Consider for a moment that literal children are currently playing Helldivers 2 and then going on to imitate it and absorb it into their personalities.
90s/00s kids played with their Starship Troopers action figures and watched the Starship Troopers animated series on syndicated TV, and people wonder why Starship Troopers 1 is taken sincerely by many people. Surely being able to buy the action figures of the satirized characters does much to undermine the satire.
Consider for a moment that literal children are currently playing Helldivers 2 and then going on to imitate it and absorb it into their personalities.
The satire is lost on them, they only see “i really enjoy this thing” and “it’s really cool when they say these words in such an over the top way”.
Satire depicting fascists as cool and the good guys does considerably more harm than good.
90s/00s kids played with their Starship Troopers action figures and watched the Starship Troopers animated series on syndicated TV, and people wonder why Starship Troopers 1 is taken sincerely by many people. Surely being able to buy the action figures of the satirized characters does much to undermine the satire.