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  I WATCHED THE WATCHMEN

Reflections on the movie/graphic novel, and public critique

  A bitter comedian, a flightless owl, a ruthless pharaoh, a rebellious heroin, a psychotic detective, and a man made god; just some of the iconic archetypes that contribute to the “Watchmen” Graphic Novel’s dark allure. “Watchmen” is a character study, a mystery, a fantasy, and a dark satire on pop culture…

     …and the movie is awesome!

  Let us start by addressing some of the more juvenile critiques of both the movie and the graphic novel.

 1. “There are too many nude scenes of Dr. Manhattan!”

      Having read the book and previewed the early reviews, I had an unfair advantage over many of my fellow moviegoers, as I had some idea as to what I should expect, once the film started rolling. I found that the movie closely followed the book in many respects, including the nonchalant presentation of Dr. Manhattan’s naked form.  In Watchmen, Jon Osterman is a shy genius, who is a physicist, who repairs watches on the side.  A series of events lead him to enter a nuclear annihilation chamber. The chamber’s fail-safe locks Jon in while his “intrinsic field” is removed, thus tearing his atoms apart. The essence of Osterman, existing outside of what we know of as time and space, is eventually able to restructure him as a superhuman ultraviolet life form. From that point in the story, Jon struggles to hold on to his humanity, while he is painfully aware that he is not, and will never again be human.

     Osterman is renamed “Dr. Manhattan” by the US government, and spends much of the story being used to meet the ends of human beings and their base needs. This is the irony of his existence, that he is used and worshipped. He is a scapegoat and a savior, expected to act only in the interests of the Government of the United States of America.

     Dr. Manhattan is a mockery of gods, heroes, idols, and humanity, while he is a slave to certain aspects of the human condition. When Osterman lost his intrinsic field, he lost his ego and his moral values and beliefs. This helps to explain why Dr. Manhattan is unabashed by walking around naked.