Ever since it flew from the page to the screen in 2019, the crass and explicit action/comedy television satire, “The Boys,” has tried to hold a critical mirror up to elements of modern, American society. To its credit, it often hones in on some dysfunctional, perennially problematic flaw of human nature, and, because of its provocative content, brings attention to it.

One might be hard-pressed to find a Christian connection to this show of gratuitous sex and violence. However, like much of pop culture, the Christian connection may often show through in spite of its content. Just as the early heresies of the first few hundred years of Christianity forced the church to better understand its own Christological truth and doctrines, so too might certain moments of today’s popular shows.

“Father Wounds” and Abortion

A case in point is the show’s general focus on “father wounds.” This theme is illustrated through one of the main “good guys” of the show, Hughie, and his own dad – whose death Hughie struggles with immensely – and one of the main “bad guys” of the show, Homelander, who portrays a dangerously powerful “man-child” bent on domination to fill a love-sized hole in his heart.

This father-wound theme facilitates one of this season’s big storylines. Homelander’s father, the “supe” (the show appropriately removes the “hero” as these characters are far from heroic) whose DNA was used to make Homelander, is named Soldier Boy. A distorted version of Marvel’s Captain America, Soldier Boy is brought out of cryogenic sleep; but unlike Captain America, this move is to aid Homelander in his totalitarian efforts. Because Soldier Boy originates from an earlier era, he also represents the “backward thinking” of earlier times when it comes to many contemporary moral issues.

In season five, episode five, Homelander and Soldier Boy confront another older, washed up “supe,” Mister Marathon, in order to find a (plot-device) serum. In this confrontation, Homelander is incapacitated so that Mister Marathon can appeal to Soldier Boy to turn on his egomaniacal son. In this appeal, the list of grievances wrought by Homelander includes wanting “to ban [explicit] abortion!”

Making the big bad guy the same one who wants to ban abortion is hardly surprising. What is telling, however, is the response. Soldier Boy, an unheroic, unlikable individual since his release from his frozen prison, responds, “Okay, well, banning abortion would be a big problem for me personally.” Yes, personally, because it would require him to be responsible for the profligate sex to which he is accustomed.

It is in this response that “The Boys” may have the opposite effect of its writers’ intentions. It shows, as many pro-life advocates already propose, that abortion itself, not abortion restrictions, is the real tool of oppression by womanizing men. While abortion is presented as the means by which women break free from men trying to “control their bodies,” it is actually abortion itself which acts violently against the woman as well as the fertilized egg in her womb. Abortion assumes that women must operate like men and pregnancy, and the product of that pregnancy is a disease to be “cured” rather than a gift to be celebrated and protected.

Models of Desire, Both Positive and Negative

Soldier Boy is not even an accidental object of emulation like the many “realistic” anti-heros presented in media today. His character is a cynical farce of the idealistic Captain America, who himself was meant to be a personification of the American spirit. If “The Boys” wanted to be consistent with its message that banning abortion is what the “bad guys” do, then Soldier Boy should also appeal to the traditional, American, family values which progressives always say support such actions. What’s interesting about this scenario is that it is not just that the show makes a bad guy in favor of abortion, it is that the bad guy favors it explicitly for selfish reasons.

Maybe Soldier Boy’s support of abortion and his unlikability does not carry the weight I would like. However, it does not take much reasoning to connect this selfish, womanizing character to his selfish desire for abortion. In fact, I would argue it operates on a more emotional level than reasoning to see this connection.

As Rene Girard recognized, our desires and actions derive heavily from our models. This is true of our positive models and what we should desire and how we should act. But it is equally true of our negative models who show us what desires and actions are distasteful.

When we see an action that the church has long recognized as “gravely contrary to the moral law,” but presented by a model of undesirability, the reality of this evil settles itself more deeply into our souls. This presentation, along with the church’s thoughtful reasoning, can hopefully begin to change hearts and minds, alerting both to the truth of human dignity.

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This article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal.

Image credit: Picryl