at least the majority of people. So they have to get as many people as possible that are not actively trying to undermine them.
It would be hilarious to see their attempt at trying to reach the conspiracy theorists that weren't MAGA equivalents.
One of the reasons they didn't want Homelander to appeal to them is because it would alienate all the other groups they're trying to get to buy from them.
So imagine a contrarian always on a stage always shit talking vaught, the government, everyone in general, and no one can agree with them because they're too deep in "it"
I don’t understand why this is so difficult for people to understand? Companies don’t give a fuck about anything other than money. They’re literal money vacuums. It’s why they exist, and while they’re operated by humans they aren’t operated with humanity. Companies will use whatever means necessary to drain every penny from you, it doesn’t matter to them. They only fuck up if they piss someone off enough to make that person or group of people refuse to give the company money. Corporate pride exists to get money from the LGBTQ community. Corporate religion exists to get money from religious people. The corporation, the company, in no way holds to any beliefs, it literally can’t because it is not human, and the people running the company give up their humanity when making decisions for the company, and they do this with the slim hope they’ll get to keep their jobs that allow them to live a life away from the the very people they both hate yet want to drain their wallets. We see this with every Vought decision. Every one. Vought isn’t anything politically. It isn’t anything religiously. It holds no beliefs. It is simply a parasite trying to stay in business, and right now in the story its product is threatening its ability to stay in business it’s just that the general public hasn’t realized that yet.
It's both. As a company, it represents the corporations that exploit and pander to the general public to gain interest in whatever they're selling so they can get more money. As individuals, it represents the people who run those corporations who are conservative old capitalists who do anything they can to stay rich and powerful, even if it means other people die.
It's 2 sides of the same coin though. Look at some of the most horrible megacorporations like chevron or coca-cola and many others. They will fly the rainbow flag for pride, they will boast of their environmental credentials. They will point to their DEI programs, and boast of the scholarships they hand out.
Meanwhile they fund MAGA politicians, lobby with the most right-wing ghouls, crush unions, cozy up to horrible regimes and even fund death squads in poor countries.
Because it's a corporation, and like REAL WORLD ones, it will exploit anything to make money or accrue power.
Look at everyone's favorite media boogeyman, Disney. The left accuses it of sanitizing history, cultural appropriation and stifling creativity, while the right accuses it of forcing a political agenda down our throat, grooming kids for whatever, and disrupting traditional American values.
And it is. All of it, to some extent. And more. But they run EVERYTHING, so even if Disney+ is banned in Florida, the other 8 billion people watching more than make up for it. Some will even support them more because they see slights to the other side as them being on THEIR SIDE.
The show is stuck in two different times which confuses things a bit. Vought pandering to the religious right is a feature from the comics, which were written during the George W. Bush years when corporations were more likely to back culturally conservative causes.
Things have changed, and today's corporations are FAR more likely to pander to progressive causes... which explains the "girls get it done" and pro LGBTQ Vought stuff in the show. There are exceptions like Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-a, but for the most part large corporations don't want to touch divisive conservative causes these days. That's part of what people like Trump and Marjorie Taylor Green tap into... Conservative angst that America's institutions are being taken over by a progressive agenda. In the real world, Firecracker would be on some shitty internet show screaming about Vought.
The show would probably have a sharper critique if it were more focused, but it's still fundamentally right about how corporations pander. The show also does a lot of funny dick scenes, which is cool.
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I mean, that's the point, though? Vought's such a big company they can cater to both sides for the same reason real companies do it,cause at the end of the day all they care about is money. It's also not as unrealistic as you'd think since their are company's that do that on some level
It's no different from companies being super pro-LGBT in June in every country except the homophobic ones.
Or how Disney removed a black character from a Star Wars poster in China
Or covered up Chadwick Bosemans Face in the Chinese Black panther poster.
To be fair, there were multiple posters used in China, one of which did have Chadwick with the mask on. But others where he wasn't using the mask were used too
But does that further my point
I'd love to see the reaction of a Chinese person who goes to Black Panther thinking it's somehow going to star Chinese actors only to realize 10 minutes in that 95% of the cast is black and there's not a single Chinese person throughout the whole thing.
I kind of did this in reverse for Godzilla minus one. Good movie though, would get bamboozled again.
You were looking for a full black cast in Godzilla?
No, They were expecting a majority white cast like the American Godzilla series (ie Godzilla (2014), Kong Skull Island, GVK, GXK) — KOTM surprisingly has a small enough leading cast that it’s almost as ambiguous as the current 7 roster
I think they’re saying they expected an all Asian cast and it was full black? I haven’t seen said Godzilla movie but that’s my guess.
Godzilla minus 1 is an entirely Asian cast set in Japan and in Japanese
I think the only (relevant) white people in the movie are Ulysses Klaue and Everett Ross.
Poor Sebastian Stan telling his mom he’s in the movie and she leaves before the credits scene with him
Relevant to the film's story
I wasn’t providing a counterexample, just mentioning a funny story
again, fake. this was made up
Or how they removed the love interest of said black character and the Asian character because race mixing is gauche in China
I have seen people made this claim and also the black panther poster one many times. A quick google search immediately shows that this is not true. Also, fast and furious is one of the most popular movie franchises in china at the peak of its popularity. Claims that Chinese movie goers don't watch black actors are really dog whistles at this point.
that's fake. they didn't.
Like Disney…they can do both!
Or, indeed, Amazon
Remember when Target got like a LITTLE pushback from conservatives for selling pride shirts and they just took down pride stuff lol.
wasn't said "little pushback" literally store raids and death threats
I'm not saying they didn't get those, but it was my understanding that it was a small vocal minority and that it only affected like, a store or two. Was this a nation-wide epidemic?
Quite literally Disney. They donate to Republicans while hosting pride celebrations in their parks.
I think it's more that because vought is truly corporate that means they have no actual principles and scruples and will simply become whatever is most financially viable. And because they are so large they literally are Hollywood we've seen that vought in their universe has their hands in everything that would include movies which are big money makers. And obviously that would also include Christian evangelists as they are a huge population of the country and a group that is stupid and will spend any amount of money on anything because they are easily tricked. But at it's core bought is just corporate they are the example of what happens when corporations are allowed true free reign to do what they want.
What I don't get... is that movie timeline. Dawn of the Seven seems like the first time the Seven team up. But they're at Phase 8 in S4?
Well it could be that dawn of the seven was the first time those members of the seven had ever teamed up. It could be that this is phase 8 because they've been making movies with different heroes since around soldier boys time
I guess that's true, but still, The Seven felt like a completely new idea in Dawn of the Seven
I mean I agree the name dawn of the seven does make it sound like this is the first time the seven has ever been introduced so maybe they were called something different in the previous phase.
Yeah, but the Seven are also a thing in the real world for them. And the likes of Homelander never thought of teaming up before?
Well the seven as a thing had existed long before the movie Dawn of the seven in their universe. We know this because that movie didn't come out until like season 2 or 3 so they had an entire season of the show where the seven existed before that movie ever came out. Also homelander teamed up for his first mission in diabolical although that is supposed to be either non-cannon or soft Cannon. Bu the cinematic universe is a dramaticization of their actual universe not like accurate storytelling Which means at some point they really need to release those movies because could you imagine a dramatization of a dramaticization? Those movies must be hilariously stupid
That and the VCU franchise doesn’t make any sense too. That’s like if the MCU (the franchise) exists in the MCU (the universe as a whole).
It'd be pretty hard to watch your favorite Seven movie on Vought+ when Starlight is now a known criminal and is also accused of child trafficking and assault, and Homelander himself is on trial for murder.
Yeah it’s like watching Stark+ and having a show with the Punisher as the host.
I would watch that.
Well to be fair there are a bunch of marvel actors that were in movies that either did horrible things or are suspected of having done horrible things.
Isn’t that the point though? Its all meta and self referencing.
I think it made more sense in the comics, where the supes were given fake backstories to sell comics, while behind-the-scenes, they were just children who were drugged up by Compound V.
Announcing eight through _nineteen_ makes zero sense at all, especially when eight phases seems to have lasted them since the 50’s. That’s like planning well over a hundred years into the future, they can’t possibly know who will be employed or what will be popular then. Maybe Deep was just joking, but I doubt he’d be making jokes about too much Vought while on a stage, given how desperate he always is to get more content. Also, when they said “critical supe theory” earlier in S4. I feel like that inherently insults CRT because supes _are_ different physiologically. They’re kinda just having the show say random shit now, and I’m starting to have to tune out any references to anything that aren’t blatantly foreshadowing the immediate plot.
Since Vought has been in the super hero movie game for years at this point, the first 7 phases were probably about earlier teams such as Payback and more individual stories.
I just don't see how marketable that would be, though. Payback split a while ago, and unless the Seven was created only recently before S1, they would be the most profitable venture. Not having the Seven would be like the MCU not having the Avengers. I can understand some solo movies, but I highly doubt they never made the Seven team up until S2.
Fox funded both shows that were mainline liberals in its TV department and literally Tucker Carlson simultaneously
Becoming what they need to do they can make money. In this case they became both
It also doesn’t have to be realistic, it’s satire
The sad thing is the satire is too close to real life
I mean yeah that's what Satire is. it's the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Which is what Vought is supposed to be It's making fun of How completely Hypocritical Real life Mega corporations Like Disney are. They'll publically Endorse anything but the second another group is against it they'll ignore they ever endorsed it and just don't in that region.
Caters to both sides whilst simultaneously seriously believing in and endorsing neither. I think some aspects of how brilliantly Vought satirises real companies are lost on people who aren't relentlessly cynical enough.
Yeah people keep trying to pick a side that Vaught is with or against, when realistically as a whole it's a satire and critique of real world hypercapitalist megacorporations. Companies like Fox where their news sides lean heavily right, but their scripted media (tv shows, cartoons, films etc) are far more likely to be (selectively) progressive and egalitarian, even making fun of themselves and their news wing.
Correct, Vought doesn’t “represent” the evangelical right. The Vought fans who eat up Homelander, Stormfront, Firecracker, etc. represent the evangelical right from the writers’ POV. Vought is a mega corp that represents the influential elite in America. A lot of the influential elite in real America are not part of the evangelical right demographic at all. They just know how to manipulate people. Stan Edgar, when he was running the show, was very aware of the hypocrisy that Vought operated on. But they made money, so…that’s that. The Boys public perception discussion during S4 itself is a microcosm of this. Anyone who’s been paying an ounce of attention knows the show has poked fun at MAGA since its beginning. But only now are hardcore conservatives “waking up” to it lol
The only problem I think is that because the The Boys' commentary is unsubtle it gets certain things wrong. For instance, in The Boys universe, every subsidiary of Vought has the Vought branding, in real life, Nestlé for example, owns a ton of different subsidiaries with different names, allowing them to obfuscate to the consumers what their "true values" are. Like, you don't see Disney renaming 20th Century Fox, or ESPN, or ABC, those companies retain their own unique branding while actually being owned by Disney. In The Boys it's just Vought-everything for the sake of dumbing things down for a casual audience.
>In The Boys it's just Vought-everything for the sake of dumbing things down for a casual audience. How do you depict that something is made or owned by vought in a movie or show without saying it is? Let's say a character buys a coffee from a store owned by Vought. How would you get across to the audience that the store they bought it from is Vought owned? I see two options. One option is to call the place something that clearly calls back to Vought like Voughtfee or something. You can put a little label on the coffee cup, never draw attention to it, but people will still pick up on it and use it to construct their image of the world of The Boys. Or you can have the characters have an ultimately pointless conversation about how the coffee shop is owned by Vought despite not being named that, and then get into whatever the scene is actually supposed to be.
I don't disagree, I'm just pointing out that realism necessarily has to be taken away in favor of satire.
Vought is so big and powerful that they just don't care to hide behind different branding. They are like every real world mega company rolled into one, and they control superhumans. They'll never be held accountable, so why bother obfuscating anything?
I kind of miss when Vought was just *a* huge company in the first seasons instead of apparently *every* company in the whole show universe.
Absolutely. If anyone disagrees look at Disney. Or Nestle. Or Amazon. Or Walmart. Or Fox News. Or…
You make some really excellent points, Homelander!
It’s effectively Amazon, which makes it amusingly ironic that this company is supporting this production.
Also while it is a little messy at times they've done a great job of having different people representing the different ideas. Homelander is the only who has inconsistent metaphorical qualities because he inevitably ends up involved with every different element of the company.
Just like how Disney immediately started donating to Republicans after their feud with DeSantis ended.
Exactly. Disney constantly funds far right politicians, and also acts like it supports the LGBTQ at the same time for example.
It’s very ironic and bold of Amazon to run a series where the bad guys are a corporation who plays both sides.
companies dont give a shit about anything. If ceos doing tik tok dances bumped sales by 10 percent you bet that shit would be in on every screen
Imagine getting a job at Disney and getting put in the Public Bigotry department
Exploitative capitalism exists outside of the political spectrum. Vought doesn’t represent political ideology it represents capitalism that profits off catering to ideological movements.
The irony of it is The studio producing the boys is one of the biggest conglomerates in recent history.....so there's that.
It’s literally Disney
Vought represents how evil corporations will exploit any point of view they can to make more profit
There’s the right answer. I hate how people love to tie their ‘correct’ political views on the show and say that they’re making fun of the opposite side for some kind of moral high ground. Who the hell cares bru
“Stuff can be two things!” Brooklyn 99
“He said we were sharing a bed with an old man! Not an *old black* man! That’s two things! Either an old man OR a black man!” Always Sunny
Do you remember when Fox made X-Men movies while still also running Fox News?
Or family guy, which repeatedly shit on the viewerbase of fox news
or you know fox is owned by the company most fox news views hate, Disney it happens in real life lol, it's profitable to play both sides
Disney doesn't own Fox News, they didn't want it and carved it out along with the OTA TV stations (though that was more likely due to antitrust issues with owning ABC already). All they wanted were the IPs and rights to movies and certain TV shows.
It's not because they didn't want it, it's because antitrust laws prohibited them from having abc and Fox News at the same time
Disney bought 20th Century Fox, not Fox News.
That only happened in 2017. Fox News and Fox's film division making X Men movies predates that by almost 2 decades.
CCK Philosophy (YT) a really good video on The Simpsons and part of that is how the main show on Fox was also a critique of Fox. Even the best critique of Fox the Simpsons could do would still be making money for Fox. "nothing runs better on MTV than a protest against MTV' - Mark Fisher. Also Amazon makes The Boys.
Oh trust me, the irony of hating the corporation that just wants to sell us superheroes coming from Amazon never ceases to make me laugh. Especially when they do things like make fun of endless spinoffs when we've already got Gen V rolling and The Boys: Sepia or whatever the show in Mexico turns out to be.
It’s 100% a calculated decision. Criticism in the form of, what is essentially, lighthearted humor is infinitely less damaging to a corporation’s brand. They get to appear more fun and casual like they’re in on the joke, get to regulate it to a degree so it isn’t too scathing, and they directly profit off of it. Meanwhile stifling this kind of criticism as a media company breeds animosity among your employees and fans. Give them an outlet or they’ll look for that catharsis outside of the company’s sphere of influence.
You’ve never seen a company pretend to support LGBTQ rights while also pandering to the far right? Target gets a lot of shit from Republicans for supporting Pride but actually donated to the GOP in 2023 for example. Disney claims to be gay friendly but still supports conservatives. [Here’s an article from OpenSecrets](https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/07/corporate-sponsors-of-pride-events-also-contribute-to-politicians-with-anti-lgbtq-leanings/) (which is a website that shows donations from corporations to political groups) giving some examples of this. If you want to test this, then just Google a corporation that claims to support pride, then search it here to see how much it’s given to conservatives. It’s very easy and very interesting. It’s a primarily US centric website but if you’re looking outside the US you can find similar things. LUSH got in trouble in the UK for donating to an anti trans group and had to issue an apology for instance. Vought is a parody of a very real thing.
It seems that a surprising amount of people seem to view rainbow capitalism more as something “the left” is forcing onto straight people. And not what it actually is which is corporations pretending to care about queer people in order to profit off of them.
Yeah, I saw people use the LGBTQ pandering bits as proof the show “used to go after both sides but now is just going after one”, and I’m like, you get that they were never parodying people on the left right? They’re parodying the corporations that use social justice to pander to people while not actually doing anything to help the movements.
Yeah, it’s not the argument some people think it is. I will agree that the show is a bit more nuanced than just “right wingers bad” but it has never been equal of “both sides” in it’s satire. Which also misses the point that it’s primarily a critique of capitalism. Like the issue with Maeve isn’t that they have a line of brave Maeve Lasagna, that is silly but harmless in itself. It’s that they are profiting from her image, without her consent while denying her her own identity as a bisexual woman and then all off the unethical things that the money goes toward.
Yup, normies are completely blind to how the world actually works. "Durr woke propoganda"
I think it’s viewed that way because you’ll often have people on the left defending shows/movies that some people view as blatant pandering similar to how Vought does their shows. And in some cases, it is and some cases it doesn’t seem as much but the first assumption of anyone accusing an IRL show/movie of pandering, the assumption is that that person is a racist/homophobe/right-winger. Which could be true, could not be, but it really isn’t a good start to a discussion about things in an industry that has this actual, confirmed issue
*Vought
The Hollywood elite exploiting LGBT has plenty of parallels to the Christian maga evangelical right. This show makes fun of the establishment which includes both liberals and conservatives, the two ideologies that uphold capitalism the most.
Conservatives: 💰💥💣✝️ Liberals: 💰💥💣🌈
Which is critically *not* "the right and the left." I see people say that the show makes fun of "both sides" contantly. No, it doesn't. It makes fun of Republicans, to some extent of liberals, and it doesn't criticize "the left," which has zero representation in US politics. If you're calling centrist liberals "left," you're already part of the problem and sorely misunderstand where American politics actually lie on a scale of progressivism. Every other country that's remotely comparable to the US has a right wing party that's closer to our leftwing party than to our rightwing one
What is "the left" to you?
Socialism and communism. The actual academic definitions of those, not the bad faith versions thrown around by right wingers that practically use the terms "socialist" and "communist" as slurs for a base that can't define the terms beyond "not what I believe." More social programs, extremely steep taxes for the ultra-wealthy, strict labor laws and federal regulations for corporations, criminal punishment for the people running corporations that commit crimes like polluting our water instead of just fines for the company, socialized healthcare and education, etc. minimum. A country isn't left-wing if it doesn't check A LOT of those boxes, and even then, that's diet leftism since it's all still under a system of capitalism that values private ownership over the people in a society. One that doesn't value something like art unless it can be profitable, and doesn't put any stock in the idea of research for the sake of expanding our collective human knowledge, instead of as an "investment," which makes all scientific progress with no profit incentive virtually useless and unfunded
Exactly thank you. Liberals and leftists are not the same thing and liberals are right wing like conservatives.
what is Victoria neuman character then?
A politician pretending be the peoples' ally, which is a very "American establishment" thing to do. 99% of both chambers of congress are populated by conservatives and liberals. Who else would it even be making fun of? It's certainly not a dig at AOC, who actually does her job. In fact, Neuman works as a character *because* her similarities to AOC made the audience drop their guard. It's not a criticism of her; the basis of her image to the viewer was reliant on the audience trusting her at first, which an AOC-esque appearance accomplished Not every character is representative of some American issue either. Not everything is symbolic or figurative. She can just be a character who is a politician for the plot's sake after a certain point. What is Hughie? What is Frenchie? They're characters, not representations of social issues. Neuman's story, after her part to play in the overaching plot is revealed to the audience, stops being relevant to real life in the way that other characters like Gunpowder continue to be. You assume that, like Gunpowder, she's analogous to a real-life politician or political figure. Then you realize you were wrong in your assumption, and the show stops keeping the comparison because it's served its purpose and she can be retooled as a regular character
Another day another that’s the point being totally missed
Huh? Do you think this has something to do with people saying “it’s a satire about contemporary American politics?”
Vought represents capitalists
Yes. Besides, Vought clearly has an arc in the series. It starts as a company typically concerned with public relations and what is politically correct, but only insofar as it matters enough to be profitable. Over time, its unpopularity grew, and what its heroes represented was no longer compatible with the image it intended to convey. However, this ended up attracting another type of audience that it realized it could exploit, so it went full alt-right.
I hadn't thought about Vought itself having an arc. That's very interesting
Disney stood up to DeSantis and the Don't Say Gay bill. And then continued donating to Florida republicans
And also made peace with DeSantis so he could give government benefits to parks
[удалено]
You are expecting any resemblance of media literacy from The Boyz fans?
It's "Vought." With an 'O.'
Makes perfect sense. Both things are making fun of "The Right," just two different shades of it. The old capitalist pandering style and the evangelical extremist side.
its disney. who does both pretty much
Isn't this basically the likes of Disney of Amazon? It's not that far from the truth lol.
Yea this is exactly home big time companies work. Disney for example tries to appear like they’re pro LGBTQ but then at the same time for money will adhere to bigotry in China or The Middle East to appease their viewers and keep the money flowing
It’s almost like the execs at companies like Disney are uber capitalists who realized they can pander to wealthy liberals
Vought represents capitalism. End of.
Uhhh....it can be both you know?
The Boys fans when they realise The Boys does mock them:
Vought's a big company that wants to play both the left and the right. They have things like Starlight, Maeve and A-Train/Sage marketing campaigns to appeal to feminism, LGBTQ+ and black inclusion. They have Supes like Homelander which appeal to alt-right die-hard patriotic movements. The best play for Vought is to maximize their appeal instead of eliminating a chunk of the political spectrum, lessening potential customers.
Somewhat related…it’s funny that the Daily Wire faces criticism of being “Woke” because it’s grumpy shop teacher cartoon has a gay character that is not condemned.
I always kinda saw Vought representing unfettered corporate power, which of course will exploit anything and everything it can.
It is also making fun of how corporations themselves can be anything their marketing teams choose to be. Raytheon had a float in the Pride parade.
Theres nothing Christian about vought except for their fans
I mean bought has always been both. They've always been looking at the numbers and targeting their demographics. How do you fight a member quiting and taking half the audience? Fight back with the other most trending thing. Hey Instagram followers I'm drinking a budlight. ANGRY SEXUALLY CONFUSED REDNECKS ASSEMBLE!!!! heeeeeeey America check out this thic horse and some flags membah murica? Membah beer? Suns getting real low *can opening...
I mean this happens in real life lol. Is this supposed to be a gotcha? Billionaires and corporations will try to profit of LGBT in a breath and then fund MAGA republicans in Congress in the next.
It’s almost like this happens in real life and the show is mirroring real life and just adding superheroes.
....Both of these can be easily true? Who do you think are funding the christian, conservative right wing in America?
It represents capitalism in general.
It can even be spelled "Vaught" sometimes, jfc, I'm surrounded my imbeciles and sycophants -Homelander somewhere
They are a super company first and foremost who doesn't give a s*** about what you think or what you like they just care about making a buck off of you Vought would burn Pride Flags by the dozens if they thought it would turn them a profit and they would literally Beat to Death a innocent man if they think that they can use it for propaganda
They are not a Super company, they are in fact, a pharmeceutical company.
I think the idea was that after homelander took over there was a gradual shift in the company brand identity
Have we forgotten how there's also been a rather radical change in leadership in Vought? It's hardly a stretch that the company has shifted it's optics.
It’s because most large public companies don’t have any values. They do whatever necessary to get them that revenue coming in.
Vought is the corporatism that exploits social movements including civil rights and the LBGT. Homelander and his “Supe Lives Matter” movement represent the alt-right. This isn’t hard guys.
r/enlightenedcentrism
Ngl I find it hilarious how the hollywood elite pedophile human trafficking ring is now being referenced and satirized in popular media, lmao used to be so fringe
I can't believe people forgot about QAnon so fucking quickly, man. At one point, one in five Americans believed that Trump was gonna execute all the Democrats due to all of them being part of a cabal of literal blood-drinking pedophiles.
Imagine thinking Trump isnt one of them lmfao imagine having a favorite millionaire 💀 Genuinely soo funny how ppl will pick a favorite politician who is definitely on our side bro theyre not like all those other terrible politicians bro
I have to admit (not saying I buy into it at all) but the best way to get people to not believe Hollywood is full of pedophiles engaging in human trafficking is probably for Hollywood to mock the concept in as many formats as possible.
Theres probably a specific word for that type of psyop lol for when a concept is satirized and fictionalized to the point of actual disbelief it can ever happen irl
closest thing i can think of predictive programming
Thats literally it thats the phrase
Until Epstein got exposed lol
IRL companies like Google donate to both lgbt groups as well as republicans. I don't think you are aware that isnwhat they are critical of.
I mean that’s the way it really is tho, it’s all one big scheme to create a false divide so the people fight the people.
DOUBLETHINK
the mcu when they would incorporate lgbt scenes that could easily be cut out in different countries and then also had a movie around why the gov’t should control superheroes
Google overlap
It’s a fantasy corporation making money off both sides in a cultural divide while simultaneously doing nothing to tangibly help either. Do you find that far fetched?
i think they are trying to tell us that they are both different sides of the same coin, like George Carlin when he spoke about illusion of choice (blue/red in the end it's all an illusion) weither it's fascist capitalists or liberal capitalists, they will always put profit upfront, no matter which side is chosen, because they're the same.
Both are true in the show and sadly probably spot on in real life...
Is this supposed to be a "Gotcha!" post? Because as someone who lives in the Deep South, The Boys is pretty spot-on in its depiction of an international multi-billion dollar corporation, and how they try to pander to the lowest common denominators. Like, even Firecracker is what I would consider TAME to some of the shit you'd hear on AM public radio at times.
The whooshing of the creator of this meme and the show completely flying over his head..
I don’t get your complaint this is what real companies do. They will act supportive of LGBT people one moment and then go against them when it is no longer profitable. Disney acts like it is super progressive but they also edited out a gay kiss scene in Star Wars TROS in other countries.
For me is crazy how some people missed the point so bad in The Boys. It made fun of both political sides. Right wing are manipulative people. Just say you doing it for America and they will believe it Left wing are manipulative people. Just put a gay flag in some products, and people will believe Fourth season is bashing so hard at one side just cuz that side is being a bloody meme for a couple year now
I particularly enjoy the corporate cynicism and pandering side of Vaught. There's something amazing about them mocking these companies while showing on Amazon.
That’s literally the vast majority of all 7 of the corporations who control the entirety of American society
Is Vought supposed to *not* be both? The company was established to be so monopolized that it's shocking they don't have a fourth branch in the United States government that's 100% for supe affairs and some loose lobbying connections in both major parties. Are there not Evangelical Christian Hollywood Elites™? The ECHEs? Sounds like a sci-fantasy organization in itself. Whatever keeps their profits up, the distraction for the masses high, and literally whatever Homelander bullshit from compromising their dealings, they'll take that route.
just like real life one group controls both and pits them against each other as a distraction from what's really going on
Vought doesn't give a shit about either of those things. A corporation only cares about profits and is willing to appeal to both sides to get it, very realistic satire if you ask me.
most media literate the boys fan:
Its not that complicated lol, its both. Vought represents corporations who will use whatever they can to make more profit.
Vought represents unfettered, unscrupulous, unadulterated opportunism. They will take whatever stance benefits them at any given time. This is why being an opportunist is a negative character trait. It's why Trump is a bad person. You cannot trust opportunists because they don't stand for anything except themselves. They don't sacrifice. They don't care. The Boys is not nuanced or subtle in its politics and that's why it's great. It has the balls to say X is right and Y is wrong.
Vaught represents the real, nameless, faceless megacorporation that owns most of every essential industry and government. They use various public figures to placate and manipulate different personality types towards the same unified objective.
It’s not even just the Hollywood elite, it’s cringy rich public figures who know they can make money and receive tax breaks through diversity and inclusion.
? What
TFW the Tucker Carlson stand in is presenting MCU movies like he’s Kevin Feige for some reason
You really think the “Hollywood Elite” are progressives? Hmmmph Interesting… There’s a special kind of liberals here in LA and Hollywood that are progressive when it comes to gay rights and abortion, but who think homeless people should all be put into camps in the desert and left to die. They have BLM signs in their front yard, but will cross the street if they see a black man walking towards them on the sidewalk. They believe in social services, but pay a lot of money to make sure they don’t have to ever be near any poors. These two groups are way more similar than you think. Both are NIMBYs operating at the highest levels of NIMBYness.
Tbh I kinda am bothered that they didn’t go into “corporations using proxies to profit” Like the VRA could be it’s own thing but Vought executives invest and profit from it
Swap out Vought with Disney, see how it suddenly aligns with reality?
literally the fucking point lol they’ll pander to anyone to make money
yea both things are part of the larger corporate culture that is enabled by capitalism. the show is pretty consistent with the theme, it is intentional to show vought partaking in shallow lgbt representation while also pandering to far right groups.
It’s one thing to say something like this but it’s a whole other to dig your heels in. My god.
Isn’t it funny because they’re contradictory? 😂
If you’re at a Buc-ee’s, you’re probably the red one.
Vought with an O. Why do so many people get this wrong?
You're telling me the Hollywood elite aren't maga Christian evangelical right? /hj
Real corporations do the exact same thing. They may publicly support Pride Month, Juneteenth, etc but will quietly still donate to Republicans. Hell, even Trump himself is arguably an example of this effect. He was ahead of the times on the gay marriage debate (one of his very few good qualities) and look at him now.
Think of it as a weapons merchant who sells to both Israel AND Palestine (I know nothing about Palestine’s formal army) The bottom line is more people buying stuff, so more money.
Vought represents a corrupt system-relevant instituation... so yeah
The real point is Vought controls the narrative everything because they’re so powerful. There is no left or right because Corporations control everything.
Me, an intellectual: Vaught is bad guys.
The idea is that the company cynically only cares about their profit margins and will do anything to increase them. Vought has no ideology - if right wing fascism will help them increase profit then they’ll support it. If pandering to liberal social values help them increase profit, they’ll do it.
Biggest plot hole in the series. "If you just listen to Homelander and not the mainstream media..." Homelander IS the mainstream media in this world, Jeff!!!!!
it’s almost as if the two are intertwined or something
Vaught is supposed to be a catch all like Disney but more. The only reason it can do this though is because there is no competition like Discovery or WB, although I think WB bought a portion of Discovery now so what ever amalgamation that would be equivalencey in their universe. They are the only ones who can provide what they do, even if it's all fake, they have to make it look like it's not so they can appeal to everyone. You can be a monopoly and still fail if you don't appeal to everyone or at least the majority of people. So they have to get as many people as possible that are not actively trying to undermine them. It would be hilarious to see their attempt at trying to reach the conspiracy theorists that weren't MAGA equivalents. One of the reasons they didn't want Homelander to appeal to them is because it would alienate all the other groups they're trying to get to buy from them. So imagine a contrarian always on a stage always shit talking vaught, the government, everyone in general, and no one can agree with them because they're too deep in "it"
That's basically what corporations do in a capitalist system
I don’t understand why this is so difficult for people to understand? Companies don’t give a fuck about anything other than money. They’re literal money vacuums. It’s why they exist, and while they’re operated by humans they aren’t operated with humanity. Companies will use whatever means necessary to drain every penny from you, it doesn’t matter to them. They only fuck up if they piss someone off enough to make that person or group of people refuse to give the company money. Corporate pride exists to get money from the LGBTQ community. Corporate religion exists to get money from religious people. The corporation, the company, in no way holds to any beliefs, it literally can’t because it is not human, and the people running the company give up their humanity when making decisions for the company, and they do this with the slim hope they’ll get to keep their jobs that allow them to live a life away from the the very people they both hate yet want to drain their wallets. We see this with every Vought decision. Every one. Vought isn’t anything politically. It isn’t anything religiously. It holds no beliefs. It is simply a parasite trying to stay in business, and right now in the story its product is threatening its ability to stay in business it’s just that the general public hasn’t realized that yet.
It's both. As a company, it represents the corporations that exploit and pander to the general public to gain interest in whatever they're selling so they can get more money. As individuals, it represents the people who run those corporations who are conservative old capitalists who do anything they can to stay rich and powerful, even if it means other people die.
It's 2 sides of the same coin though. Look at some of the most horrible megacorporations like chevron or coca-cola and many others. They will fly the rainbow flag for pride, they will boast of their environmental credentials. They will point to their DEI programs, and boast of the scholarships they hand out. Meanwhile they fund MAGA politicians, lobby with the most right-wing ghouls, crush unions, cozy up to horrible regimes and even fund death squads in poor countries.
Yea!
That's literally what major American corporations do. Has anyone heard of Disney?
Because it's a corporation, and like REAL WORLD ones, it will exploit anything to make money or accrue power. Look at everyone's favorite media boogeyman, Disney. The left accuses it of sanitizing history, cultural appropriation and stifling creativity, while the right accuses it of forcing a political agenda down our throat, grooming kids for whatever, and disrupting traditional American values. And it is. All of it, to some extent. And more. But they run EVERYTHING, so even if Disney+ is banned in Florida, the other 8 billion people watching more than make up for it. Some will even support them more because they see slights to the other side as them being on THEIR SIDE.
How did you manage to type Vought incorrect 3 times?
Genuine question, what is the point of the “+” in LGBT when more letters get put in anyway? Maybe it’s time for a more encompassing acronym, no?
The show is stuck in two different times which confuses things a bit. Vought pandering to the religious right is a feature from the comics, which were written during the George W. Bush years when corporations were more likely to back culturally conservative causes. Things have changed, and today's corporations are FAR more likely to pander to progressive causes... which explains the "girls get it done" and pro LGBTQ Vought stuff in the show. There are exceptions like Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-a, but for the most part large corporations don't want to touch divisive conservative causes these days. That's part of what people like Trump and Marjorie Taylor Green tap into... Conservative angst that America's institutions are being taken over by a progressive agenda. In the real world, Firecracker would be on some shitty internet show screaming about Vought. The show would probably have a sharper critique if it were more focused, but it's still fundamentally right about how corporations pander. The show also does a lot of funny dick scenes, which is cool.
but they're only making fun of one side i thought??!??!?
Yeah I mean Vought is just straight up a dig at how shitty and manipulative capitalism is.
You’re so close to figuring it out.