Tweet
Got it from the library to see what all the fuss is/was about. I'm not sure why "the smartest man in the world" chooses a well-known variant form of his own ****ing name as the password to his super-secret files, nor why he implemented a password system that actually says, "no, that wasn't quite it, but you were close. Guess again, with something a little longer?" But I'll overlook that, as it was essential to the plot that he become temporarily retarded in that respect. Plus it was written in the eighties, so that kind of idiocy isn't utterly inexcusable, I guess. At least he didn't use his pet's name.
But what's up with the ending? His nefarious plan is a nonsensical cross between 9/11 and Orson Welles' production of War of the Worlds. A big ugly thing mysteriously appears in NYC, stone dead, and half the population inexplicably dead beside it. So naturally the USA and USSR conclude that this gigantic thing is the forerunner of a massive alien invasion (the U.S. doesn't do what it really would and figure it's a communist secret weapon) and they have to step back from the brink of nuclear war so they can fight it off together. Also, apparently there are psychic people in the Watchmen universe--they were just never mentioned and had no meaningful impact on the plot until Ozymandias popped them out.
Of course, we teamed up with the dirty commies before, against Hitler, and the Cold War began shortly after his body hit the floor of that bunker. So Ozzy will have to mount a perpetual campaign of phony Space Invaders to keep the two world superpowers from threatening each other with annihilation again, until such time as we actually begin liking each other again. Or alternate-reality Gorbachev comes to power, but I don't think Moore anticipated that. So the guy has to continue to mount a series of "alien attacks" indefinitely, with a real body count and special effects convincing enough to hoodwink the entire world. And everybody but Rorschach is okay with this plan.
In a word, the ending is incredibly frigging stupid. Why? I can think of five explanations:
1. The creators of Watchmen were actually morons, and it didn't occur to them that the plot had holes the size of the Grand Canyon in it.
2. They weren't morons per se, but the story's ending has some huge symbolic meaning to them and they value that more than its actually making a lick of sense.
3. They wrote themselves into a corner, were facing a deadline or something, and so just threw something in the gap for want of anything better.
4. It's a sly reference to another comic, or a gigantic gag. I hear Watchmen is highly subversive of comic-book conventions and other stuff that gets hipsters off, so they decided to be anarchically wacky.
5. I'm missing some crucial element that makes it not-stupid.
Which one of the five is it, Watchmen fans? Or is it something else entirely?
But what's up with the ending? His nefarious plan is a nonsensical cross between 9/11 and Orson Welles' production of War of the Worlds. A big ugly thing mysteriously appears in NYC, stone dead, and half the population inexplicably dead beside it. So naturally the USA and USSR conclude that this gigantic thing is the forerunner of a massive alien invasion (the U.S. doesn't do what it really would and figure it's a communist secret weapon) and they have to step back from the brink of nuclear war so they can fight it off together. Also, apparently there are psychic people in the Watchmen universe--they were just never mentioned and had no meaningful impact on the plot until Ozymandias popped them out.
Of course, we teamed up with the dirty commies before, against Hitler, and the Cold War began shortly after his body hit the floor of that bunker. So Ozzy will have to mount a perpetual campaign of phony Space Invaders to keep the two world superpowers from threatening each other with annihilation again, until such time as we actually begin liking each other again. Or alternate-reality Gorbachev comes to power, but I don't think Moore anticipated that. So the guy has to continue to mount a series of "alien attacks" indefinitely, with a real body count and special effects convincing enough to hoodwink the entire world. And everybody but Rorschach is okay with this plan.
In a word, the ending is incredibly frigging stupid. Why? I can think of five explanations:
1. The creators of Watchmen were actually morons, and it didn't occur to them that the plot had holes the size of the Grand Canyon in it.
2. They weren't morons per se, but the story's ending has some huge symbolic meaning to them and they value that more than its actually making a lick of sense.
3. They wrote themselves into a corner, were facing a deadline or something, and so just threw something in the gap for want of anything better.
4. It's a sly reference to another comic, or a gigantic gag. I hear Watchmen is highly subversive of comic-book conventions and other stuff that gets hipsters off, so they decided to be anarchically wacky.
5. I'm missing some crucial element that makes it not-stupid.
Which one of the five is it, Watchmen fans? Or is it something else entirely?
Comment