Class Summary
Today we continued our discussion on Moore's Watchmen, particularly focusing on the extremity of the novel. For instance, one argument was whether Ozymandias was a villain because he killed half of New York. However, further conversation provoked the idea that his overall goal was pure. He killed half of New York for a higer purpose, pushing his goals to the limit. But isn't that what all superheroes do-take matters to an extreme?
Superheroes are portrayed a lifestyle of fantasy. Dr. Manhattan embodies a Jesus-like persona on many instances, both walking on water and by resembling a traditional crucifixion stance in one scene showing the reader both his palms and feet. The view of women is greatly fantasized through Moore's novel, as in many other comic strips. Laurie, the central woman role, exists to keep her man happy and often has her lack of modesty addressed by her scandalous costumes. Women are always portrayed in comics as scandalous or a damsel in distress.
A direction of pattern is recurring throughout the plot in a very detailed manner. The authors studied across the semester, including Moore have created patterns, giving unity and meaning. For instance, the smiley face in Watchmen is a seemingly insignificant icon, but is seen even on fire hydrants, the pumpkin, crater on mars, and of corse the cover. It is up to the reader to detect these paterns throughout the story and apply the meaning associated with those paterns. This insight of pattern extends further to habits of human life. Mankind has a tendency to search for pattern or a sense of regularity, giving a sense of purpose. Meaning only exists in our World if mankind studies and applies that meaning.
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Passages
"I think we'll give it a week gentlemen, before bringing out our big guns . . . After that humanity is in the hands of a higher authority than mine . . . Let's just hope he's on our side." Chapter 3 page 28
This passage recognizes Dr. Manhattan's superhuman ability. Usually the words "higher authority" are referencing God. Dr. Manhattan is considered to have a good impact on the fate of the world like a god figure does.
"You remember that costume? With that stupid little short skirt and the neckline going down to the navel? God, that was so dreadful." Chapter 1 page 25
Laurie is discussing her costume and how "dreadful" it was. However, she is once again fitting the stereo-typical view of women in comic books by her scandalous way of dressing.
Terms
Mutually assured destruction- military stradegy in which a full scale use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender (much like in the Cold War).
Hubris- the Greek overweening pride. In Greek tragedies, this typically leads to the downfall.
Realism - subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation.
Comments (1)
Brian Croxall said
at 12:46 pm on Dec 7, 2009
You had a tough task to write notes for the final day of class, in which we covered a lot of ground with Watchmen very quickly. I'm glad that you decided to isolate three different topics that we discussed in class: the ending, the role of fantasy (Doctor Manhattan and women), and patterns. I would have liked you to emphasize a bit more how the ending forces us to engage in the same moral dilemma that Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, and Rorschach find themselves facing at the hands of Ozymandias, which might have allowed you to talk about the interesting visuals related to Rorschach at this moment. I also would have liked to see a bit more clarification on how we read the rape scene in chapter 2 as a commentary on the fantasy of comic readers for the stereotypical female superhero. I know that you are limited on what you can say in the summary, but you could have used a third passage to talk about this. In fact, I was surprised that there were only two passages here.
Overall, I think the notes could have been more polished.
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