I'm a Virgo

In our current mass media landscape oversaturated with superhero stories, it's become increasingly hard to find ones that stand out from the pack. Gone are the days of Sam Raimi's Spider-man where the storytelling was played straight, with bright colors and energy that seek to evoke the feeling of reading a comic-book. In the 2020's, we have reached peak of the superhero craze, and it seems studios have bottlenecked their output into two different flavors of media:

1. Superhero stories that infuse their characters into a different blockbuster genre (a superhero spy movie, a superhero sci-fi epic, etc.) 2. Superhero stories that ask "what if Superman was BAD?"

"I'm a Virgo" is the third Amazon show I've watched that falls into category 2, and despite not advertising itself a superhero show, it contains the most interesting answer to that question by far.

In the other two Amazon shows I mentioned, "The Boys" and "Invincible", the drama comes from the insurmountable odds of defeating an antagonist who wields godlike powers. There's always the looming threat of this evil Superman figure who is capable of wiping out all the heroes (or anti-heroes) without breaking a sweat. In "I'm a Virgo", this threat is also present, as "The Hero", a sort of Iron Man/Batman archetype played by Walton Goggins, always shows up to intimidate the characters who seek social change. The show starts off slow, introducing us to this familiar-yet-bizarre universe (similar in tone to Donald Glover's Atlanta) and the players that inhabit it. Eventually, however, we reach a turning point that forces our main characters to confront this force of "justice".

The main between this show and those other two is the conclusion. Without spoiling anything, the finale of this series is some of the most thought-provoking, well-explained examinations of what it means to be superhero, and why anyone who tries to take on that mantle will fail. There have been plenty of superhero media that examines the inherit fascism associated with being a superhero, but almost all of them reach the conclusion that "we should kill them" or worse, "I'll just be better". This show does not say either of those things, and I hope more people get to experience Boots Riley's superhero manifesto for themselves.

Having immensely enjoyed Sorry to Bother You, I was very excited to see what Boots Riley did with this and was not disappointed!

Excellent commentary on capitalism, with plenty of surrealism throughout.

I only wish that the pacing was a bit more balanced; I think this could have easily been a standalone mini series but it seems that some things/characters that could have been explored with more depth were intentionally left out in favor of some too-long scenes involving sex/romance and action.

My favorite bits were the various superpowers and the scenes critiquing capitalism with some fantastic visuals. I also really love the cartoon that was shown throughout, and the dystopian elements.

I hope that if there is a season 2 that it can focus more on exploring the main characters in depth, more over the top hilarious commentary on commercialism, as well as more powerful and concise messages on capitalism.

I hope that we can see more and more popular movies and tvs explicitly calling out capitalism and the toxicity of society in the hopes of inspiring people to fight back and create a better world.

I would vote this 8 stars, but am putting 9 stars to boost the overall rating because it is at a 6 right now and I don't want people to be deterred by that unfairly low score.

Is it the constant relateability? I'm not sure but so many movies and shows that are coming of age are well done. To be fair there are plenty of bad ones too but this is not one of them. Boots riley plays with our creature comforts that we're exposed to every day. He wants you to see the familiarity as what's wrong but at the same time he celebrates it. I'm only a couple episodes in but what's clear is the lead actors are what make this show. Sure it's got some weird characters. If you didn't like soery to bother you check this out as it's a step up for sure. My parents liked the first episode but got lost on the second. It's a show about a giant it's not grounded in reality. But the ties to reality keep the heart of it.

You can always rely on Boots Riley to hoof out something profoundly weird and I'm a Virgo is no exception to this. A meditation on superheroics, corporate culture and trueness to whatever one's self is - chock full of bizarre allegorical imagery and fascinating ideas. It's an art thing. Feels very art. In that, as a narrative, it's a little lacking. Its intentional metaphorics make it come across as fairly aloof and the deep message being presented on the most corporate television platform there is feels sadder than the trollish win it's painted as in some quarters. That being said, I feel like this endeavour may end up outliving the endless turgid cape crusades from the rival corporations, and the more cynical ones of the same network.

What a weird series. I mean that in the best way possible. Having loved sorry to bother you, i had a feeling there would be some political/social critiques, but by the last episode it dives fully into those. It's not subtle, but that's the point. It's meant to open the audiences eyes.

The performances are top notch from everyone, especially jharrel jerome though. He captures the anxieties that a 13ft tall man who has been hidden from the world would feel, and it feels so awkwardly realistic. I love how boots riley dives fully into the weirdness of the show as well. He clearly had his vision, and it looks like he didn't let anyone stand in his way.

I really hope there's a season 2 because they leave us on a subtle cliffhanger, but a pretty big one at that. I thoroughly enjoyed this and it's originality. Give boots riley more money to make his ideas come to the screen!!