The Boys is a pretty wild “superhero” show on Amazon Prime Video. I don’t even know how to characterize it — as a satire? A send-up? A dystopian alternate reality? Anyway, 28-year-old actress Erin Moriarty plays Annie, aka Starlight. She’s one of the good guys on the show and pushes back against the misogyny of the establishment and her fellow “supes.” Her character is objectified and sexualized from the beginning, with a proposition from a teammate and the order to switch her uniform from a modest twirly skirt to a leotard. And it continues throughout the series. But despite these messages against misogyny, a subset of so-called fans have been trolling Erin with objectifying comments and constantly commenting on her body.
The Boys star Erin Moriarty is addressing the social media trolls.
The 28-year-old actress, who plays Starlight on the Prime Video superhero series, opened up about the hate she receives from trolls directed at her character and, by extension, herself.
“I do feel silenced. I do feel dehumanized. I do feel paralyzed,” Erin wrote on Instagram while also re-posting the Medium article titled “#IStandWithStarlight?: The Betrayal of Erin Moriarty by The Boys ‘fans,’” written by a Boys enthusiast with the username Butcherscanary.
“I’ve put blood, sweat, and tears into this role (over & over & over again), I’ve grown UP in this character’s shoes (*emphasis on grown up – we change & evolve mentally AND physically),” Erin continued. “So with that I say: a) thank you to @butcherscanary b) this does break my heart – I’ve opened up a vein for this role and misogynistic trolling is exactly what this role (Annie) would speak out against and c) everyone’s going through their own battle(s); let’s not add to that.”
She continued, “I will never intentionally (and ESPECIALLY) publicly add to yours. This has only strengthened my empathy muscle and to anyone who comes at me: I see you, I don’t hate you, I only empathize and forgive.”
After sharing the post, several of Erin‘s The Boys co-stars took to the comments to share their support.
“Support you and what you say here 100%. Well put 😉 Your work on the show is and always has been stellar and you are beautiful inside and out. Keep shining,” Antony Starr wrote, who plays Homelander.
“Love you Erin. We’re all here for you. You’re such an incredible, talented force of nature and I consider myself incredibly lucky to know you. Keep shining bright. Leave the trolls to us. We got your back,” wrote Jack Quaid, who plays Hughie Campbell.
Erin reposted an essay that a fan account posted on Medium. The essay talks about the hypocrisy of fans of the show talking about Erin in this way after watching what Annie/Starlight goes through and reiterates that Annie and Erin are not one and the same: Annie is a character and Erin is not; she is a real person with feelings that can actually read the comments people are leaving on her posts. Even in comments on articles about Erin saying she feels dehumanized and heartbroken, viewers are dismissing her feelings. And yet she extends so much empathy to the people treating her terribly, noting that everyone’s going through their own battles and she doesn’t want to add to that. She says it much more nicely than I would have. I would have said these people are clearly being nasty to her because they’re miserable in their own lives and it makes them feel better to be hurtful toward someone else and they think they can do it without consequences. Most of Erin’s co-stars commented on her post expressing support and the showrunner denounced the toxic fans. They’re filming season 4 of The Boys now. Hopefully the trolls stop.
Wait, what are people saying about her? Did I miss it? Are they just hating on her character or her appearance or both?
Sorry for the dumb questions–I love the show but I’ve actively avoided reading any of the commentary surrounding it. I noticed that a year or so ago the rating went from like 5 stars to 3 stars and I naturally assumed a bunch of incel, Trump-loving trolls took issue with some of the not-so-subtle messaging in the show.
Anyway, I feel for her. She’s a good actress with a bright future so I hope she can continue to stay strong. Sounds like she has a great support system in her costars, which is wonderful.
I’m with you on this, I haven’t read anything. It’s a crazy good show. I can only imagine the rabid fans it spawns.
I just picture a bunch of butthurt alt-righters getting really pissed as the realizations dawns on them that they’re actually NOT the patriotic superheroes they see themselves as but rather the supes–just evil monsters draped in an American flag.
Precisely. Because really, who else?
Ugh. My tablet today lol……
So many of them didn’t even pick up on the not-so-subtle messaging, they had to be told flat out what it meant. These guys are not picking up on her characters message, they’re too focused on who can spot the difference between the comic storyline first and then complain that it’s too tame.
This is the same fanbase that was in love with Stormfront the Nazi super hero who was on the show. Trash the lot of them. Men seem to generally hate women and it is pervasive in this society. Some women carry the misogamy water for a lot of these men as well as their own. I. Am. Tired.
I don’t get crap like this? All of these bros just want to watch shows and movies about a bunch of white bros? Like literally just white men on screen except for the occasional woman who is just for sexual objectification or taking care of the men? How deep and entertaining.
I love The Boys. I love her in the show. I do see where she is coming from. The shows fans are some of the worst. I was over at Reddit’s sub for The Boys. The male fans were not even human beings. Picking on everything from the Supernatural references. How would they know this if they didn’t watch the show? 😉 Rude to the female fans, misogynistic, sexist, hateful & abusive. Maybe, I hit a bad day of posting. Wow! The Worst. I have been on some hateful forums. Some of those forums are all women forums. I am telling you The Boys male fandom are worse than Trumper’s. I know a lot of them are Trumper’s. That says a lot.
She is great in this role. Her evolution as a character is designed to trigger those yahoos, so I’m unsurprised she and the character are being dragged through it.
I have a hard time watching this show sometimes because of the gore and some of the uncomfortable plot lines, but it’s really well done and has a lot to say about modern American society that is on point.
This show is a brilliant satire and super fun watch. The trolls don’t realize the show is making fun of them they’re pathetic.
Reddit is full of mysoginist morons.
I feel like I don’t know how to properly express this but a lot of the online fan base for The Boys is just obtuse.
The show is about providing social commentary/satirization on capitalism, corporatism, hero worship and politics (and how they intersect/overlap). It has always leaned to the left.
The most recent season went hard on satirizing blue lives matter, right-wing propaganda/conspiracy theories during a public crisis and toxic masculinity. Many fans took to SM with comments like “WTF are they making fun of Trump?”, “Yeah Blue Hawk ( a cop-inspired hero) is attacking black people but he’s kinda right about crime levels! Wait, why am I being down-voted?” and “Why is craving power out of insecurity a bad thing?”
So it doesn’t surprise me the commentary about the body judgements and over-sexualization of women went right over the heads of many.
I know many have also noticed the physical changes Erin has undergone between seasons two and three (weight loss/plastic surgery) and have expressed concern. However, there have also been a lot of derogatory and negative comments as well (which this article is addressing). It’s a very brave person who does something anonymously.
I think a lot of these “fans” attack her and other women online out of their own insecurities. Sometimes I think it’s a subconscious case of “rejecting you before you can reject me” because let’s face it, many of the attackers are men. And these men know they’d never have a chance with her in real life. So they lash out from where she can’t see them.
I hope she has a good support system and is able to stay strong.
She hasn’t had any plastic surgery and her weight has always been the same as far as I can tell. She has always had a very small and slender build. I know that wasn’t the point of your comment but I just had to say that because I’ve seen the so-called “before and after” pics and people are R-E-A-C-H-I-N-G. The worst ones are where they pair a photo of her without makeup on in regular clothes with a pic of her in full makeup and costume. Like, yeah she’s gonna look a bit different–like the rest of us would.
There have been noticable physical changes. Yes, she always had a slender build but her cheeks looked more defined this season and her lips are plumper. Her speech sounded affected by it at times. There has been speculation she had buccal fat removed and/or weight loss in addition to lip injections.
Her business and decision of course. And I’m not judging, just saying her appearance is noticably different this season.
Another aspect of all of this is pressure of the entertainment business to achieve/maintain certain looks in order to be considered for acting roles. Again, I feel like I’m unable to correctly express what I want to say but essentially it’s a shame the system and our society make people feel pressured to undergo operations to fit into a mold when that person was already objectively beautiful.
She can be like this because she’s white thin young pretty blonde and blue-eyed. She knows everyone’s gonna protect her. Some people can’t fight so nice- they don’t have that privilege (To remain “nice” in the face of attacks) and it’s actual life and death. Perpetuating this BS is not helping anybody but herself.
Yep. The celebrated passivity of white women only emboldens abusive men & others who want to stay comfy with it.