People talk about whether or not, but I want to ask why

Discussion

Why did Homelander rape Becca?

Like, I see people asking on the sub if he actually raped her or if it was consensual when it's been long established it was rape, but I never heard anyone ask the question on why he would do it in the first place.

Knowing how Homelander was in season 1, it's completely out of his MO. He only shows interest in Stillwell, and as the series progresses, the way he takes romantic interest in specific people makes it weird that he just targets Becca out of nowhere and goes after nobody else.

Was the reason ever brought up and I missed it? Or is there still speculation?

in TheBoysby TyrionLannister557

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FWSRunner

403

"They're just humans. And humans are -" " - toys for our amusement."

OryxisDaddy_

186

He was interested in Stillwell because of his mommy fetish, but he was with other girls before like Maeve

cagemyelephant_

My question is, why does he not have the rapey vibe the following season or episodes? Seems like he raped someone and then dropped that persona. I am not complaining that he’s not raping anybody, feels like there’s a small miss in the character detail right there.

agent-assbutt

I fart the star spangled banner

The rape happened roughly a decade before the show really got rolling. We have no idea what Homelander's mental state was like circa the rape timeline. We do know he was groomed and abused by Madeline and humiliated for engaging in masturbation though. Becca's rape followed these incidents somewhat closely. It would not surprise me if it was just a way for Homelander to take back power, experiment, and humiliate someone else during "sex." It wouldn't surprise me if hurting Becca got it out of his system and then he just started killing people for funsies instead.

frowningheart

145

Homelander didn't rape Becca violently, if that's what you are imagining.

It's implied that he forced her to have sex using his influence in Vought (Becca was Homelander's social media manager and was about to be promoted), being a popular superhero, and well, the obvious one, his deathly powers. The first two things happen in the real world as well, where people in power sexually exploit those beneath them using the power imbalance as the leverage. Think of things like "You can spend a night with me or have fun looking for another job." This is rape as well, it's called rape under coercion.

And Homelander has been perfectly capable of thinking like this. He abuses his powers for all sorts of things, and even sexually exploited another Supe in the show - Doppelganger by having him turn to Stillwell for his mommy fetish. And then, killed him as well.

SpideyFan914

Also, while it was passed off as a joke, it would've been rape had he actually forced The Deep to give oral to A-Train. (Not sure what it is, since he stopped before going all the way, but it was still definitely a crime.)

Forcing that one guy to jack off was also some sort of sex crime.

JAragon7

Well Becca leaves the room physically ill. He was obviously violent

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Otherwise_Pace_1133

Maybe he literally wasn’t playing and just kept going for a insane amount of time to where she was just deathly exhausted.

Press F to doubt.

Remember that scene where Madelyn rode him ? Bro lasted for about five seconds so I am not gonna buy his 'I made her cum 12 times BS and no I don't think HL was going down on Becca or using any other means of giving pleasure to her.

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Redchimp3769157

Time wise though is all I mean. Just pure exhaustion from being fucked (not even doing anything) would be tiring. Especially if you’re overthinking hoping pretty much god doesn’t kill you afterwards

elizabnthe

Homelander only deems a small number of women as "worthy" of being raped by him. He also doesn't seem to really grasp he's raping them.

ChezMere

He does twice in this season so far

unipuppy

Because most rapists don't have a rapey vibe.

Sad_Vast2519

-7

The writing has been all over the place

windingwoods

321

Only saying this because you mentioned attraction and I feel a lot of people don’t know this (which is to say, no hate to you) but sexual assault isn’t really about attraction, it’s about exercising power over another person, so that would be part of why he did it. The specific reason he felt a need to exert power over Becca may be unspecified, but it’s not incongruous with a guy who has such a strong need to be better and more powerful than everyone else in the world.

serendipity_aey

126

I’m upset this comment is so far down. Rape is about power. He’s asserting his power over her and Butcher because it feels good to make himself feel powerful, which he demonstrates many times, over and over throughout the series in different ways.

antagonistdan

I have this feeling it has to do with the marketing work she did for Vought. Perhaps Homelander had an idea she rejected and the rape was the outcome

spreetin

-6

For Homelander this is probably very true, but as a blanket statement this doesn't seem reasonable. I'm sure this is one factor in a lot of cases of SA, and sometimes is the only factor, but it makes little sense to claim it as the only reason, to the exclusion of sexual attraction.

If this stronger statement was true it seems that elderly women would be more at risk than young women at their peak physical fitness, since they would be easier to overpower. The fact that young women, who are usually considered to also be at peak sexual attractiveness, are most at risk points towards sexual satisfaction being a major factor.

People, and especially men, are willing to do a lot to get sexual satisfaction. And some people, especially among men, are willing to use violence to get what they want. On the face of it it doesn't make sense to think these two things never intersect.

windingwoods

I’m not saying attraction doesn’t play a role or that it doesn’t intersect, and some rapists will see attraction as their driving factor, but at the end of the day the act of rape itself is violently exercising power over another person.

spreetin

-10

It sure is. But I think the idea about it primarily being about power often mixes up the motives of the aggressor with the experience of the victim. For the victim it will be an experience of being overpowered (physically or otherwise), but for the aggressor this fact might be incidental or central depending on personality and motives.

Silver-Car5647

It is literally using your body as a weapon to force your way inside another person, if it was about attraction prison rape wouldn’t be a thing. 99% of the time it’s about power.

agent-assbutt

I fart the star spangled banner

He could? He doesn't see humans as anything besides toys? He's a control freak obsessed with power? He hates women who aren't supes? She wasn't a mother figure to him and therefore not worth anything beyond a quick rape? Why is this a question?

Greenest_Chicken

Personally I think it was because at the party Butcher slighted him and bruised his ego so to feel superior again he raped Becca.

Zyffrin

Yeah, he probably overheard their conversation with his super-hearing.

carobpie

"Yeah, well I fucked your wife" typa guy.

_bigboichungus

I fart the star spangled banner

that could be why he remembers him

Beneficial-Rub9090

Ryan is like 10 when he's hankering down with Stillwell, there's a good chance it hasn't happened yet and he's still fucking around with whoever he wants. You can see hes completely stopped having sex at the present, with the sole exception being Stormfront

Monnomo

I mean why do people rape women is a very real question

maraudingguard

Power.

melodysmomma

I fought back until I realized it was making it worse, not better. I looked in his eyes and saw myself with a missing tooth or a broken nose. He liked it.

Monnomo

Sorry u endured that bro

melodysmomma

Thanks, I’m in therapy and I’ve pretty much worked through it now. Still pisses me off to no end though.

serendipity_aey

Rape is about power not romantic interest. He’s asserting his power over her and Butcher because it feels good to make himself feel powerful, which he demonstrates many times, over and over throughout the series in different ways.

popopcorn-

ngl i had the same exact question and searched everywhere and the only answer I got was “He’s Homelander, he can do whatever the fuck he wants” I do think it’s true but I’d like a more detailed answer

Personally, I think, after Becca started working on Homelander’s socials or whatever, he got a good impression of her and realized that she was pretty after meeting her. And cuz he’s Homelander and cant rlly keep it in his pants (and because he prob thought he was superior to butcher and that a woman would rather like to have sex with a superior being than a human) he decided to bring her to his office or whatever with sexual intentions.

I do think that Homelander had the same type of mentality that The Deep has where he thought “yk this woman likes me (probably) and I like her, we should have sex” since homelander says becca came onto him even tho she didn’t. Idk how to explain it but he probably mistook becca’s kindness as flirting, came onto her, she didn’t say yes but didn’t stop it cuz she physically couldn’t, and then he raped her.

Doctor_Nauga

he probably mistook becca’s kindness as flirting

That's always been my theory as well.

TheJoker1432

Rape is more about power

Homelander just felt like it and he forced her. After all human are just toys for him.

Old_Journalist_9020

-2

People say this a lot, and while it may be an aspect of rape, the persons sexuality comes into play most of the time

TheJoker1432

If it wae just about sex then people would get an escort. Its mostly about wanting to get their way with exactly the person they choose. Aka being in power of thr situation

Supbrozki

In their mind it isnt even rape.

"I would never hurt this girl, but she isn't going to say no, because of the implication".

carobpie

"The implication"?

Training-Average-361

Hear me out. remember in season 1 the flash back scene with Becca and butcher at the vaught Christmas party? HOMELANDER came and introduced himself. Then when he walked away butcher says to Becca “ how does he walk around in that fucking wet suit all day balls mashed up against his leg ? I think HOMELANDER heard that remark and acted upon it with the sexual assault of Becca

Im_not_creepy3

Soldier Boy

Homelander doesn't see humans as equals. I don't find it out of character because Homelander has no issue in exerting his power over others just because he can. And he exhibits sadistic tendencies.

He only shows interest in Stillwell, and as the series progresses, the way he takes romantic interest in specific people makes it weird that he just targets Becca out of nowhere and goes after nobody else.

Raping someone doesn't mean the rapist is romantically or even physically attracted to their victim. It's not about attraction it's about dominance, power, and control. Even though Homelander was attracted to Stillwell in season 1, in one scene he grips Queen Maeve's neck and threatens to harm her if she moves on from him even though they've been broken up for a long time. Because again, it was about control, not about attraction. We don't see him try to pursue her outside of that.

la_fille_rouge

Butcher isn't fawning over Homelander at the party and insults him once he thinks he's out of earshot. So Homelander takes something he sees as belonging to Butcher. Becca, like other humans, is just a toy for him and he does it to show how he is more powerful than Butcher.

Vault_Overseer_11

Firstly, if someone is asking whether or not it happened they haven’t watched the show at all. It’s been explicitly stated that he raped her.

Secondly, Homelander has not been solely attracted to Stillwell. We know he likes Maeve as well, and that he’s had this weird relationship with Stillwell for years likely while he was in a relationship with Maeve. There’s nothing to say he’s not attracted to other women.

Thirdly, rape is not a “romantic” thing for many rapists, it’s for power or just sexual gratification, or both. Homelander didn’t want to have a relationship with Becca, he probably didn’t like her, he just wanted to take advantage of her.

Fourthly, there’s been no evidence that Becca is the only person Homelander has raped. I’d wager she’s not, the show just doesn’t want to show Homelander raping people.

Finally, Homelander has killed, mutilated, tortured, countless innocent people. Is it really out of character for him to rape someone?

SiBea13

In the flashback where he meets Butcher, he walks away from them and Butcher makes a rude joke comment about him behind his back. This was only across the room so Homelander could hear it with his super hearing. Imo the purpose of the scene was to show us that Homelander raped Becca to punish them both for Butcher’s comment. When he and Butcher finally meet again in the finale Homelander continues mocking him about it, further confirming that it was done because he couldn’t handle Butcher’s disrespect.

Routine_Wedding43

“Humans are toys” - John Gillman, 2024

tinycyan

He wanted to cuck billy and make becca feel crap

MRHBK

Raped her in the same kind of situation as the deep and starlight

PennStateFan221

Just because we didn’t see how psychopathic he is at first doesn’t mean he hasn’t been this way for a long time.

Jinx_X_2003

I got the vibe this is something he does often to many women

He doesnt give a shit

kjm6351

He’s been interested in other people. He wanted her and just did what he wanted. It’s really as simple as that

Haunting-Adagio1166

You're The Real Heroes

People often mistaken rapists for having motives other than them purely enjoying the violent power trip it gives them. Rape isn't anything to do with attraction, sexuality, infatuation etc. - it is a violent act and a severe form of abuse. There is never going to be an answer to "why someone raped someone". Only a potential list of events that led a person to develop the antisocial personality traits contributing to their involvement in violent acts. It's the exact same for serial killers.

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E-Scooter-CWIS

-4

It happpened like at least 10 years before the story starts

Due-Display-3113

-2

Timeline got fucked up.

Admirable-Reach2850

-14

Yea, it is odd

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