“My country, right or wrong,” is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, “My mother, drunk or sober” – G.K. Chesterton
Can a cynical, deconstructive and vulgar show like Amazon Prime’s The Boys actually help you love your country better?
Do I sound self-satisfied enough in my own subversive premise? I hope not because I actually ask this question of myself sincerely and seek to examine my own conscience better when it comes to the topic of true patriotism and civic pride.
As a Catholic, I first have to include the treatment that Aquinas gives to patriotism in his Summa Theologiae, referring to it as a subset of piety and comparing it to the honor one gives to his parents (father-land, mother-land, band of brothers, etc.). I can at least understand academically, even if not emotionally, the importance of patriotism.
Now, let’s talk about the popular and award-winning, VERY-MUCH-ADULT-CONTENT-FILLED, show, The Boys, based on the ALSO-ADULT-CONTENT-FILLED comic series of the same name (did I get the disclaimers out there? Good).
The premise of this show is to take a more complicated look at the superheroes and superhero stories we have grown accustomed to in a veiled critique of modern American culture’s excesses and hypocrisies.
I should also briefly acknowledge that I am not even trying to argue for, or that I agree with, every point of criticism that the writers of The Boys are trying to make. That would make a much longer post that would make much smaller points. The greater point is that its criticisms, all generally directed at contemporary American culture, can have a necessary purifying quality to one’s own patriotic love of country. Now, moving forward.
The most prominent example of this critique is in the character of Homelander, who is clearly the Superman facsimile but who we also learn at the end of episode 1 is very much the villain, but certainly not the only villain, of the show. By the name one can grasp the parallel to the Department of Homeland Security, and this character plays up the overzealous, intrusive, and violent nature that many critics would identify with this agency.
There is also his predecessor, Soldier Boy, whom we meet through flashbacks and then a surprising return. He is a bizarro world Captain America who also fought in World War II and was the leader of The Avenging Squad (as if you thought they were trying to hide the satire). Soldier Boy represents the militaristic complex, world police mentality that many have seen in America since becoming the superpower she has after WW2.
The last individual example I will include is Starlight. With her naivete and Midwestern do-gooder-ness she not only parallels Starfire from the Teen Titans but is also a stand-in for the audience. We see her “faith” in the each and every system she is a part of get deconstructed over the course of the three seasons that have aired so far and our eyes are meant to be opened as well.
I could continue, but suffice to say that every Superhero character as well as the overarching storylines that unravel in this series are satirical looks at some excess or hypocrisy the writers associate with American culture. The satire, like most satire, is edgy and raw and some of it hurts.
However, all of it has some kernel of truth that every Christian, especially the ones that love their country, must consider. Why? Because as Pope Benedict XVI said in Caritas in veritate, “Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way” (yeah, who lost the bet about having a Pope Benedict quote in a post about The Boys? pay up).
All of the things that The Boys criticizes, whether you agree they are being manifested in America or not, in themselves should be criticized by every Christian, and every Christian should be willing to examine critically that something he or she loves for those things. It is love, but it is tough love when it is united to truth.
The love of one’s country must include the hard truths that are difficult to accept. To turn a blind eye to them is not to love that country anymore just like turning a blind eye to the potentially destructive faults of one’s parents hurts everyone involved. We are no longer being patriotic or pious. This is why examination of conscience always precedes the healing of reconciliation.
I don’t like The Boys because it is critical of the United States and I am not suggesting you like it for that reason. I am not even suggesting you like The Boys at all to be honest. There are enough distasteful elements about it. It is something I couldn’t in good conscience recommend for any other reason than you can engage with issues and ideas through a compelling storyline that many others in the culture are noticing and thinking about and that thoughtful, faithful Christians should have a voice in that conversation. What I would suggest is that you let the criticisms of whatever sacred cow you acknowledge, your family, your country, or even your Church, be an opportunity for a deeper charity that is rooted in truth.
Mike Schramm teaches theology and philosophy at the high school and college level in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He earned his MA in theology from St. Joseph's College in Maine and an MA in philosophy from Holy Apostles College. He co-hosts the Voyage Podcast with Jacob Klatte.