#wathcmen

I watched Watchmen for the first time last night and spotted a familiar face .... Hello Matt Frewer my love .....

Edgar Jacobi / Moloch - Played by Matt Frewer

WATCHMEN--Angela Abar Hooded Coat

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What a dramatic ending. I was slightly surprised to see that Veidt was behind all of this. But now that I really think about it, it makes sense that he was. Veidt is rich and powerful and certainly capable to pull something like this off.  Throughout the entire comic, I was confused as to who to characterize as an hero and villain but now that I’ve finished reading I realize that maybe this ambiguity was done on purpose. I think a great theme of this comic is exploring what a heroic and villainous role is. In these last two chapters, I think it is clear that Veidt is the villain due to how he killed so many people. However, I think you can ask the question were his intentions evil? Veidt said that his mission is to save the world. He believes that the lives of a few million people aren’t much compared to the lives of billions in the world. I’m starting to think that maybe Veidt represents power and what it means to be responsible for many lives, attributes all heroes typically have. I couldn’t help but relate him to leaders and rulers across the world especially when he mentioned Alexander the great. It made me think do leaders and heroes really know what’s best for us and should they be responsible for making decisions like these? 

Also, I found it very interesting how the other reacted after Veidt unleashed his terror on the city. They were all so quick to look the other way and not bring justice. They claimed to hide this from the public because it would ensue world war 3. However, Rorschach, still loyal to his black and white morals, believes this is wrong and dies because he can’t live without bringing justice. For the first time, I saw Rorschach as a hero in this comic. 

Overall, I somewhat enjoyed reading this comic. It was slightly challenging to read, due to how odd the plot was moving along at times. However, I think the symbols and metaphors the comic contains is very intriguing. I’m looking forward to maybe talking some more about the themes and symbolisms in class. 

Throughout the duration of this class, we have discussed the various factors that make up the hero-villain formula. Typically, this is pretty straightforward without much deviation; both heroes and villains experience some kind of physical or emotional trauma, and the response to the trauma is to take a good or an evil approach towards the rest of their lives. Heroes use their adversity for good, to better society and help others, while villains often stew in their anger or disappointment and wish to impose similar anger on the people around them . In Chapter 11 of Watchmen, the reader is exposed to another, more complex response to trauma when Veidt is recounting his life story to his friends. Veidt explains that, after the death of his parents, “[He] was determined to measure [his] successes against [those of Alexander of Macedonia]. Firstly, [Veidt] gave away [his] inheritance to demonstrate the possibility of achieving anything, starting from nothing” (Moore 356). Veidt continues telling his friends, “Next I departed for northern Turkey, to retrace my hero’s steps” (356). This response to trauma is more unique than the basic ones we have seen, as it focuses much more heavily on the character himself and not on the impact of his actions on others. Veidt giving away his inheritance to prove a point is a spiteful way to acknowledge his past trauma. Though the money he gave away could have helped other people, this does not fit the typical hero mold we have studied because he did not give his inheritance away for the benefit of others but rather for his own benefit. Similarly, traveling far to learn more about the experiences of someone he regarded highly revolved greatly around the self and did not help or harm others.

As for the comic as a whole, I enjoyed the commentary on gender achieved through Laurie and Dan’s interactions in Chapter 7 the most because it is so contradictory to what is typically seen in a hero-villain story. As we have studied, “fridged” women are typical in comics in which a female is over sexualized and her only purpose in the story is to die and enhance the masculinity of the hero. However, I find it interesting that Laurie plays the more masculine role here while Dan shows a more sensitive, vulnerable side unusual in the male characters of so many plotlines.