Jim's thoughts on Watchmen

Preface 1: The monthly 12 issue comic series, as I read it in 1986 -87, was one of my most intense interactions with a piece of art of any kind. Primarily due to my incorporating it into my class curriculum in 2002, I have continued to study the work and am amazed at both the large and small aspects which I discover for the first time each time I revisit Watchmen. Anyone who reads it once, or even five times, and thinks they have fully experienced the joy of the series has underestimated the complexity of both the form and the thematics of Moore's and Gibbon's novel. I love the themes, the characters, certain aspects of the plot, but more than anything I love the storytelling devices and the incredible use of the art form. (As a huge Steve Ditko fan, I enjoy other subtleties that I will not bore anyone with). It's no exaggeration to call it the Citizen Kane of comics, and for all of the same reasons -- it is not about simply being a good story (there's actually some pretty significant flaws by the end) - it is how that story is told, the innovations to the form, the multiple allusions to literature, philosophy, music, etc., that makes it so significant.

Preface 2: Comics fans all grow up wanting their comics to be converted to film. We can't help it -- there's just something transcendent when you see Dr. Octopus' tentacles brought to life, when you see Superman unleash his full powers on the phantom Zone villains, and most recently, watching Heath Ledger actually add dimension to a character who's been around for over sixty years. Therefore, even though Alan Moore voiced his displeasure (and other film adaptations of his work have been dreadful), even though Terry Gilliam said it was unfilmable, even though we all should have known better -- Watchmen fans wanted the movie -- no, we craved the movie, we NEEDED the movie.

And now we have it.

Central Question: I have been flooded with the same question since Friday -- So did you like it?

Answer: I suspect my experience will be somewhat like the phases of death and dying -- denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance -- in that I am only now experiencing my first phases, hopefully achieving acceptance further down the line.

Phase One: I really didn't see the film -- not the way that I would normally watch a movie. Instead, I went in with a mental checklist of every panel in those twelve issues of Watchmen and I preceded to check them off or cross them out. My biggest criticism of Zack Snyder (so far) is that he made this almost unavoidable by so closely mirroring panels and dialogue. I know fans wanted exactly that adherence to the text, but it did prevent me from actually experiencing the film itself upon the first viewing. Because of the fairly strict fidelity to the comic -- in terms of plot, dialogue, characters (with the exception of the Silk Spectre who I thought was far less bitchier and therefore blander), I just sat there watching for every deviation, i.e. Nite-Owl warning Veidt instead of Rorschach doing it, the police not noting that Rorschach was wearing lifts in his shoes, after they beat him, the sad lack of scooters on the way to Karnak, Hooded Justice's contempt for Silk Spectre I after the rape, Silk Specter II not smoking .... Every omission took me out of the film, just as many of the perfectly delivered "captures" from the comic -- Morloch opening the frig, Manhattan staring at the bra or putting on his tie, Dan cleaning his glasses -- made me happy (but happy because it was included, not because it enhanced the film). Just another check mark on the list. (Now compare this to loving King's The Shining, and then seeing Kubrick's version -- you may love it or hate it, but you put away the check list pretty early)

So this was what I experienced while watching the film. Not much beyond.

Phase 2: I walk out of the movie, and my fellow watchers ask what I think. I'm surprised at how critical I am, not of the slight omissions, or even the bigger changes by the film's end, but of bigger criticisms -- it seems like a needlessly dark film (not thematically, but just hard to see); some of the musical choices seemed inspired, i.e Glass on Mars, but more seemed ham-fisted, even ridiculous, i.e Hallelujah; sequences seemed forced and rushed, i.e. Rorschach giving up his origin in the first session with the therapist. At least I'm interacting with the film finally, rather than just comparing it with the comic, as I was the whole time I was watching. More of the film sunk in than I initially thought. But I seem to have little positive to say, other than liking three of the performances. (Blake, Rorschach, and Cruddup) Why? Was it actually bad?

Phase 3: I start to think what really troubled me -- besides that Snyder is not Kubrick, or even Gilliam. And it's that he has made a super hero movie, not a deconstruction of the super hero movie. It's like the difference between Death Wish and Taxi Driver, Green Berets and Apocalypse Now, When Harry Met Sally and Annie Hall. Secondly, the film has been unavoidably drained of all of the comic's narrative complexity and over-determination. In order to make Watchmen be as artistically successful as the comic, one needed to give Godard $100 million dollars and tell him to do to this what he did to Histoire(s) du Cinema. That wasn't going to happen. And not even the fans would have liked it -- but I suspect Alan Moore would have snuck into the back of the theater just to see how it turned out.

And so, my conclusion is that I have no idea what I thought of the film. I didn't actually see it first of all. Secondly, my immediate criticisms were fueled by resentment at what it was not. I don't want Watchmen to be a super hero movie, but that's what the studio wanted it to be -- and of course they did.

So here's what I need to do -- I have to see it again; this time as a casual viewer. If it doesn't happen on the second try, I'll see it again until I can watch it as a work apart from the comic. When that happens, I'll post a more reliable assessment of what I thought of the film as part of the current cycle of super-hero films. I want to be able to compare it with Iron Man, Dark Knight, etc. (In fact I need to be able to do so, in terms of my own scholarship), but the first time hurt too much for me to enjoy it -- and all those years of anticipation were too distracting, etc. I'm sure my second or third viewing will be more enjoyable -- I'll be more relaxed (I hope). By my 4th try, who knows -- maybe I'll be yelling Zap!Wham!Kazam! like the other kids. I'll let you know.

Watchmen

So we are going to see Watchmen on March 6 at 1:10 p.m. at the Arclight. I just bought 23 tickets. Class will have to let out a little early so we can get there on time.

The young Rorschach

Given our Watchmen reading fro the week, this seemed to good to pass up. Taken directly from Hero Complex:

"ZACK SNYDER REVEALED: Writer Nisha Gopalan has contributed to the Hero Complex, and we always enjoy her work. That's especially the case with her new interview with "Watchmen" director Zack Snyder, who confesses to dark chapters in his past (Attending Renaissance fairs! Making beer commercials! Hanging around with naked blue men!) and also talks about casting his son as young Rorschach. Here's a chunk of the Q&A exchange: "'Why on Earth would you cast your 11-year-old son in this movie as a younger version of Rorschach, an abused sociopath whose mom was a hooker? ... I feel like he’s together enough actually, that he can handle [the 'Watchmen' role]. I didn’t try to get too deep into it. Though there is a woman yelling at him, 'I should’ve had that abortion!' " [Nylon Guys]


Personal Note: If I had a son, I would SO want to cast him as a young Rorschach.

WHO READS THE WATCHMEN!

Nothing against the Hogwarts' Express, but I think this class photo is more fitting!

New Watchmen Trailer -- 5pm PST

Just wanted to get the word out -- The latest Watchmen trailer will debut online at 5 pm PST, for those too anxious to wait until Quantum of Solace to see it on the big screen.

And speaking of QoS -- what a great trailer line-up: Star Trek, Watchmen, and surely some other tentpole release. Enjoy.

And how great is this poster? I personally like it better than the character one-sheets. I think it's a little more approachable for those unfamiliar with the graphic novel.

New Watchmen promotional poster

Obviously we are going to see this on opening day as a class excursion. I'd like everyone to pay attention to the marketing of this film over the next moths. It's interesting because unlike Batman, Spider-man, etc. there's no strong built in awareness of these characters. They just released promo posters (see above) of all of the major characters, except for the heroine. Let's think of how these pictures reflect genre - but also who they seem to be addressing.

Peanut Watchmen

Personally, this looks better to me than the film's posted costumes.

Watchmen -- from Graphic Novel to Screen

I came across this on one of the blogs I check regularly. It shows a progression from the pages of Watchmen to a storyboard to a still from Zack Snyder's 2009 film adaptation. I thought it fits nicely with our discussions of adaptations and sequels, etc. And it's always cool to see actual storyboards.

While I have no idea what's going on in these stills, I'm sure I will soon.

Enjoy.

Who is Mr. A

Given the Objectivism post below, I thought I'd link to this fascinating comic exploration of Rand's philosophy. The first link to the actual on the subject is here. Go to the page, then scroll down to relevant links, and then click Ditko's Mr. A Secret Origins at Dial "B" For Blog. It's a three part article and you should read all three. This is a good tie-in to our discussions of super-heroes and might help address Sam's missive.

Who reads the watchman, part II

When the Watchmen came out in 1985, it was a monthly twelve issues. I would re-read each issue almost daily waiting for the next issue. In many ways, i believe that was the proper way to fully appreciate the book, rather than speeding through the whole thing at once. My only point is that I strongly recommend that you spend some time studying each page, and each chapter -- because there are amazing treasures to find. I have read this literally hundreds of times -- and I just reread it and spotted little pieces, transitions, subtle touches that I have missed every other time. That's how this book/series works. So Don't rush it -- take your time and read it with a close eye.

Like these panels for example. One is from the pirate comic, the next one is one of Rorschach. So the first thing we notice is that neither panel is isolated from the other in that the newstand operator's word balloon is in the pirate panel, and the pirate comic caption drifts over to the "real world" panel. Both captions/word balloons comment on both stories simultaneously. But then notice how there's a visual continuance also between the two panels with the horizontal raft and arm and the vertical mast and sign handle. The fact that the sign handle is farther to the right in its respective panel creates the illusion of movement for Rorschach when juxtaposed with the first panel as the mast (morphed into sign handle) progresses from the middle to the right. This even sets up a recurring thought of Rorschach as the approaching unyielding primeval shark -- Rawshark, in fact.

So please take a page or two and just study it closely -- look for the connections, the style, the absolute brilliance. Don't just read it for the content; it deserves More.

Who reads the Watchmen?

When class next meets I want everyone to have done the reading -- this includes It's a Bird and Watchmen. Watchmen was voted by Time magazine in 2005 as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. Once you've read it, and can't wait until class to read more about this incredible work, or if you need help understanding some of its more obscure historical references, I'd suggest the following:

Annotations
Chapter V-- A very smart analysis of my favorite chapter -- Fearful Symmetry.Here's the related browser to show just how Moore uses the symmetry them throughout this chapter/issue. Spend some time with this link, it's very impressive.
Another Watchmen site here where you can determine which character you have the most in common with. I tested closest to Nite Owl I. Go figure.