Author: kostin.5

Text Review- Aleks Kostin

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For my Text Review assignment, I chose to examine the show, “The Boys”. The show takes place in a universe where individuals with superpowers are recognized as heroes. However, unlike most superhero shows, these individuals are often arrogant and abuse their powers for completely wrong reasons. Typically, ending up doing way more harm to people than good. A company by the name of Vought created a team of premier superheroes, called the Seven which are very publicized and are celebrities. Another group of regular citizens, called “The Boys” looks to take down Vought/The Seven and expose all of their corruption. The leader of The Boys, Billy Butcher, has a vendetta against the main superhero of the Seven, Homelander, due to raping his wife and making her vanish. All the members of The Boys have a similar story of egregious abuse of power by the superheroes, usually resulting in death.

The Boys (Billy Butcher far right)                   Vought’s Seven (Homelander middle)

I chose this show because it was much different than typical Marvel superhero movies. I believe The Boys is the true reality of how superheroes may really act if they really existed. In many ways, The Seven view the typical citizen as “Other” and only put on a fake smile when required to by Vought. The Seven can quite literally do nearly anything they want with little to no repercussions. The superheroes are meant to bring justice, but instead, poison the universe by creating more problems. Homelander is the epitome of self-divulged and egotistic. Rather than protect people and do good, he does harm. All he truly wants is to always be loved and in the spotlight while fantasizing (and often actually doing) bringing harm onto others. This brings me to my question: if superheroes do exist do you think they would be all good or leaning more towards the abuse of power like the Seven? I also wonder, can superheroes like Homelander even still be considered heroes at that point, or are they more of a villain now? At what point does someone cross the line of the hero to the villain or vice versa? Much like Adichie’s, “The Danger of a Single Story”, the public typically only receives one side of the story from Vought. There is always an excuse for why the superheroes mess up. That is where The Boys come into play, trying to tell a different side of the superhero story while exposing all the corruption and abuse of power that really goes on.

Diary of Systemic Injustice Showcase- Aleks Kostin

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We are all aware of the wildfires tearing through parts of the West coast such as California, Washington, and Oregon. However, little thought or discussion goes into the people who are risking their lives trying to prevent the further spread of these fires. It turns out, there is a shortage of these specialized firefighters. Instead, thousands of these specialized firefighters are incarcerated people in state prisons. To make things even more inhumane, they are being forced to do this already highly undesirable work for about one dollar an hour.

It is increasingly shocking that the general population is not aware of the many flaws in the justice system and laws that provide loopholes for the exploitation of labor and well being. In most states, most convicted felons even once rehabilitated into society, lose the ability to vote. One of the main principles of the United States, even after the passing of the 15th and 19th Amendments, was the ability for all citizens to vote. At this point in history, many convicted felons lose this ability regardless of the charges and are also exploited of labor.

The privatization of prisons has created an extremely unproportionate number of Black and other minority groups. To add to this, many laws created during the Clinton administration created stricter laws, targeting many areas that were heavily populated by Black people struggling to recover from generations of mistreatment and injustice. It does not seem like a coincidence that these laws were created around the time that private prisons increased by 442% (The Marshall Project, Christie Thompson). Rather than trying to decrease the prison populations and rehabilitate the incarcerated, more and more are being introduced into the system for even minor drug charges. The simplest solution would be to just remove these laws and loopholes. However, this is a long and rigorous process that requires much attention. It is the duty of educated citizens, to continue to spread this knowledge in order to grow enough attention to remove such injustices in the system.

The ability for prisons to profit from prisoners seems like something out of a dystopian society. It is just another form of slavery that has evolved since the times of Jim Crow laws.

Sources: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/09/02/the-former-prisoners-fighting-california-s-wildfires (Links to an external site.)

https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/capitalizing-on-mass-incarceration-u-s-growth-in-private-prisons/

Context Research Presentation Week 5- Aleks Kostin

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During Week 5, we will be reading and discussing Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe was born on November 16, 1930, in Ogididi, Nigeria, which was considered traditionally Igbo. Achebe had spent his early life studying literature and English at the University of Ibadan. He later went on to work for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in Lagos before later going on to tour the United States along with other writers and scholars. After touring the United States with colleagues, Achebe returned to Nigeria where he became a research fellow and professor of English at the University of Nigeria. In 1958, Adeche published his first novel, Things Fall Apart. The novel looks at the concerns of the Igbo people when Western customs and values first arrived in Nigeria in the form of missionaries and colonizers.

Chinua Adeche

The Igbo people are the second largest group of people living in southern Nigeria. They typically live in scattered groups of villages, differing socially and culturally. However, they all speak one language. They believe in various Gods/Goddesses like Chukwu, the supreme God who created heaven, earth, and all the other Gods/Goddesses. An interesting belief the Igbo people share is the idea that the world is inhabited by visible and invisible forces. More specifically, the living, the dead, and those yet to born where reincarnation is the bridge between living and dead. The Ikenga statue is an example of a deity representing wealth and social status as well as power and aggressiveness.

Ikenga Statue- Igbo culture

The Igbo were first introduced to the outside world when Portuguese explorers landed on the shores in the mid-fifteenth century. Early on, the European colonizer’s main interest was the slave trade along the coast of Niger, where many Igbo people were ripped from their families and homes and sent to the New World. After the slave trade was abolished, the Igbo people were British subjects and the British continued to push their control in Africa even further.

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