watchwhat?

[lookingland]

i just watched the Watchmen (and women).

it's a wonderfully complex tale full of gritty harsh realities and the intricacies of moral ambiguity.

yeah, i think i hated it.

please feel free to try to convince me otherwise.

: o p

Comments

[ryan-howse.livejournal.com]

I love the graphic novel, but have no desire whatsoever to see the movie.

And yeah, I don't think I'll try to convince you. Among other things, the people who identify strongly with Rorschach terrify the hell out of me.

[countessariadne.livejournal.com]

Why don't you want to see the movie?

[ryan-howse.livejournal.com]

For the same reason I wouldn't want to watch, say, Ulysses. Metafiction which comments on its own medium does not translate into new mediums.

[ryan-howse.livejournal.com]

Also, I should add in that, after the dull AND misogyny-filled 300, I have no desire to give Snyder any of my money.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

Amen to that. ugh. i confess i did not pay to watch it.

: o p

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

it's the people who would identify with Ozymandias that ought to terrify us. in the big picture, Rorschach is an agent of chaos, which is balance (the world is not tidy an convenient). it's the people who think it's their business to control the world who are running contrary to nature.

that i bother arguing on this level tells me there's something worthwhile about the story, but it's so appalling i'm not sure yet whether it's really justified.

: o p

[countessariadne.livejournal.com]

Wow, you're the first person I've ever heard say that.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i am generally a fan of alan moore and usually agree with his world perspective, but i found this nihilistic almost to the extreme. the very very ending nearly saves the film, but what a wretched journey.

: o p

[amberdulen.livejournal.com]

Nah. :) You're allowed to hate it, as long as you get it and can understand why others might love it.

I am a little curious whether the book would make you hate it more or eliminate some of the stuff you didn't like.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i wonder that myself ~ my brother is reading the book before he sees the film. what bothers me is that there's something at the core of what the story is saying that i really dislike/disagree with and i don't know whether that will change in a different medium unless the book is radically different from the film.

it's definitely a provocative film. i continue to think about it and wrestle with it.

: D

[java-fiend.livejournal.com]

I am unable to try to persuade you to love it... I haven't seen it and really have no desire to pay 10 bucks to see it. Rental maybe.

Just curious though... what inspires such hatred and loathing in you?

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i guess to sum up: it's a movie that spend two and a half hours absolutely reveling in chaos, bloodshed, genocide, and sheer nastiness, then tries to tell you in the last two seconds of the film: by the way, that's bad.

it's definitely a thinking person's film, but i have to say i think most people won't spend the energy to really puzzle it out and are going to leave the theatre with the absolutely wrong message.

also, it's just really dang depressing. like you really want to spend two and a half hours of your life exposing yourself to every imaginable degeneracy of the human race?

so yeah: i find it nihilistic and nihilism is a hugely big no-no on my entertainment requirement list.

and i think that's as best as i can articulate it.

: D

[java-fiend.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Yeah, I can see how that might be a bit of a drag to watch. Though I have to say, based on your description, I'm sort of a wee bit more intrigued now than I was before. lol... How twisted is that?

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

well i don't discourage people from seeing it, necessarily. in fact, for writers, i definitely think it's worth watching. i just don't feel compelled to ever see it again. hahahahaha ~

i will read the book, however, because i do admire alan moore and i wonder if the film just missed the mark.

: D