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Inside Pop Culture’s Obsession With AOC
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is parodied on both ‘The Boys’ and ‘Space Force’. Why?
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a supervillain.
No, this isn’t someright-wing conspiracy theory floating around on Parler (although given Parler, who knows really) — it's a plot point of The Boys, the superhero dark comedy from Prime Video. Its massively popular second season revolved around a central mystery: who’s assassinating powerful figures with a Scanners-esque telekinetic explosion of their noggins? In the very final scene, the assassin is revealed to be Congresswoman Victoria Neuham, a minor character eerily evocative of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, down to the viral dance video and everything. Ergo, AOC is a supervillain.
This isn’t an isolated portrayal. Space Force, the shockingly bad Steve Carrell vehicle, uses its own AOC strawman. Anabela Ysidro-Campos — given the nickname of “AYC” — is a minor antagonist in the first half of the season. She’s a well-dressed minority politician who speaks during congressional hearings against the interests of the principal protagonists. Another AOC.
