...In Review, "Watchmen"...

In reading Alan Moore's "Watchmen", I come to the conclusion that no matter how controversial this book may be in particular groups I believe this is a remarkable collection of literature. From the beginning to the end, components of Fretag's Triangle are visible.
Beginning with the introduction of characters, such as the heroes, a newspaper salesman, the police, etc. All of which play a key role in this story's layout.
The next component made available is that of a series of initial conflicts. minor conflicts between the heroes within the Crime Busters group. Conflicts between main characters and themselves. Conflicts between who they were and who they are. Conflicts between U.S.A. and the REDs.

And as if it was not enough for all this to happen. Then the one major component of U.S. Defense Plans got up and left. Knowing this the REDs began to progress with their threats. This sends everyone into a chaotic blitz of sorts. Which does nothing but create more and more crime. However, crime fighting has been outlawed. A few old school masked heroes through back on their suits as the reversal begins and by the time the climax is here, we've already found out that everything from the Defense weapon's leaving to the murder of the Comedian and various other things are all caused by one individual. I'd rather not give it away, but the crime fighters journey to the revealed villains lair where he explains his master plan. You know, the usual bad guy thing. But un like any other hero comic, this ending is different. It through me for a loop. I strongly recommend this book to anyone.

...Verbal Chains...

Back in the day of my grandfather, words served a particular use. To explain exactly what was need to be said and that was it. My grandfather doesn't know any slang, he doesn't know any highly educated words, but in now a days terms his speech would be politically incorrect because of one certain word. My grandfather grew up in a small rural town in southern Illinois, before the march on Capital Hill, before Martian Luther King's speech, before any of this had affected speech. If you were to ask him what he calls people of another color or race, he would say what we've now come to understand as "the 'N' word". This was the only word he knew. This is the word he grew up with. This is his familiarity. However, if he were to say it amongst some of the groups of today, I fear that he may sustain a few injuries.

Also, on another note, music today has changed. Even I can recall back to a time in music where 'bitch' was never allowed to on the free air waves of a radio broadcasting site. Now, you can hear it used, granted if you listen for it. Certainly media has changed drastically in the recent five years or so.

Along with a change in media, there has been a change in who is allowed to say certain words, and who is allowed to be offended by the use of certain words. In a recent example, Don Imus , a popular radio personality, was in the spotlight for saying a racial slur directed towards a collegiate women's basketball team. Don Imus is white and the team members of whom he was talking about were black. This team members took offense to his words, but lets say a black radio host were to say the exact same racial slur that Imus used. What then? Would they call for the firing of that radio host as well? Or would it go unnoticed?

Sitting in my English class today, we also considered comedy. Comedy as such as how it is okay for black comics to make jokes about white people and the things they do, but (big BUT) if a white comedian were to make jokes directed towards what black people do I'm sure he would find out very quickly that that was a mistake. Take into consideration Micheal Richards, most commonly known as Kramer form the hit comedy sitcom called Seinfeld. Granted he situation was in a burst of rage, but say that had happened to a black comedian and instead of continuously saying "the 'N' word" say he said something like cracker or honky or whatever, would it have the same out come? or would it just set the audience into a roar of laughter?

What has happened to today's language? Is it only for a few?
The best answer I can give to that is this. Say what needs to be said. If there is no need to point out the targets race, color, or creed, then don't. Or plainly, do what Ms. T, a teacher at my elementary school, told me, "If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say a thing."

...Conflicts Within "Watchmen"...

Another day, another post.

In my reading of the Watchmen, I have noticed specific conflicts. Conflicts such as Laurie Juspeczyk and her continuous struggle within as to who she loves. Is it Jon aka Mr. Manhattan to whom she has lived with for a long period of time, or is it Dan aka Nite Owl to whom she has been sleeping with as a result of a dispute between herself and Jon.

Another would be with Jon vs. himself. As we find him a few chapters down the line living isolated on the red barren grounds of the planet Mars, he seems to be torn between whether or not the human race is worth his time. Apparently, his previous life as a human has no weight within his carefully calculated plans. But maybe there's a slight hesitation with this because this also brings up another conflict within himself. Seeing how he cares for Laurie, he would gladly protect the world from destruction if it meant that she'd be safe.

The conflict of Walter vs. mankind. Walter, aka Rorschach, shows signs of unresolved moral issues. Moral issues as portrayed by society as having no place within their confines. This side story has a lot to do with the meaning of this particular book, at least I believe. Rorschach vs. society can be interpreted as the heroes vs. society, as well. Rorschach says in the book that he does the things cops don't want to do, that they don't even want to think about, or maybe that was from a Spider-Man comic, either way I believe with it. As part of the struggle with society, Rorschach was arrested and sent to a prison. Even though he was set aside from the present public society, he found himself in the spotlight of the criminal society located there within the prison's concrete block cells.

Another prominent conflict that exhibits itself as the Man vs. Man conflict, would be that of the nations of America and the Communists known as "Reds." After the situation leading up to the absence of Mr. Manhattan (Jon), America's apparently only weapon holding the Reds at bay, rumors of WWIII spread as news reports feed in from the Middle East of tanks and troops of the Reds invading countries. This may have been prevented if another conflict had not happened earlier between Mr. Manhattan and society. This conflict was do to the noticeable direct attack on Mr. Manhattan when reporters accused him of infecting people he had came in contact with cancer.

To list all the conflicts within this book, would be close to having to write a whole other book just dealing with them all. I recommend you read Watchmen.

..."The Empire Strikes Back" Has Meaning?...

I guess I never really thought about it before back when I watched the original Star Wars Trilogy, but just like almost every other movie, Star Wars does have meaning. Mainly focusing on the fifth movie, titled The Empire Strikes Back, I've taken notice of a few bits of information that before was like "yeah I get it." Now with a little more years behind me and a bit more experience with life in general, some of the associations represented in the movie are a lot clearer. Such as, most of the human life shown in the movie appear to being American. I understand that it may had been all the actors the producers could get, or maybe that was part of George Lucas' plan in directing the movie. Some thing I noticed, after I watched a behind the scenes feature, was that the Empire's helmets looked like old Japanese war helmets. Something I thought about while watching the movie was how the Rebels' helmets seemed familiar also. They seem to remind me of Roman Centurion helmets, whether or not that was intended or not.

I also noticed something I did not think about before, The "Force." The more I ponder what it is or what it represents I can't help but ask myself, "is the Force a form of religion in the Star Wars' world?" This "Force" has followers as do religions. It also has those that believe it exists but do not follow it fully. And there are even those who use it to their advantage. This question has really had me thinking for awhile.

...Faith Within "Watchmen"...

Today, Mr. Nail asked us to find Faith in our books. However, when I went in search for the presence of faith in the "Watchmen", I instead found the opposite. It seems to me that the "Watchmen" was written in a fashion that shows what happens when faith has completely left. In the scene by scene sketches of this graphic novel, crime runs rampant. The heroes save the day. There is really no spiritual background, except for the point at which Mr. Manhattan says to a reporter that he is God. The way I precieve this writing as a challenage to God, asking Him where He is. Throughout the book, maybe not verbally, but in action the characters battle for the answer to the question "Where is God?"