So now I know alot of wokies Calim that the right wingers who like Homelander "don't relaize he's a parody of them or what ever" but it dawn on me have it not come to them that maybe certain people like a villain even through said villain is a offer and mass up character and love watching said character because of it.
Like one of my favorite stargate villains is Anubis who is generally considered one of the most evil villains the stargate team had face. But I loved him as a villain even through I knew the character was pure evil but that's why I loved watching him so much. The dude main goal was destroying the galaxy and recreating it. Hell his scene at the diner as "Jim" was just over all fun to watch.
Honestly, I don't seem Homelander as anything political or even a clone of superman. He was a clone of superman in the comics, but in the show he's more of a tragic villain. Yeah, we can be shocked with the whole mommy's milk angle and shit. But Homelander himself never had a mother at all. Just a sociopathic, evil father. But his behavior and character
yearns to be normal and have a family. He DESPERATELY wants it, so far to go to ignore Stormfront being a Nazi. He doesn't want to create the ubermensch, he just wants a wife and kids. The problem is he has never had anyone who genuinely cared for him. And that's the realization he has when she wants him to breed super soldiers which is why he walks off on her and why she
kills herself, because she doesn't really love him. He's even willing to take care of her and nurse her back to health because he thinks its genuine.
He never had a mother or even a father. He was subjected to cruel and inhuman tests, never given any sort of affection at all, and basically was designed to be a killing machine and a serial killer from birth. He's depicted as never having a chance. He tries to understand family in only the most twisted ways, because that's all he knows.
I see his hatred for normal people as a reflection of his jealousy. He's jealous that they get to lead a normal life and he's just a construct. He's something that really doesn't exist. When he goes 'I don't even have a birthday', its like he's completely dissociated from any human experience. That even the most basic thing people have is denied to him and set up to be this ridiculous and exploitative parody of a birthday party that isn't for him nor is not even real. He sort of just wakes up to that once
Stormfront dies because everyone is just trying to use him for their own ends.
Either people are too terrified of his power, which he does try to reign in early on, but it doesn't work. Or people seek to control him for profit, just looking at him as an object and a marketing gimmick. He substitutes parental love and any sort of love at all for Q numbers and adoration of the public, which is why he is in a schizophrenic relationship with them. Because that's really all he has to 'care' for him.
People who look at his relationship with Stormfront and go 'lol evil superman' miss the point. Of course he realizes she's awful for it. He doesn't share her ideology, but she gives him (what he thinks) is genuine love. Nobody else has given him that before without wanting to use him or actually shitting their pants in fear. Its why he overlooks it. He even realizes his relationship with Becca was fake, no matter how desperately he tried to make it work. He wants to try to actually be a father, even if he has no idea how.
Homelander is a God who longs for a normal life and has been abused for too long, so it has twisted everything around in his mind. He justifies it by being a 'hero', literally the only thing he has left at the beginning of season 3 that is kind of true.
He isn't a parody of republicans. At the end of the day, he's honestly just an abused child used by everyone, never allowed an identity of his own. Except for the one true purpose he was made for: War. That's why he wants to go at it with Butcher, not caring if he dies. Its because he can go out on something that's true, not something that's pure bullshit. Its why he doesn't kill Butcher, because he knows Butcher is his only worthy adversary. Destruction is evil, Homelander knows it, but its quite possibly the only true thing about him. And the only thing he can control himself. Its sort of like suicide, everything else is out of his control, except this one thing. He doesn't care about the collateral damage and the pain he causes, because he's long past the point of no return.
Homelander is a tragic villain, and you cannot excuse his acts, but he was made, not born. And the responsibility lies with Vought. Which is the real villain of the series.
This is why I think the show fares better than the comics. Ennis hates superheroes so much they just become parodies of themselves without any real motivations. I like
removing the Black Noir clone arc because it puts the fault of who Homelander became directly at the feet of Vought.
Also, foreshadowing: Becca's kid is who Homelander could have become with a loving home, understanding and affection. He is actually Homelander's foil.
This is why Homelander is kind of my favorite character. Because he's really well done and the actor can convey all of this through facial expressions, its really amazing. And the fact its hard to feel sorry for him and you really have to dig is another plus.
