I think that CODE 8 is being too clever by half here.
It’s the same problem that I had when they did that weird Fae Steampunk series: why are these people being oppressed? If you’ve got 4% of the population with superpowers, that’s, like, a goram lot of people. Twelve million in the USA alone. People who can vote, and do, you know, superpowered favors for other people, and even if they don’t they’re easily enough to thoroughly stymie law enforcement across the country, inefficient combat androids or not.
I’m sorry, but it’s simply a truth that if you can solder pipes with your hands or throw around cinderblocks, you’re not going to be working off the books on construction sites. That’s just a dumb thing to do and a lot of people will have a vested interest in changing that, because it leaves money on the table. We’re gonna need to see what else is keeping these supers working illegally.
Moe Lane
Because you cannot make a comparison/commentary on illegal aliens without breaking some eggs.
I think the more notable thing is that the propaganda has reached a point where it’s alienating people sympathetic to the position being advanced.
The electricians’ union, plumbers’ union, etc. might have “vested interests” in urban areas .. but suburban/rural, not so much .. so yeah, why work under the table, why not go out where there’s less of a hassle?
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If the only reason is “there’s only urban” (see “Brazil”) then .. maybe .. but if the only reason is lack of imagination by the screenwriter .. ‘s too bad.
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Mew
I’m sorry, but Larry Correia’s Grimnoir Trilogy did the concept of the power type so well in a noir setting. This seems like a faded copy.
John Ridley wrote a pair of books a few years before Larry’s stuff started coming out based on a world where supers in the US got outlawed after SF got blown up by a super villian. SF’s mayor then became the CA governor, then the President, then got really vindictive with regards to powers.
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If that’s similar to the rationale here- that it’s not being done for economics, but instead because these folks are capital D Dangerous, that might work as the rationale.
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The book series, BTW, started with “Those Who Walk in Darkness” and features one of the most unsympathetic protagonists that I’ve encountered in a book.