I'm Not Really An MHA Guy, Most Of My Exposure To It Is From Fanfic, But Would I Be Right In Assuming

I'm not really an MHA guy, most of my exposure to it is from fanfic, but would I be right in assuming its setting is one of those things where the status quo is genuinely fucked, but everyone who's against it or up for changing it is either painted as wrong or is conveniently over-the-top evil?

With MHA it’s weird. On one hand you have people constantly calling out the status quo and being portrayed as sympathetic/right. Izuku, Class 1-A, and the future heroes are constantly portrayed as learning how to be better than the past heroes. You got the LoV, who despite being mass murderers, are given sympathetic backstories that showcase the suffering caused by the status quo. You also got Endeavor, who understands that he’s shitty and plans on retiring once he’s no longer needed in the war against the LoV. You also have Stain, a guy whose message is that there are a lot of fake heroes, and his message is one that is framed as being correct and one that sticks around throughout the series, even when he’s defeated.

On the other hand, Hori will outright contradict his own messages. Katsuki, a direct benefactor of the status quo, is coddled by the narrative, never meaningfully called out, constantly praised, and gets everything handed to him on a silver platter. Endeavor’s abuse is brushed aside by everyone. Now someone might mention that it’s because Dabi’s murdering people and they need Endeavor to stop him and the LoV, so they’re just tolerating him for now. This would be true and perfectly valid, if not for the fact that Hori has actual characters not care about any of the revelations. You have Inasa admit to Dabi’s face that he doesn’t care about what Endeavor did and you have Endeavor’s sidekicks ignore the allegations just because he does his job well.

Then there’s the fact that anyone with valid criticisms about the status quo and how things are done are immediately demonized. When people were booing Katsuki for savagely wailing on Ochako rather than ending the fight quickly (something he could’ve easily done if not for the fact he thought Izuku gave her a strategy), Hori has Shota talk to them as if they were misogynistic pigs. When the journalists rightfully point out Katsuki’s horrible attitude and U.A’s incompetence, Hori frames them as being vultures and not really understanding Katsuki (Shota literally says that Katsuki deserves to be a hero cause he works hard). Endeavor’s critics are treated as nuisances rather than people who understandably don’t want an abuser to be the new #1 hero. The angry mob that forms as Izuku’s being brought back to U.A is framed as horrible people willing to let a kid die. While it’s true that they were willing to let Izuku die, they literally saw no other option as the heroes have failed them numerous times. The last war was a disaster even though they managed to drive the villains away and both Endeavor and the HPSC, two centerpieces of hero society, were exposed for their crimes. Finally, there’s the fact that the LoV, the biggest source of criticism about heroes, are mass murderers for absolutely no reason, which limits how effective their message is to the audience. Even Stain falls for this trap cause he kills heroes that aren’t All Might indiscriminately, even good heroes like Tensei, a hero who is framed by the narrative as a charitable and true hero.

Ultimately, I think Hori’s genuinely trying to criticize the status quo, but the problem is he doesn’t quite understand how to do so and he lacks the writing skills to do so. Hori does this thing where he creates all the moving pieces but is afraid to make them come together because of his inexperience and because he’s too afraid to criticize his favorite characters too harshly, characters who benefit from the status quo.

Lol that kinda turned into a rant but hopefully it answered your question 😂