The Boys are back for season 3

The Boys are back for season 3. ‘Superheroes’ who are doing very anti-superhero things. The satire TV series has built an audience on graphic violence and gore, dark humour and deadly characters. Now in it’s third series the reviews are starting to ask if the show is going too far. And where does it have left to go?

Spoiler alert: This blog includes plot spoilers so please be aware if this was something you are planning to watch

Amazon Prime have self-rated The Boys 18 with warnings for high impact sexual activity, high impact nudity, high impact graphic violence, blood and gore, strong sex scenes, strong graphic violence, and strong coarse language. And this is why content warnings are incredibly useful sign posts for viewers when seeking out shows on their preferred streaming platform.

That 18 self-rated level means the show’s content is not suitable for people under the age of 18 and could harm young viewers. They risk being exposed to content that they’re not ready to process and it could therefore affect them outside of the viewing experience. One side-effect can be desensitisation towards acts of violence. There’s also the risk of affecting the perception of ‘heroes’ or characters that traditionally were meant to keep us safe. This can have a far-reaching effect in young lives.

Over here we have some useful video resources which explain the development of the brain.

“The Boys is still disgustingly entertaining but risks becoming the machine it’s mocking…

I best get this out the way first: this is still devilishly and disgustingly entertaining stuff. It takes approximately 12 minutes for this season to show me one of the most juvenile and f**ked-up things I’ve seen this year…

While the show is renowned for its gleeful gore (and it’s still popping people like meat piñatas), episode two replaces all glee from one scene of gun violence with grounded dread and tension. It’s a well-executed visual reminder that firearms are horrifying weapons, even in a world as silly as this.”

— Flicks.co.nz

Further reading

Talking with young people about what they’re watching