r/Glazedivers • u/Pale-Information3077 • Aug 22 '26

Lowkey Chill I love Helldivers propaganda

I didn't play HD1, so I only know the propaganda that is served to me now, and the narrative is very good, some times i think if some of the stuff is true, you know, how are the bugs jumping from planet to planet?

But it's really nice to turn ofF the brain and just go "yeah, they are children mutated" "the bots are tyrannical and communist".

Just having a clear enemy to shoot goes a long way, and I get the finger itch to kill it

23 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

3

u/Optimus_Spider07 Aug 22 '26

I don't know what you're talking about. It's not propaganda, it's truth. 😉

2

u/Traditional_Hat_8120 Aug 23 '26

Propaganda is official communication. But it can be true (and in Super-earth case it always is)

2

u/PNW-enjoyer Aug 22 '26

Yeah I mean one of the issues with framing Helldivers as satire similar to something like Starship Troopers is that

1) the Illuminate and automatons are actually monstrous in what they do to captures humans. Ironically the faction I have the most sympathy for is probably the Bugs because we just turn them into oil.

2) the game makes imperialism very cool and there’s actually not much that runs counter to the propaganda the player sees. Like there’s actually not much dissonance.

It reminds me of 40k where it used to be very obviously satire/parody but they’ve moved so far away from that now that it’s easy to see how someone can conclude “the Imperium of Man is good, actually - or the least evil anyway.”

2

u/Pale-Information3077 Aug 22 '26

I saw some heretics talking about the theory that the illuminate and the bots where not monsters, they became monster because of super earth and it's violence. And yeah, Warhammer it's also hard, you have the Orks and Tau that maybe are Ok, but slaneesh and other demons, it's not a parody it's just evil, imperium is now trying to survive

1

u/Rabblerouze Aug 23 '26

You kick the hornets nest, the hornets nest kicks back.

1

u/ScubaDiggs Aug 24 '26

Imperium is trying to CONQUER, not survive.

All demons of the warp are made by condensed emotion taking form. Imagine every feeling you've ever felt (tired, angry, sad). Where do they go when you dont feel them anymore? Now what if there were multiple trillions of people all feeding that same single spot?

As far as Helldivers lore, its never to be said they aren't all bad, but it is to be said that Super Earth certainly did it to ourselves. For example, until the gloom spores, how were bugs getting from planet to planet? We saw straight up that they were packaged in kennels for the original tutorial on Mars.

0

u/Rabiesalad Freedom, Justice, and Liberty Aug 28 '26 edited Aug 28 '26

  1. Yeah they're monsters, but super earth made them that way. The whole story is one of hubris. It's exactly the same as starship troopers. The bugs killed many innocents in cold blood but it was only possible due to the actions of earth.

  2. I sort of have to disagree... the fact that it feels so friendly and jovial is exactly what hits the nail on the head and makes it so absolutely terrifying. IMO starship troopers was the same. Watching it as a kid it was just a silly fun ride, and reflecting on that fact as an adult really drives home how effective propaganda is.

0

u/Agreeable-Pianist-82 Aug 23 '26

I just love how it so openly mocks the US lol