WATCHMEN Movie Discussion (SPOILERS allowed)!

[IrishJedi]

I love how this is always the defense. Its true but still its only margainly better.

True. The defense should be that he's the only one of the main characters who not only gets it, but shows remorse and redemption when the end comes.

 

[Scar]

I love how this is always the defense. Its true but still its only margainly better.

The man is only so monstrous. Gotta quibble to defend Blake where I can.

 

[Scar]

True. The defense should be that he's the only one of the main characters who not only gets it, but shows remorse and redemption when the end comes.

Fine way of framing it. Blake recognizes some of his actions as monstrous and that he, in reality, has made himself a monster in reflection of the viciousness of mankind, and more importantly because all of his life he considered it just good ol' misanthropic fun. Veidt's plan makes even Blake step back and take measure of his life; I think that's perhaps the best evidence of the plan's success. The one man who championed savagery as a very successful lifestyle and justifies his actions in that all people are deep down just like him and worse, is forced to see the horrors within himself and feel remorse.

 

[The Mike]

The man is only so monstrous. Gotta quibble to defend Blake where I can.

Here is the interesting part.....everyone condemns Blake for the life he led, he attempted to rape a fellow Minuteman, he impregnated a Vietnamese woman and kills her while she is pregnant and revels in chaos as well as serving his country. Yet in the end, he cannot bear to even witness the death and destruction of innocents on Veidt's level. He admits that the evil things he has done were in "war" including actual war on the battlefield and his "wars" on the streets of the United States whether political or practical. He cannot be apart of the mass murder that Veidt is proposing so he is killed. While the more "heroic" characters, the virtuous ones that everyone loves, the ones who are fighting against characters like Blake and look down upon him and snub their nose at him have no problem allowing the murders to occur, allow Veidt to continue. Looking at what Blake has done and what the others allow to occur one has to wonder just how monsterous everyone is....

Besides Rorschach who wouldn't compromise I would say that everyone else is more monsterous in the grand scheme than ol' Eddie Blake....its the "greater good" argument that really has people allowing these heroes to end their careers as no better than villains and giving them a pass for it.

Watchmen is a much more complex tale than everyone gives it credit for and no one comes out clean.

 

[Cloud]

And one who shoots pregnate woman, and rapes people. Oh and kills children. And killed JFK.....

And who appears smiling like a handsome devil in your own signature (honestly that grin makes me swoon, your sig feeds my obsession).

MySpace page?

I love the for/against debate going on in this thread over my beloved and oh-so-complicated Eddie. He's so deliciously layered. I just saw the film for the 4th time today, with my boyfriend. He wanted to make me feel better (I've been so depressed lately) so he offered to take me. I was very tired however and I kind of tuned out every scene that had nothing to do with the Comedian.

I just want to say that I adore the character, but I think both sides have very valid points. It's completely understandable to not be able to forgive a character who did the things that Eddie Blake did. You have to look at him from a certain, very open-minded point of view, and yet it's hard to do that for him to a lot of people because he might not deserve to be seen in that spectrum of light.

Eddie gets points from me that he probably doesn't get from most of you. Like the fact that I thought he was extremely sexy (obviously I do not share that opinion with you guys ). And because I am a story-writer, myself, I relish in characters like him who are so incredibly complicated, layered, mysterious and flawed. He was not a good guy by any means, but he was the kind of character I can't get enough of.

 

[jedibear]

Watchmen is a much more complex tale than everyone gives it credit for and no one comes out clean.

Well said and to the point. That's what makes it so compelling and amazing in both formats...the GN and the movie...

 

[Scar]

Watchmen is a much more complex tale than everyone gives it credit for and no one comes out clean.

I think most people give it credit for being an orgasmic layer cake of insight on a number of levels, but most of the people who never heard of the book but went to see the movie probably aren't pondering it as deeply. Questioning the definition of "hero" is at the heart of the story, and from a utilitarian perspective Veidt is far and away the most righteous. There aren't many schools of thought that will dub Blake the most virtuous, but Blake is intriguing because he knows people to be violent, and he spends his life forging himself into a soldier and reveling in the martial nature of his own kind. War is the type of situation Blake forges himself to thrive within; he's a fighter through and through and he absolutely loves what he does. But there's a difference between fighting as a warrior and dispassionately murdering several million people with, fingers crossed, the lofty goal of world peace in mind.

 

[HdoubleD]

Well, he definetly has the most talking points of all the characters i think.

Hes a man that fed into his aura of mercenary, soldier, warrior, patriot and government tool so completly that he completly alienated everyone around him through his attitude, words and actions(Silk Spector I and II, Nite-owl, Doc Manhattan). This then makes him go to his arch nemesis when its all to much to handle and he needed someone to talk to...truley tragic...

 

[CelticPredator]

Blake smiles at you.

 

[prefused]

Eddie gets points from me that he probably doesn't get from most of you. Like the fact that I thought he was extremely sexy (obviously I do not share that opinion with you guys ). And because I am a story-writer, myself, I relish in characters like him who are so incredibly complicated, layered, mysterious and flawed. He was not a good guy by any means, but he was the kind of character I can't get enough of.

it sounds like you're just romanticizing him to the point of making him fit into some strange alpha-male ideal.

 

[IrishJedi]

it sounds like you're just romanticizing him to the point of making him fit into some strange alpha-male ideal.

Leave her alone. She has fine taste!

lol)

 

[Cloud]

I would not want to be romantically tangled with him (look what happened to the Vietnamese woman!). Like I said, he'd be good for a one-night stand at best, which is what Sally used him for. If he really existed I'd be more interested in being his friend than lover. He's not my ideal male anything. Just my ideal interesting character. Someone your brain can really gnaw on. I put him in the same "tragic, cruel, interesting" category as Dr. Hannibal Lecter (whom I've also obsessed over), except Blake's a looker and Lecter was not.

 

[LChinoz]

Just saw it, sweet film, I give it a 8/10. I was surprised there were people walking out fo the theater...screaming "this movie sucks!" as they walked out. It happened when Dr. Manhattan was on that talk show, really ruined it for me. I am okay if you want to walk out on a movie (I have never done it myself), but do it in silence *********...anyway they missed out. The movie really picked up after that scene. I loved the prison scene with Rorsach (who looked exactly like Steve Nash ). Can't wait for the Blu!

 

[Shatterer of Dreams]

Just saw it, sweet film, I give it a 8/10. I was surprised there were people walking out fo the theater...screaming "this movie sucks!" as they walked out. It happened when Dr. Manhattan was on that talk show, really ruined it for me. I am okay if you want to walk out on a movie (I have never done it myself), but do it in silence *********...anyway they missed out. The movie really picked up after that scene. I loved the prison scene with Rorsach (who looked exactly like Steve Nash ). Can't wait for the Blu!

haha the first time i saw semi-pro i looked at my girlfriend (who thinks steve nash is kinda hot) and said "that hippy looks like steve nash."

 

[The Mike]

Like I said, he'd be good for a one-night stand at best, which is what Sally used him for.

Calling Sally and Edward's relationship just a one night stand is putting it too simplistically. Physically its all that might have been but you don't shed a tear or kiss the picture of a one night stand. Their relationship in the end was one of the most complex since it was a lot of things not said that built its foundations than anything else. Sally loved Edward and he obviously loved her but they knew that they couldn't actually be together because it was far too complicated given their pasts, their present and their future (Laurie).

 

[Entropy]

And none of that came through in the film. The Sally/Eddie/Laurie relationships were done lip service at best. Hopefully that sub plot will be beefed up in the DC.

 

[The Chrissy]

I understand why some people don't like him. Hell, the first thing my boyfriend said when we got out of the theater was "Wow, the Comedian sure was an ^^^^^^^, huh?" But I believe that he shot the pregnant Vietnamese girl because he was so overly stressed from war, and because she attacked him. They're not good excuses. Obviously there is never a good excuse for killing a pregnant woman. But Eddie is not a good example of a mentally stable person. He's very, very flawed.

Also, he loved Sally all his life. But, being the tough guy that he is, he didn't know how to show her. The attempted rape was horrible, but the fact that Sally actually let him into her bed later on, and in the book at the end, she places a kiss over him in a framed photograph, proves that there was more to it than lust.

I realize that this was posted days ago, but I almost think that the reason that Eddie killed the Vietnamese girl was not only out of anger, but also in a test of Dr. Manhattan's compassion for humans. I think this scene has many layers. I think Eddie doesn't really value the woman's life and looks down on the Vietnamese as less than human, so that is one reason he so easily shoots her. Then of course her cutting his face the way she did makes him very angry. I wonder if Eddie expected Jon to do stop him and when he didn't he just shows Jon how he is no better than he is.


I definitely think that the relationship between the Eddie and Sally is complicated and more than just a one night stand/ booty call between the two. They could never be together for various reasons. One being how stupid Sally would look if anyone knew that she was willing to forgive a man who tried to rape her and not only forgive hime but be in a relationship with him. I I also agree that he didn't know how to express love for anyone else. Which then makes me wonder more about him as to whether or not he was really capable of loving anyone, or even himself.

 

[HdoubleD]

And none of that came through in the film. The Sally/Eddie/Laurie relationships were done lip service at best. Hopefully that sub plot will be beefed up in the DC.

I Hope so. Hopefully they filmed the scene at the party when Eddy is in the tux and Silk II confronts him. Another scene that is crucial to the whole Silk I and II/Eddy dynamic was when Hollis Mason was talking to Silk I about "Under the Hood", and Silk wouldnt let Laurie read it as she was still too young. Add those 2 scenes in and the relationships would be SO MUCH better defined.

 

[The Chrissy]

I Hope so. Hopefully they filmed the scene at the party when Eddy is in the tux and Silk II confronts him. Another scene that is crucial to the whole Silk I and II/Eddy dynamic was when Hollis Mason was talking to Silk I about "Under the Hood", and Silk wouldnt let Laurie read it as she was still too young. Add those 2 scenes in and the relationships would be SO MUCH better defined.

That is the one negative thing I have to say about the film is that if you haven't read the book it is hard to understand the relationships between the characters. It makes the character development seem a little awkward in the movie. IMHO. I think that is common in movies based on books though because I felt that way with Twilight as well.

 

[IrishJedi]

The thing is... much of the powerful character stuff in WATCHMEN (the book itself) is dealt with in measured subtlety. That's why it takes multiple readings to truly absorb and appreciate it. While obviously not nearly as layered or complex (and some good stuff is missing), the film was designed much the same way... so savvy viewers will start getting these elements upon repeat viewings. Frankly, I applaud Snyder & company for going that route instead of the usual mallet-over-the-head approach. WATCHMEN is not meant to be read/seen just once.