Reminds me of our version of the fickle, violent, jealous and dangerous Greek and Roman “gods.” But for a modern audience. Have you watched, and do you like, the modernized “Animal Farm,” which Angel just launched?
I appreciate Moore and Nitsche for the same reason: they are honest about what their atheism really has to offer humanity--meaningless, unrelenting and inescapable darkness.
Reminds me of the movie Brightburn. It follows a story similar to the origin of Superman. But it demonstrates exactly what would happen if a 12-year-old boy suddenly discovered he has super powers. He begins by torturing children at school, proceeds to killing people he doesn't like. At first hiding what he does until he fully realizes no one can stop him, then moves on to gratuitously killing people, finishing off his parents and finally terrorizing the entire world.
It's another needed counterbalance to the hero fantasy.
I remember watching the Watchmen once. I also kept waiting for some redeeming moment- it never came. My wife gave up on it long before the end - she’s wiser than me. I like the superhero genre - maybe a holdover from a childhood waiting for the next edition of the Uncanny X-Men. (And maybe dreaming of having some superpowers of my own. So far spider bites have not had such remarkable outcomes. )
A footnote to your footnote: The movie completely missed a point of Dr. Manhattan's nudity from the original graphic novel. There, it was represented in shall we say, a "small" manner, further emphasizing his complete impotence despite having god-like powers. And there are soooo many details, balance, and juxtaposition to the comics. And Easter Eggs - There's even a "V" logo on the truck in the first issue where people are cleaning up the mess of the Comedian's demise. They were telling us who did it from the very start.
I remember a Sunday morning lecture by voice actor Crispin Freeman at an Anime Central event a couple of decades ago. He was contrasting American and Japanese superheroes American superheroes (he said) are all human because our God became a man. Japanese superheroes can be anything, because in animism, anything can be a god. This is especially clear in Miyazaki's films.
As an over-thinking, slightly anxious kid, my main concern about superheroes (my favourite was Superman) was that they would not be able to "get" all the baddies! Then I started reading the Bible, and talking to Jesus in prayer, and even now, when I think of all that is going on around us, a few minutes in prayer is all I need to quell that anxiety and know, truly know, that everything willbe okay, because Jesus will make it so. "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." (Julian of Norwich.)
We had a similar (albeit way less serious) conversation with the kids a while back about how incredibly horrible it would be if Pokemon actually existed. Wild roaming packs of animals with the power to throw fire, lightning, and ice storms around!
The Watchmen (comic) was the peak of deconstruction of Superheroes and the Superhero Trope. He'd been doing it for some time, as his first target for this was the Original Captain Marvel in the British "Marvel Man/Miracle Man" series. Unfortunately, this is no different in the Dark Knight by Frank Miller from the same time period. While Moore actively worked to destroy heroes and superheroes in his deconstruction, Miller did not (to the best of my knowledge). Deconstruction is pointless without rebuilding, and Moore couldn't do that, as his anarchist core could not allow for a hierarchical "good" that the original Superhero Trope encompasses. Moore is likely unable to conceive of an aspirational hero, much less write one. A trait shared by most modern writers and directors in Hollowood.
The Superhero Trope is a mixture of Aesop's Fables, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Junior Classics, and the Copybook Headings. Infusing it with Realism -- as has been done in comic books and the movies since the late 1960s -- will only destroy the Trope over time. That was Moore's intent, and unfortunately Miller contributed to it. How? The financial success of both books led much lesser creators to ape what Moore and Miller did with injecting more and more Realism vice Verisimilitude. This then bled into films, with the predictable effects and outcomes. If you follow comic book sales, this trend has destroyed the industry. Marvel and DC in the 60s through the 80s would cancel books that sold less than 100K units per month. The anemic sales of comics today average in the 10s of thousands, at best. The notable exceptions are Batman and Spider-Man, and even these suffer mightily under the weight of modern "creatives."
[Insert Iowahawk's 'skinsuit' tweet from 2016 here.]
The most miserable thing to note is that comics were a medium for children -- roughly ages 8 to 16 -- that was taken over by Boomers and weak Silent generation creators, then "modernized" and "made relevant" for audiences of the late 60s and beyond. The cancer was introduced to destroy an entertainment for children to make it a political, social, and often sexual perversion vehicle for people aged 34-37 on average (2024 figures).
What happened in comic books took about a decade to show up in films, where it took on its own cancerous leanings.
Reminds me of our version of the fickle, violent, jealous and dangerous Greek and Roman “gods.” But for a modern audience. Have you watched, and do you like, the modernized “Animal Farm,” which Angel just launched?
No, I decided to give it a pass after reading some reviews. Did you watch it?
Excellent analogy.
I appreciate Moore and Nitsche for the same reason: they are honest about what their atheism really has to offer humanity--meaningless, unrelenting and inescapable darkness.
Deconstructed Watchmen. Turned into a gospel message. Earned new subscriber
Reminds me of the movie Brightburn. It follows a story similar to the origin of Superman. But it demonstrates exactly what would happen if a 12-year-old boy suddenly discovered he has super powers. He begins by torturing children at school, proceeds to killing people he doesn't like. At first hiding what he does until he fully realizes no one can stop him, then moves on to gratuitously killing people, finishing off his parents and finally terrorizing the entire world.
It's another needed counterbalance to the hero fantasy.
I remember watching the Watchmen once. I also kept waiting for some redeeming moment- it never came. My wife gave up on it long before the end - she’s wiser than me. I like the superhero genre - maybe a holdover from a childhood waiting for the next edition of the Uncanny X-Men. (And maybe dreaming of having some superpowers of my own. So far spider bites have not had such remarkable outcomes. )
When my daughter got bit hard by a cat one time, I told her, "This is going to be your origin story--Cat Girl!" She wasn't amused.
A footnote to your footnote: The movie completely missed a point of Dr. Manhattan's nudity from the original graphic novel. There, it was represented in shall we say, a "small" manner, further emphasizing his complete impotence despite having god-like powers. And there are soooo many details, balance, and juxtaposition to the comics. And Easter Eggs - There's even a "V" logo on the truck in the first issue where people are cleaning up the mess of the Comedian's demise. They were telling us who did it from the very start.
Oh, my goodness... I'm usually pretty good with details. How did I miss the V?
The entire graphic novel is full of that stuff. No one can catch it all. Keep up the good work!
The graphic novel is a masterpiece on many levels. Do I recommend it? NO!
Makes sense.
I remember a Sunday morning lecture by voice actor Crispin Freeman at an Anime Central event a couple of decades ago. He was contrasting American and Japanese superheroes American superheroes (he said) are all human because our God became a man. Japanese superheroes can be anything, because in animism, anything can be a god. This is especially clear in Miyazaki's films.
As an over-thinking, slightly anxious kid, my main concern about superheroes (my favourite was Superman) was that they would not be able to "get" all the baddies! Then I started reading the Bible, and talking to Jesus in prayer, and even now, when I think of all that is going on around us, a few minutes in prayer is all I need to quell that anxiety and know, truly know, that everything willbe okay, because Jesus will make it so. "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." (Julian of Norwich.)
We had a similar (albeit way less serious) conversation with the kids a while back about how incredibly horrible it would be if Pokemon actually existed. Wild roaming packs of animals with the power to throw fire, lightning, and ice storms around!
The Watchmen (comic) was the peak of deconstruction of Superheroes and the Superhero Trope. He'd been doing it for some time, as his first target for this was the Original Captain Marvel in the British "Marvel Man/Miracle Man" series. Unfortunately, this is no different in the Dark Knight by Frank Miller from the same time period. While Moore actively worked to destroy heroes and superheroes in his deconstruction, Miller did not (to the best of my knowledge). Deconstruction is pointless without rebuilding, and Moore couldn't do that, as his anarchist core could not allow for a hierarchical "good" that the original Superhero Trope encompasses. Moore is likely unable to conceive of an aspirational hero, much less write one. A trait shared by most modern writers and directors in Hollowood.
The Superhero Trope is a mixture of Aesop's Fables, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Junior Classics, and the Copybook Headings. Infusing it with Realism -- as has been done in comic books and the movies since the late 1960s -- will only destroy the Trope over time. That was Moore's intent, and unfortunately Miller contributed to it. How? The financial success of both books led much lesser creators to ape what Moore and Miller did with injecting more and more Realism vice Verisimilitude. This then bled into films, with the predictable effects and outcomes. If you follow comic book sales, this trend has destroyed the industry. Marvel and DC in the 60s through the 80s would cancel books that sold less than 100K units per month. The anemic sales of comics today average in the 10s of thousands, at best. The notable exceptions are Batman and Spider-Man, and even these suffer mightily under the weight of modern "creatives."
[Insert Iowahawk's 'skinsuit' tweet from 2016 here.]
The most miserable thing to note is that comics were a medium for children -- roughly ages 8 to 16 -- that was taken over by Boomers and weak Silent generation creators, then "modernized" and "made relevant" for audiences of the late 60s and beyond. The cancer was introduced to destroy an entertainment for children to make it a political, social, and often sexual perversion vehicle for people aged 34-37 on average (2024 figures).
What happened in comic books took about a decade to show up in films, where it took on its own cancerous leanings.
It's very easy to destroy. Not so easy to create.
Nice read... of course I enjoyed it. I need to watch the extended version of the Watchmen now, I don't remember all of these subtleties you picked up.
Great take. Marvel and DC really have put rose tinted glasses on us in terms of the portrayal of superhumans.
BAD is GOOD seems to be the prevalent message from the Far Left these past few decades.
It often is. In this case, the message seemed to be there isn't any good.