‘The Boys‘ has managed to take its viewers through a rollercoaster of emotions in the latest episode. However, you might be surprised by the inspiration behind them. It is inspired form a rather unlikely combination of some recent events and a ‘Saturday Night Live‘ sketch.
Showrunner Eric Kripke was speaking with ‘Entertainment Weekly‘ when he revealed that a major revelation involving Starlight played by Erin Moriarty, or Annie January, was influenced by the real-time overturning of Roe v. Wade and a particular SNL skit by Cecily Strong. Here’s what he said.
How Eric Kripke Drew Inspiration From An SNL Skit That Moved Him
The overturning of Roe v. Wade has been one of the most controversial judgments in the history of the American judiciary. Naturally, a lot of what we call entertainment has drawn inspiration from the trial. SNL was no exception, where Cecily Strong performed a skit on the issue.
Little did they know that the skit would further inspire a heart-touching episode of ‘The Boys‘ season 4.Talking about the same, Eric Kripke said, “The overturning of Roe v. Wade was happening in real time as we were writing, so it was definitely on everybody’s mind.”
He further mentioned that Cecily Strong’s portrayal of Goober the Clown in a season 47 SNL sketch had a significant impact on the storyline. In the sketch, Strong’s character uses humor to discuss her abortion at age 23, making the topic more “palatable“.
“I wish I didn’t have to do this, because the abortion I had at 23 is my personal clown business, but that’s all some people in this country want to discuss all the time, even though clown abortion was legalized in Clown v. Wade in 1973,” Strong said in character.
As a viewer, Kripke found the skit to be quite “moving” and decided to incorporate something similar on his show.
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Eric Kripke Aimed To Address The Issue Of Abortion Through ‘The Boys’
Out of Cecily Strong’s skit was born the episode here Firecracker, played by Valorie Curry, exposes Starlight’s abortion from six months ago. She shows her confidential medical records on live television. This invasion of privacy triggers Starlight, leading her to violently confront Firecracker in front of viewers.
The incident leaves Starlight grappling with her public and private identities, especially the judgment she faces following the disclosure of her abortion. “Now when people look at me, whether they’re supportive or judging or angry, I have to relive it over and over and over again,” she says on the show.
Talking about the scene, Kripke explained that the writers wanted to highlight the commonality of abortion and the difficulties women face in discussing it openly. “So we were like, ‘Let’s just throw it out there and deal with it,'” Kripke said.
The writers also consulted with numerous women to accurately and sensitively address the topic. “The main thing we wanted to get across was it’s not a particularly massive, overdramatic thing,” he added. “It’s a thing that thousands and thousands and thousands of women go through. We just wanted to normalize it a little bit,” Kripke added.
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