In Gen V, superpowers are nothing if your posts aren’t good

polygon.com:

There are few institutions more honest than a private university. It’s hard to think of a business model so transparently invested in reinforcing the status quo. You give us your money, and we’ll find you a comfortable spot in the American dream, is the proposition. It’s a persuasive one, an idea so seductive that the seminal children’s fantasy of an entire generation was about a boarding school with a hat that told kids where they belonged in the world. Trouble is, making good on that promise is impossible in 2023. Now, there’s only one place where anyone can feel truly comfortable: the very top. And there’s only a few spots there. Exactly seven, in the world of Gen V.

Prime Video’s spinoff of The Boys, its hit crass-yet-thoughtful adaptation of the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, takes its cynical view of a world with superheroes to the world of college kids and Gen Z. It’s a world where being famous is easier than ever, and a worse deal than it’s ever been — not that that’ll dissuade anyone.

Gen V uses The Boys as raw material for its take on the college coming-of-age story. Those familiar with the original show will know how completely rotten its world is, with an entire media ecosystem built around The Seven, its version of the Justice League. If you’ve seen The Boys, you know The Seven are morally bankrupt, celebrities that do hero work for good press and the stock price of their corporate sponsor, the megacorporation Vought International. If you haven’t seen The Boys, well, surprise: The world is run by bastards.

Gen V is about kids who don’t know that yet. Superpowered kids who are just hope and ambition, full of faith that maybe the system can work for them, now that they’ve achieved the first,