How Does The Boys Justify Revenge Through The Context Of Trauma

The Boys, created by Eric Kripke

The Boys is a modern social commentary on societal ideologies. It talks about race, gender, queerness, disabilities, and mental illness through a capitalistic, superhero world. While yes the show has Supes(superheroes), it is still supposed to mirror the everyday world. It uses the superhero theme as satire to push the message of “how corrupt the world is”. Throughout The Boys, revenge is seen as justice, the main characters are justified in their avenge against their lovers. In this paper I will look at this topic through the comparison of Butcher, MM(Mother’s Milk), and Hughie, using race and trauma to help my discussion. Is revenge a justified reason to kill and if so who’s allowed this justification? The characters I mentioned use trauma to reason with their actions, but it clearly shows a side of those who are acceptable to be vengeful.

First and foremost Butcher, he is one of the lead characters meaning we see a lot of the show through his eyes. In both adaptations, the audience knows why Butcher hates Supes. He uses the trauma of his wife being raped and killed, (later we find out she is still alive raising her rapist’s child), to justify his reasoning on why all Supes are evil and should not be allowed to live. I’d like to point out that the trauma that he has isn’t physically directed towards him. This leads Butcher to launch a crusade against all Supes and more specifically Homelander. Allowing him to justify why he could hurt Starlight or even Ryan, his wife’s & wife’s rapist child(Homelander). Starlight brought up Butcher’s feelings by saying, “Only good Supe is a dead Supe?” Butcher has come to the decision that there is no other way, he needs to be the judge, jury, and executioner. Butcher is a white, straight, cis man, the trauma he experienced was through the loss/hurt of a loved one. He was physically not hurt by any Supe, not to say his trauma is less than the others, it just needs to be said he is not the victim in the assault. Butcher has managed to make a team of victims from the Supes, leading them to find out ways to kill Supes. He uses their experiences to fuel this hate. Since the show is mostly showing Butcher’s side, it paints him as the hero of the story, one of the most important voices. He is one of the heroes of the story, the issue is how it is portrayed. The Boys subverts the hero revenge story by having Butcher push not for justice but murder. He isn’t wrong in how he feels, but he’s allowed to feel them.

The same goes for Hughie another lead character the show follows. Hughie has experienced trauma through the loss of his girlfriend. A-Train, a Supe, is the one who killed, Robin by running through her, fast. Once again I’d like to express that Hughie was not physically assaulted even though he was there and a firsthand witness in comparison to Butcher. In the first season, Butcher has pushed Hughie to seek revenge in the form of killing A-Train. But throughout the show that vengeance for one Supe has evolved to the majority of the Supes(the ones Vought controls). He’s not able to forgive but he’s able to move on more so than Butcher this is shown through being able to be in the same room and work with A-Train. Hughie has set aside his vengeance(that was awakened by Butcher) to kill any Supe that Butcher deems necessary(mainly Homelander). Hughie isn’t allowed to act on his hate towards A-Train, whereas Butcher any chance he get’s he’s trying to beat up Homelander. As stated before I’m not comparing their trauma or vengeance, I’m only focusing on who’s allowed to act on their vengeance and why they're justified. Hughie is actively there and knows that A-Train is the one that killed Robin compared to Butcher chasing a ghost for the majority of the show. I’d also like to bring up the fact that A-Train is a black man compared to Homelander a white man. In no means am I picking a side but the show clearly wants the audience to not see A-Train as a bad guy. Yes, he’s an asshole but Homelander is the real villain. By allowing the audience and Hughie’s anger/hate towards A-Train to die. Hughie allows this to happen he doesn’t fight the decision to focus on Homelander compared to MM.

MM is another lead character but the way the show portrays him you’d think he was a supporting role. MM is also a part of the group of “boys” who want to stop Supes. He’s been with Butcher longer than Hughie and they both know each other’s background. This is why I think it’s interesting that Butcher’s vengeance takes precedence over MM’s. When MM was younger he watched as Soldier Boy killed his grandpa in front of him, the murder was because of racism. The trauma he experienced was from losing a loved one but also racial trauma. Compared to Hughie, MM not only had to experience that but also had to live with the understanding of the racial implications behind it. He could’ve died as well that night and all because he was black.

Hughie’s and Butcher’s trauma isn’t a race “thing” one was an accident and the other is because of her gender. I’ll discuss the gender aspect further on but let's stay on the race discussion for a minute. MM lived with that but he also learned to move on, he had a wife, a kid, and a job that helps black youth. He’s learned to overcome his PTSD and racial trauma. But Butcher pulled him back in, in the first season MM was only there to help Butcher kill Homelander and other Supes Butcher deemed unnecessary. He had no vengeance, it was loyalty. But when it was discovered that Soldier Boy is still alive it changed everything for MM. His trauma was reappearing in panic attacks, fits of anger/rage, and even outbursts at loved ones. Every time when he was around/ near Soldier Boy, MM lost control, he couldn’t handle himself and tried to kill Homelander. It got to the point that Butcher and Hughie had to lie to MM and hide Soldier Boy away. They needed his help to kill Homelander, so Soldier Boy needed to be alive and unharmed for that. It’s interesting to note that Butcher pushed Hughie to get revenge but for MM, Butcher told him, he had to be the bigger person and think about the bigger picture. Butcher wants MM to set aside his hate and trauma to be a team player and get Homelander out.

It’s harder for MM to do that than Hughie, MM’s trauma wasn’t because of an accident it was racially motivated. In the end, MM is able to let his rage towards Soldier Boy go, instead of going after him in the final fight, he saves innocents caught in the crossfire. Let it be known too that MM wanted to take compound V but wasn’t “allowed” to by Butcher. But Butcher and Hughie have taken it multiple times to fight Supes. Butcher and Hughie are allowed and have the privilege of fighting. Butcher has justified the reasoning behind Homelander being the bigger fish, but under his justifications, he’s ignoring how racist Soldier Boy is compared to Homelander. Solder Boy is the bad guy because of how he uses his superpower to harm those weaker than him but he also uses it to cause violent acts towards minority groups. Compared to Homelander who’s not hateful but indifferent towards humans in general. In the end, Butcher sees that Soldier Boy is a big problem and would’ve been a bigger issue than Homelander if he didn’t stop him.

Now to go back to the gender issue, both Butcher and Hughie have lost female lovers to Supes, one was an accident and the other was due to rape, death, and later to find out she was hiding from her abuser. Both Robin and Becca are seen as objects to fuel Butcher’s and Hughie’s hate, which gives them justification to kill. If nothing was to happen to their lovers, they wouldn’t care about killing Supes whereas with MM, he would still be fearful about Soldier Boy. The show uses the assault on women to fuel these men’s desire to harm others. This is the only way the audience would be able to care and justify Butcher’s reasoning, it allows him the ability to sit and stew in this hate whereas a black man isn’t allowed the same treatment. MM is supposed to let it go compared to others, his trauma is seen as less than, yes, he also lost and watched a loved one but it isn’t just that it’s more on the level of “that could’ve been me”. It’s about race, an issue that isn’t seen as a big deal if it doesn’t pertain to Homelander, in the show. MM is experiencing racial trauma(race-based traumatic stress). “In addition to the mental health symptoms of individuals who have encounters with law enforcement, those who witness these events directly or indirectly may also be impacted negatively… Racial trauma may result from racial harassment, witnessing racial violence, or experiencing institutional racism” (Bryant-Davis, & Ocampo; Comas-Díaz).

Studies and research about this have started to become more known, one of the reports lists the following effects of racial trauma. Increased vigilance and suspicion, increased sensitivity to threat, increased psychological and physiological symptoms, increased alcohol and drug usage, increased aggression, and a narrowing sense of time. (Smith 6) MM showcases these signs, meaning his trauma goes beyond Butcher’s and Hughie’s. Noting that MM shows these symptoms in the presence and mention of Soldier Boy. Compared to Butcher who has not shown to experience any forms of trauma. Even with Hughie, his trauma gets drowned out because it wasn’t an attack on him, he has experienced a loss, violently. Hughie can move on the same way someone in society would do so from losing their loved one in an accident.

Growing up as a black kid I remember that day Trayvon Martin was killed, I know how it felt, I walk home every day with my hood up from the corner store down the street. It could’ve, can still be me. The same with Emmet Till, George Stinney, and the list goes on. This is why I think that allowing Butcher and Hughie to fight and force everyone to only go after Homelander is a problematic take when you're telling the black man to ignore and get over his trauma. MM isn’t allowed revenge, he’s not allowed to be angry, fight, or even stand up to his fears. His trauma isn’t enough for revenge, he’s not justified the same way Hughie is, and definitely not Butcher. That is a harmful narrative to push, the BIPOC characters should only care about the Supes that are dangerous to white men and their families.

“Indeed, there are many conceptions of justice in philosophy, but when it comes to revenge we usually think of retributive justice, which is focused on punishment, and restorative justice, which is focused on making the victim whole again.”(Pérez) Edwardo brings up what justice and revenge mean and look like. Using what he stated with the context of my discussion, Butcher and Hughie aren’t seen as victims but as fighters for those victims. That’s why their push to kill Homelander and all Supes isn’t about being whole again. Painting MM as a victim allows him to sit out the big decisions when it concerns punishment. The notion that black people shouldn’t use their racial trauma to go after white men, is shown through their push to only show Butcher’s vengeance. If your trauma doesn’t make you a victim you're allowed to fight and seek revenge, giving those few the privilege to be seen as the hero. The show pushes this narrative Butcher’s and Hughie’s trauma doesn’t make them weak but stronger allowing them the justification they need to carry out their plans. Even going as far as to say as long as your trauma is built off the victimization/brutalization of someone else it’s justified. You're not fighting for yourself but someone else, through this narrative it has deemed MM’s motivation as personal compared to Butcher and Hughie, the only two white “good” guys.

Works Cited

williamirwin14. “Diabolical Revenge on the Boys.” The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series, 28 Sept. 2020, andphilosophy.com/2020/09/28/diabolical-revenge-on-the-boys/.

Smith, Walter Howard. The Heinz Endowments, Pittsburgh, PA, 2010, The Impact of Racial Trauma on African Americans .

Donjacques. “Racial Trauma Is Real: The Impact of Police Shootings on African Americans.” Raise Nation, 14 July 2016, www.raise-nation.com/post/racial-trauma-is-real-the-impact- of-police-shootings-on-african-americans.