Watchmen: Lots to Like, Little to Love
by Doug TenNapelI don’t judge movies by their source material, so I won’t judge “Watchmen” by the amazing graphic novel from which it comes. When we pay our 12 bucks to see a movie, nobody hands us a book to go along with it, so the moral contract between consumer and story-teller is that the story has to hold up on its own.
“Watchmen” works as a dark, post-modern, revisionist middle finger to the icons of our optimistic past. The plot isn’t its strong suit, the characters are what make “Watchmen” an impressive experience. Dr. Manhattan is a being who lost his unique electric field in a lab accident. He didn’t keep his hair, but he kept his blue penis, which is useful in revealing that he’s not Jewish. A Materialist god, Dr. Manhattan is losing his grasp on what it means to be human, even as he gains the ability to see life one molecule at a time.
Other characters are tragic, often mirror images of each other. For instance, Silk Specter II and Night Owl II are children of the previous generation of super-heroes, but while Silk Specter resents her mother pressuring her to follow in her footsteps, Night Owl ignores his father’s plea to not don the mask and cape. Rorschach’s mother can be heard saying she wished she aborted him, while Silk Specter’s mother was raped and said the birth of her daughter was one of reasons why she couldn’t hate the father.
The plot of “Watchmen” is an I-don’t-care-who-done-it. Compared to the humane soap opera of the character’s plight, I didn’t find the mystery of the story nearly as compelling or original. I’ll forgive the long running time because these heroes are developing into more believable types than I see in non-super-hero movies. This is a credit to the source material by Alan Moore, the screen-writers, the director and the cast. All well done.
I like violence. I don’t like gratuitous suffering depicted on screen. There was an excess of bone-crunching that perhaps most R rated movie goers celebrate, but I don’t feel the need to see it over and over again. I know the world is a shitty place without seeing stories with child murder, rape, arms cut off with a skillsaw, legs broken backwards, etc. It’s one of those instances where seeing blood splatter on a comic page rendered in ink is different than seeing it splattered all over the screen in high definition. I wasn’t bothered by the blood in “300″ so I guess I’m still figuring that one out.
***I’d like to stop for a second and address parents out there. Please, for the love of Mary, quit bringing your four year old daughters and six year old sons to R rated movies. I’d love to think you care enough about your kid to delay your own gratification until the movie comes out on DVD, but maybe you can at least see that the presence of your kids ruin my movie experience. When the guy gets his head bashed in three times with a meat cleaver and your daughter says, “Mommy, what are they doing?” you might want to take them to “Hotel for Dogs.” It’s legal to expose children to graphic sex and violence, but if I lit up a cigarette, the audience would come unglued about how I was ruining these kids.***
The thing that bugged me most about the movie was the perpetual adolescence of the themes. “Watchmen” is a movie that refuses to grow up. Like the alternate 1986 where it takes place, it’s trapped in a Reagan-hysteria time capsule. The politics of “Watchmen” are the usual tired cliche we get from Hollywood, only now it’s exaggerated to a point of being, well–comic booky. Nixon is the president as crime-fighters formally join the military industrial complex.
“Who will watch the Watchmen?” becomes a catch-phrase for “Who will watch Reagan, Thatcher and Bush?” I guess it slipped past these backward looking paranoids that the Hamas terrorist state of Gaza is funded by Hillary Clinton while Obama justifies the ends of choice protection through the murderous means of abortion expansion around the world. But you won’t find any characters with Carter’s plastic face, just Nixon, hints of Reagan, and plenty of imagery pointing to Bush.
And the biggest cliche of all is the addition of alternative fuels. As I recall, this wasn’t in the graphic novel, which was published in the ’80s. But our nation’s One True Religion is an obsession with a different sort of industrial complex, with a body count in the tens of millions produced by environmentalists and their ends-justify-the-means apocalyptic vision. Is Hollywood aware of any bad guys besides conservatives and is it aware of any catastrophe outside of the non-existent fossil fuel one?
The arrival of the comic book generation all grown up didn’t bring any new wisdom to the table for having survived the journey. Youthful eyes behold the super hero icon as an optimistic ideal, a modern parable that gave us hope, wonder and fantasy added to our morality tales. But the super hero all grown up is sick and void of wisdom. The hero genre hasn’t brought power and light to the concerns of adults but injected our sickness and hang-ups into yet another American icon.
“Watchmen” is a thoughtful movie artfully executed, but in the end, just another dark R rated drag. Glad I saw it, won’t see it again.
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43 Comments
It's hard to take a reviewer seriously when he makes casual but completely incorrect statements about the plot. Nite Owl II's father was NOT a super-hero, he was a banker. Dreiberg's MENTOR was a super-hero, but unrelated. Sally Jupiter was NOT raped. There was an attempted rape and, years later, a fleeting tryst that led to the birth of her daughter. And the comment about parents taking young children to this movie, while correct, comes off as extremely racist when directed only at Mexicans. What's the matter, Doug? No white trash in your area?
[...] Big Hollywood placed an observative post today on Watchmen: Lots to Like, Little to LoveHere’s a quick excerptI don’t judge movies by their source material, so I won’t judge “Watchmen” by the amazing graphic novel from which it comes. When we pay our 12 bucks to see a movie, nobody hands us a book to go along with it, so the moral contract between consumer and story-teller is that the story has to hold up on its own. “Watchmen” works as a dark, post-modern, revisionist middle finger to the icons of our optimistic past. The plot isn’t its strong suit, the characters are what make “Watchmen” an im [...]
Geek Test and you're busted.
I was never a comic book fan and had not heard of the Watchmen until a few weeks ago. I was interested solely in seeing Rorschach, explosions and pedophiles getting their heads split. I didn’t realize this movie was a demented leftist orgy of Republican bashing. Reading the comments has been enough; I’ll pass on the movie.
It would be nice if the Hollywood drug addicts and losers could get some creativity; bashing Republicans is quite passé, not to mention the mark of a politically correct coward. Let’s see some bashing of the filthy primitive 7th century Mohammedan throat cutters that decapitate catholic schoolgirls and routinely commit barbaric acts of violence worldwide.
Geek Test and you passed.
It's hard to take someone seriously when they know this much about a comic book.
Didn't Veidt say he patented the electric car and that's how he regained his fortune (in issue #11)? I think you're correct that Doctor Manhattan had something to do with it as well … well I guess I'll know for sure when I read it again.
Mjolnir, you seem a little weak on the concept of racism. Nothing I said implied the specific people to whom Doug objected were NOT Mexicans. The point–it's a basic point, but it seems you need things spelled out–is that for Doug to specify Mexicans, as opposed to any and all idiot parents who would take young children to this movie, IS racist. That is, there's nothing inherently Mexican about this child-raising error. I see Doug must agree with me, as he's modified his initial post to remove the word. BTW, I'm anything but PC, and wouldn't have minded at all if Doug said something like, "The movie was ruined for me because several Mexican couples brought their 4 and 6 year old children, which was completely inappropriate. Note to parents: think before doing something this stupid." It was the GENERAL nature of the statement that made it racist.
I can't stand that "cool to be ignorant" attitude, HURM! Meanwhile, am I missing the reference to Mexicans that REL picked up in the article? Did Doug edit it out? Double hurm.
I didn't edit the post. Editors here did, probably because the comments section would reflexively go hysterical on the term. The kids I saw in this theater were Mexicans. The last two R rated movies I saw had only Mexican children in it. I live in an area with plenty of "white trash" though I'd have to point out I didn't call the Mexican kids "brown trash". It's not the race that creates behavior…that would be racist. But L.A. hispanic culture has at least some element that brings kids to R rated movies. I'm open to it being a coincidence, and I'm sure white trash parents could also take something home from my rant.
I am pleased, however, that we're here in the comments section discussing the racial make-up of my movie review. While we're at it, there was a higher percentage of minority criminals in Watchmen prisons and other than Dr. Manhattan all of the Watchmen are white. So perhaps we should rip open that giant racial clam once again and stare into it's oozy, jiggling guts looking back at us.
Splatticus you may be right but I remember it having something to do with Dr.Manhattan's ability to manipulate matter making materials available on a mass scale.
No, it isn't a Republican basher. It's actually pretty balanced., Nixon is president, but he isn't depicted as evil. The villain of the story is a leftie. The hero (IMO) is Rorschach, a arch conservative
I didn't notice anything referencing Mexicans either.
I've taught for two years in the barrio, 5th and 7th grade, and in both experiences, each age demographic had seen more rated-R movies than I ever had, the boys more than the girls. We're talking of the "Super-bad" and "Smokin' Aces" variety here, by the way. Maybe the following ten years in the same district will have some surprises, but to me, there does seem to be some disconnect between media consumption and behavior within the urban hispanic culture. I don't see how that is a racist observation.
Thanks. Then I may have to give the degenerates in Hollywood my money this time and go see it. If Rorschach's character wasn't in the movie I wouldn't bother.
And I hope that one day When Aetius thinks he's saying something important about something some one tells him "Its hard to take someone seriously when they this much about X"
There are college classes on Watchmen, its on the TIME 100 best novels list, There isn't anything untoward with people knowing what's in it. Would you make the same statement about some one giving a detail about "Catcher in the Rye" or "Gone With the Wind" or "The Grapes of Wrath" which are also on said list?
"So perhaps we should rip open that giant racial clam once again and stare into it's oozy, jiggling guts looking back at us."
I don't know why but if I weren't at work i would be rolling around laughing at this statement, something about the phrase "oozy, jiggling guts" just makes me want to laugh.
The fact that most superheroes are white isn't lost on the comic reading public. But there are some awesome minority heroes all the same (just not in the Watchman). I point to Steel as he is portrayed in 52.
Come to think of it, the Justice league is very racial diverse. You have Kryptonian, Martian, Atlantean, Amazonian, and white human.
The other day I was wondering about the next time you would get to post an update on this blog, so I was pleased to see a new one today! I always enjoy your insights, Doug
Interesting post! Would you like a Link Exchange with our new blog COMMON CENTS where we blog about the issues of the day??
I still don't get why everyone loves the comic but perhaps I'm just backward.
As for the movie, a lot of what you said was correct but I do have to point out that the dude pushing for alternative fuels and spouting all the "oil is an addiction, man" rhetoric was the villain of the entire movie and killed millions. Meanwhile, the only person who had the guts to stand up for the truth was a right winger. I have no doubt they intended it to be a liberal movie but I think they utterly failed.
Of course that being said, the movie (and in my opinion the comic) are deeply flawed.
It's not racial, it's cultural/demographic. Race is present but incidental.
People who bring babies and toddlers to movies are primarily young parents who are demographically "Urban Poor," i.e. cannot afford a sitter and/or do not know anyone trustworthy to leave a child with in their local circle. Thus, whichever ethnic group is in the majority of the "Urban Poor" demographic in your area will provide the majority instances of "theatre babies." If you live on the coasts, they will primarily be black and latino with a smattering of white, if you live in the "border states" they will be largely latino, if you live in the rural south or the midwest they will be primarily white.
I have no doubt they intended it to be a liberal movie but I think they utterly failed.
Which is exactly what happened to the comic book. To Alan Moore's everlasting credit, he didn't bring out any dei ex machina to protect his own politics. He realized that his story was turning under his hands, and he let it happen.
No but I would say that I have serious reservations that the pople at Time magazine have a clue what makes a good novel. I saw the movie only because of the hype even though I told myself I was not going to see it and man it makes Plan 9 from Outerspace look like Shakespeare in comparison.
"…I do have to point out that the dude pushing for alternative fuels and spouting all the "oil is an addiction, man" rhetoric was the villain of the entire movie and killed millions."
Are you sure he was the villain? I didn't really get the impression that he was being presented as such.
What gives you 'no doubt' they were intending the movie to be liberal? I think they were intending it be be entertaining and respectful to the original GN.
REL:
I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't speak to the plot errors.
But I sure as he** can speak to YOUR "racist" statement. Were you there? What did you see?
I can speak to this on a local level here, because it happens here a lot in NM. And yes, Hispanics do this. So do others.
But your statement is the racist one. Unless you were there, saw something different, and can speak to it, do us all a favor, mate. SHUT the FRACK UP! (Pardon my BSG, folks, I am trying really, really hard to deal with a micro encephalitic without reaching his level of self righteousness arrogance).
I don't think Watchmen was as simple as "liberal vs. conservative". The main thing is that an 80s Nixon puppet was the threat of a militarized American dream. Nixon ended Vietnam, he didn't start it. Carter botched hostage negotiations, Reagan brought them home. Reagan ended the cold war without a shot fired.
Watchmen is a story full of big ideas, I'm let down when some of those big ideas are stale, beneath the great minds involved with the DNA of the movie. I expect story-tellers to tell the truth first. When characters are embroiled in a story full of "oughts" you have a morality tale. But this morality tale becomes so encapsulated in the past that it doesn't apply to us any more. It's like looking at an 80s haircut and saying, "Is this relevant?"
I've come to expect a lot more from my movies, so I'm sure most of this critique is my fault. I'm a big fan of Moore, Snyder etc. and my expectations are high.
No don't. It is absolutely Republican bashing. Spoiler alert
The villian is a leftie but he's really the savior of the world. See he kills 15 million people so that Amerca and the Soviet Union will get together and the world will become a hippy commune. The Arch Conservative Rorschach is prtrayed as a sociopath who has to be killed because he is going to tell the truth that the rich liberal is really the responsible for the genocide. This must be stopped because if every one knew it was rich liberal that killed everybody and not some strange god character well they'd go back to nuking each other.
Every consevative character is a rapist or a murderer and eventually gets killed.
Nixon is shown as a guy preparing to make a preemptive nuclear strike and has no emotion when he is told that maybe the farmbelt will survive.
There is even a remark about Reagon running for office in '88 not being newsworthy because that would be absurd.
It is completely in your face wacked out liberal nonsense and was a waster of two hours of my life. Spare yourself the disgust. Don't see the movie.
Leftists are ridiculous. Explain to me how you can be racist against Mexicans. I guess the same way we are supposed to be "racist" against Muslim terrorists. What race is "Muslim" or "Mexican"? The next time I hear one of you idiots complain about prayer in school, I'm going to start saying you are just racist against Americans and Presbyterians. Wait, a lot of Mexicans are Catholic… maybe he is racist against Catholics?
Dumb ass.
This doesn't follow. That there may be college courses deconstructing Watchmen isn't saying much, nor is the fact that Time chose it as a top "novel." Yes, some other classics are on Time's list, but that doesn't mean that every entry is a classic. Consider the list of Best Picture winners as a comparison. Some real stinkers got the award, but the fact that they won the same award as truly great films doesn't improve their quality.
"…I won’t judge “Watchmen” by the amazing graphic novel from which it comes."
"You can make your superhero a psychopath, you can draw gut-splattering violence, and you can call it a 'graphic novel,' but comic books are still incredibly stupid." –Bill Watterson.
Watterson's right.
You failed to notice that at the very end of the movie, Rorschach's diary is left in the basket of a right-wing newspaper publisher, leaving us with an imagined conclusion that a rich white, gay liberal will be implicated for the murder of the Comedian, the framing of Dr. Manhattan and the murder of 15 million people in New York City if the diary get published. As Rorschach said in the book, "Evil must be punished. People must be told," prior to him being zapped by Dr. Manhattan. His diary would do justice without Rorschach himself.
If you are a conservative who happens to vote Republican and just so happens to be a Christian than avoid this movie at all costs. Now if you are a liberal who thinks he is a moderate but is actually a lefty who loves and voted for Barack Obama than purchase your ticket right away and get to the movie theatre, Watchmen is your liberal wet dream come to life.
Not only is the violence and sex very graphic, there was just way to much man @$$ in this film. Geez, I know it's been awhile since I read the Watchmen but I don't remember seeing so much man booty in the comics. I could be wrong and if I am than my apologies to all the comic book nazi's who will no doubt try too destroy me.
Roscharch was probably the best thing about the movie for me but that ain't saying much. The movie takes all type of shots at GOD, conservatism, traditionalism, republicans and America as a whole. Nixon is the focus but don't be fooled, Reagan is the target in this film, both the man and his ideals. They where even able to get electric cars and George Bush into this movie. Unbelievable!!!!
Well, I guess turn about is fair play because 300 was a completely Republican movie. Maybe Zack Snyder watches Fox news and is just trying to be fair and balanced. As a Republican, Christian, Conservative, Traditional American I hope the next 300 movie will be able to put me back on the Zack Snyder bandwagon.
While I was waiting for the movie to start, four young boys, around 5 to 8 years old, filed in with drinks and popcorn and sat down right in front of me, chatting happily as boys that age will do. About a minute later, an older woman followed them and climbed the stadium stairs with great difficulty.
Another guy seated near me and I told her about the graphic violence and sex scenes in the movie. This was my second viewing, so I elaborated on specific violent scenes, and told her that as a mom, I thought the movie was definitely not for young kids. The poor woman was horrified and knew absolutely nothing about the movie. She didn't even realize it was R rated. Her grandkids had wanted to see it. Thankfully, she gathered up the kids and left.
I don't know if it takes a village, but you did something great. I hope my kids run into more people like you along the way.
Heh.
Those boys will remember your face as evil-incarnate well into their 40s
I would NOT recommend this movie, or at least not the last hour. The story builds up for a couple hours to nothing and there are, in my opinion, an unnecessary sex scene and the assassination of JFK was disturbing. The lead actress is awful and so much in the movie is unexplained (in an annoying way): are the superheroes mutants or have superhuman powers or are some normal humans?; the science and logic of plans and machines in the movie are never explained; etc, etc
That said, the Rorschach character is incredible and if anything he represents a conservative's reaction to murders, rapists, prostitutes, and disgust with Liberals, a weak justice system, and the decay of society. The scene of the child killer asking to be arrested and saying he "needs help" reminded me of the man who beheaded a boy on a bus in Canada and basically got off the crime on the charge of insanity. Rorscach and the Comedian make this movie very good at times. The amazing fight sequence with the Comedian at the beginning and Rorschach's interactions with criminals and police make me want to watch this movie again on dvd and skip through to those scenes.
I agree, but I think it's more of a NeoCon bash fest. The heroes would have all been conservatives who gave in at the end to the "peace through destruction" concept. They abandoned their true conservative values when allowing the death of Rorschach. True conservatives don't believe in one-world government, they believe in the US Constitution, small government and national sovereignty.
Rush was right about one thing at CPAC when he spoke of the Republican Party buying into adaptation, or modernization of the party; those trying to modernize the party are the ones destroying it. What ever happened to sticking to your principles and when did political expedience become a leadership trait?
If republicans truely relate to the heroes in Watchmen, God help us, they gave in by adapting to the NWO.
Agreed.
Are you Mexican? I didn't see any racist comment. I'm thinking you might be, though.
The genius of Moore is that he presents a convincing argument (at least to some) that sometimes honest, principled people of a right-wing ideology need to be murdered, for the greater good of society. In fact, in a way right-wingers want to be killed – for their own good.
The comic is a brilliant defense of Left fascism, as a counterbalance to "V for Vendetta" – that is, when Leftists are the tyrants, their own outrageous brutality is justified, because what they do is for "the good of the global community". The movie dilutes that message, which is why I suspect Alan Moore distanced himself from it.
Rorschach and the Comedian are both depicted as psychopaths. I didn't find much I could identify with in either character. Both are killed, and both are meant to represent the idea that conservatives ought to be killed – either, in the case of the Comedian, because he is debauched (like most conservatives) or, as in the case of Rorschach, because his adherence to the truth and the idea of public suffrage are politically inconvenient.
When Rorschach voices conservative ideas, it is meant by the author to lampoon and ridicule them. When Moore fails to do so adequately, it is more a result of his failings as a political pundit than because of any intentional sympathy.
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