It’s quite clear that The Boys is attempting to make a withering commentary on how homophobia has no place in society, but how the comic goes about this has provoked much debate over the years. While looking into the aforementioned case, Butcher liberally uses derogatory slurs such as “poof” and “bender” and Hughie chastises him for doing so. When their investigation leads to a gay bar, however, Hughie expresses discomfort at stepping inside, admitting he gets “a bit freaked out by what they do.” Butcher accuses his partner of hypocrisy and says all honest straight men feel the same before advising “bums to the wall…” and entering the establishment. Elsewhere in the comic books, the Boys expose a superhero’s homosexuality, knowing that the conservative, judgmental public will effectively put an end to his career. A newspaper with a front page reading “Homo Hero” proves them correct.
The Boys TV series does exactly that, flipping the comic equivalent on its head entirely. As with the source material, the Boys use information about superheroes’ sexuality to blackmail them, but the figures being targeted, such as the elasticated Ezekiel, are directly connected to the real-world “Pray The Gay Away” religious sects who are infamously prejudiced against homosexuals. This provides a clear reason for why Ezekiel’s sexual exploits going public could prove so damaging to him, whereas the Boys of the comic books simply unveil Shout Out as a gay man to the general public and achieve the same uproar - something that seems dated in 2019.
The Boys season 2 is currently without a release date. More news as it arrives.
