Superjunk: Watchmen Goes Full-Frontal

You really have to read the graphic novel to understand why it's such an "important" work in the genre of comics, as well as to understand the theme, which gets lost in the movie due to the special effects, etc. Alan Moore deconstructed super heroes in Watchmen - there really are no superheroes. They all have fears, and ennui, and jealousies, and do some bad things. Ozymandias is the closest to a real superhero, and his plan to save the world requires that millions die! The irony of course is that the one guy who does have super powers becomes less and less human and cares less and less about saving mankind - Dr. Manhattan. Homophobia, racism, fascism..these are all addressed in the novel, but they are not the main point. The main point is that power corrupts in one way or another, and that there really are no super heroes....just heroes doing what they can with what they've got. And a movie with a genrerous blue penis IS a step towards more comfortable sexuality in the masses!

All the stated defenses of the novel are fine and good .. but how many 12- to 16-year-old boys (and there WILL be many, regardless of the R rating) .. as well as older 17- to 22-year olds for example, can be expected to have read it, or can be expected to read it later? I expect very few. I'd expect that a large number of viewers are new to the material, and will base their interpretation on what they see on the screen rather than on words in a book they'll never read.

Um, to Calvin and people who think like this... read the book. I wouldn't say that it makes the issues ok, but it puts them in context and if anything might help you understand that it really isn't about the movie. Although be prepared to find out that the explicitly gay characters are kicked out and killed, sadists who brutalize young men, and a whining, clingy masochist who another feels might be destroying the group. Also be prepared to find out that along with rooting out issues like homosexuality, the minutemen and watchmen were concerned with helping the government with things like the liberal problem and black uprising, not just "the gang problem" as the movie presents. What people need to remember is that there is not a single hero in "WATCHMEN". Not one. If you feel anyone is to "blame", that starts at Moore's doorstep.

Reading some of the comments, some of you people have to read the Graphic Novel. This was not homophobic at all. Ozymandias' sexuality is debatable. Rorschach, who is homophobic no doubt but has never been in any relationship, seems to think he is but Ozy is simply in love with himself. His views on the world can pertain to any petty dictator with aspirations of changing the entire world landscape, gay or straight. First of they are Vietnamese, not Asian. It is in a parallel universe where the US won the Vietnam War and The Comedian's feelings toward the country are nearly word for word what Lyndon Johnson truly thought about Vietnam. Remember that is a fictionalized account on revisionist history. Duh, they get killed in the movie, we beat them. We also lost and killed a lot of them in real life. I wouldn't call this the most gay friendly super hero movie but it is more about philosophy and views of human nature. Lots of Cold War era material.

I did see the movei and completely agree with Dillon's comments. I found the movie homophobic overall! The fact that the lesbian super-hero is the least defined, has basically no dialogue, and is killed off for being a lesbian was quite telling. The use of "homo" and the down-playing of more overt gay themes is also telling. One of the writes, Alan Moore, also wrote "V for Vendetta" and is known for being gay friendly. I personally did NOT see that in this film.

Have you agree with the comment-eers on this one Advocate... Anyone that is focused on Billy Crudup's "Big Blue" is clearly not paying attention to how great of a story this was. Does seeing a penis in a movie make it a gay friendly film? Your childish bantering makes "the gay culture" even less appealing. Straight people don't act this way when they see a boob on the screen. Time to grow up and stop being such a prude.

Look, I could care less if the movie was based on a diary entry by Ann Frank, I was still disturbed by the content - people keep mentioning the graffic novel like somehow this changes my opinion of the movie. Male nudity does not equate with the acceptence of male homosexuality. Just because a film or graphic novel discusses homosexuality doesn't mean it will be rational or thoughtful. I guess I'm tired of seeing story lines discussing Armageddon as it relates to child molesting and homosexuality... like it's one and the same. It's like a 45 year old man with a 14 year old's mentality wrote this... with sexuality identity issues unresolved. Or written by Andrew Cunanan, gay panic armed and ready. I find it interesting to take the super-hero genre, marketed to kids, and apply the adult forinicated, corrupt aspect upon it. What's next, Mickey Mouse as Hitler? Sponge Bob is J. Edgar Hoover?

I agree. did this journalist even read the novel? can we talk about Silhouette's sexuality or the fact that Ozymandias' homosexuality was completely bowdlerized?

Dillon, the reason why the movie depicts these things is because that's what the original graphic novel depicted. Every single one of the things you mention is lifted directly from the original, and the story takes place in an alternative past--complete with the homophobia, violence, racism, and sexism. The novel brings these incidents to light not to condone them but to critique them as elements of a far-from-perfect world, occupied by equally far-from-perfect characters. (Read it, it's better and much more nuanced and complex than the movie.) The original graphic novel exposes these prejudices in much the same way, then, that a movie like Schindler's List exposes the anti-Semitism of the Nazis. But if there is any criticism to be leveled here, it is perhaps that these subtleties will be entirely missed by your average movie-going American teenager, who is expecting a typical Hollywood blockbuster and has no brain capacity to understand what Watchmen is actually about.

The depiction of women, gays, and Asians is upsetting. Asians are all killed in this movie . Of the 6 female characters; 4 are seen in stockings, 3 are called whores, and 1 who is pregnant is killed. 1 male has issues getting it up, 1 is accused of phoning it in. 1 male attempts rape, but it's implied she grants access later. A lesbian is quickly murdered because of her sexuality. A girl, unseen, implied to have been molested and eaten by dogs. Our villian is implied to be gay because his computer has a file entitled "boys"- implies possible pedophile- he frequents Studio 54, is bleach blonde and wears mascara. Gay lifestyle is equated with via narration as moral decay and filthy. If all you care about is abs, ass, and penis, you'll fail to see how gender, race, and sexuality have once again been rendered as morally corrupt and pathetic. Shame on you Advocate for leaving your mind and chasing a blue tail.