Always wanted to write something about Watchmen, so uninvited. To answer this question, I opened the director's cut version of Watchmen that I stored on my computer and watched it off and on, hoping to find a clue that would allow me to make this complex film clear and answer the questioner's question. .
In the first place, why is "Watchmen" not as good as "Batman"? My answer is very simple, "Watchmen" is too complicated, to understand it requires too much background knowledge and rich aesthetic experience, "Batman" is much simpler, in line with the audience's expectations of a heroic movie, It also includes expectations for so-called "profound".
"Watchmen" has three things to pay attention to:
1. The background of the Cold War and the allusions to real politics
2. The shaping of the group of failed heroes (anti-heroes)
3. Towards a world where morality is collapsing
The dramatic conflicts of popular literary works often come from good and bad The opposition between evil, even in the Batman franchise. In "The Dark Knight", the struggle between the Joker and Batman leads to the theme that the duality of evil and good is sometimes inseparable, not antagonistic, but the "evil" represented by the Joker is a certainty after all, only in the world of "Batman" , Evil is, to a certain extent, the engine of good.
Good deeds are manifested because of sin.
In "The Dark Knight of Batman", the multiple-choice question of which of the two ships will explode first is an allegory of the worldview of the entire movie. In the movie, in the end, kindness triumphs over selfishness. The director seems to want to tell everyone that in a dark situation, the way to rescue lies in the hope and kindness in people's hearts. And this result caused a great blow to the clown, making the clown's self-contained dark worldview collapse instantly. Abandoning the dialectical analysis of "good and evil", "Batman The Dark Knight" is still a movie that meets the needs of most audiences for the hero to save the world, but this kind of popcorn movie that saves the world is different, it has gone through A process that allows the audience to finally discover that the hero is not extraordinary, he also has to overcome the dark shadow in his heart. This shadow comes from all kinds of desires that arise in the dark corners of human hearts, cowardice, selfishness, cowardice...
In the film "Watchmen", good and evil are almost indistinguishable.
The world of "Watchmen" is shrouded in the shadow of nuclear weapons, ready to be destroyed at any time. These heroes, their identities are also quite embarrassing. Their official status is a bit like the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty in China. They maintain order with unconventional violence outside the legal system, and their legitimacy is also questioned by the public. They were deeply involved in realpolitik, and even they were playing tricks on the dictatorship of Nixon. Only the comedian was involved in the murder of Kennedy, the suppression of the people's riots and the Vietnam War, and other political events; while Dr. Manhattan was a murderer in the Vietnam War, and watched the comedian kill pregnant women, he himself became the most important thing for the Americans to fight against the Soviet Union. weapons; Rorschach, who pursues absolute morality, helped Nixon clean up the two reporters of Watergate... Each hero has his own position and his own pursuit, and they form a group of heroes, but overall, they are just tools , no matter how otherworldly the tool may be. As tools, their behavior is difficult to measure against traditional standards of good and evil, although some of them have always maintained a personal judgment of good and evil, from which each expects to find his own way of survival and fulfillment personal value.
The irony is that the watchmen, who were effectively tools of violence, were outside the law, and were deposed by a piece of law after Nixon's dictatorship. They became redundant, and enforcers became a regulated group.
They are also lost victims, like lost lambs. Every hero faces a new life and new problems.
In the film, the public raises the question of who will oversee the watchmen ("Who watches the watchmen?"). This question is not just a questioning of the legitimacy of a violent institution, but a mockery. Along with this question, we can come into contact with a profound theme raised by this film: whether human beings have the ability to decide and take care of their own destiny, and give human beings a bright and hopeful future.
Today, we have a hard time empathizing with the Cold War. Few people understand the fear of nuclear weapons in the last century. During the decades of US-Soviet confrontation, the world was on the brink of nuclear weapons several times. The emergence of nuclear weapons has completely subverted human understanding of war. Why is there an arms race? Because people need to have a strong military force to help them develop a sense of security, but the escalating arms race is accompanied by various frictional events that may misfire, and human beings have entered a historical period of unprecedented insecurity. This lack of security is different from the ancients. The world of the ancients was small and material was not rich. In their short lives, they tend to work hard for the most basic right of existence. In modern society, especially in Western society, people are rich in material things. Just like what we saw in the perfume advertisements of Pharaoh's companies in the movie "Watchmen", those toned human bodies and luxurious living environment create a kind of utopia. lifestyle (all kinds of information about the pharaoh, all kinds of information suggest that he is not only gay, but also racist), this kind of good life no longer seems to be out of reach for people. But in the shadow of nuclear weapons and U.S.-Soviet confrontation, such a dream is like a sand tool and is extremely fragile.
In Watchmen, this fear of nuclear weapons is also very symbolic in itself. On the one hand, there is a real threat of war, and human civilization may be turned into scorched earth in an instant; on the other hand, this fear has turned into a shadow, a kind of extreme doubt about the contemporary social system and human nature.
To understand "Watchmen", one must understand the so-called nuclear terror, and the existence of Dr. Manhattan is intriguing. The famous "Manhattan Project" (Manhattan Project) in history refers to the plan to use nuclear fission reaction to develop an atomic bomb that the US Department of the Army began to implement in June 1942. The famous atomic logo on Dr. Manhattan's forehead, and the name Manhattan, all indicate that the name Manhattan is not because it sounds good. In the film, Dr. Manhattan is a god-like existence, and in the later stages, he loses his personality and loses interest in the human world. In the American mind, he represents a religion, a patron, and a solution to fear—that is, with the power of atoms (scientific), to create a greater deterrent of violence, to maintain the ability to overwhelm the adversary, to maintain the People have a dangling sense of security. Historically, the logic of the US-Soviet arms race in the Cold War was also the same. People believe in their hearts, and they must believe, and rely on armed and violence in exchange for peace. The third world war did not break out, to a certain extent it was because of the power of nuclear deterrence-because whoever made a rash move would lead to the destruction of the civilized world, both the enemy and the enemy would be burned, and there would be no winner. No one dares to shoot, but there is no guarantee that the other party will not shoot - Manhattan is the god born under this logic, scientific, rational, and objective. One replaces the previous terror with a greater terror. However, who can guarantee that Dr. Manhattan will not get out of control? That's what the movie starts with: the biggest threat is Dr. Manhattan itself.
For the people, whether it's Dr. Manhattan, the other watchmen, the government, the Soviet Union... These rights or violence beyond their control or understanding, all of which may get out of control and turn into fear in people's hearts. Fear was scattered in the streets and alleys of the city, reflected in their hearts, and projected on the minds of every watchman.
Let us once again overlook the world of "Watchmen", a world where nuclear war is imminent, war is such a real threat, and the civilized world will turn to scorched earth in an instant. Such a world is full of fertile soil for intrigue and dictatorship to grow. Nixon's show of force through the Vietnam War won the support of the people who needed a stronger government to guarantee their sense of security they were about to lose. But they were also full of anger and distrust of the dictatorship, and some took to the streets to oppose the Nixon administration because the dictatorship also made them feel insecure. The first generation of Watchmen came to a sad end, and the night scene was bleak, and the new generation of Watchmen also fell into trouble after a splendid career. They became a worrying force for the dictator, so they were expelled. Manhattan is supervised and enshrined by the government as the protector of Western civilization. Others face their own predicaments. What should they pursue in a world full of confusion and confusion? Or, what are they worth? Is it just a tool that is thrown away when it is used up, or is it like the weak ordinary people in the streets and alleys, living in the river of time without a sense of security and belief?
Are there really heroes in this era?
Let's take a look at Batman first. Batman is not an ordinary person. He was born in a wealthy and wealthy family. On the surface, he is a suave and suave boy. At midnight, he stepped on a chariot, flew over the eaves and walls, tossed and turned, and eliminated violence and peace. Crime is rampant in Gotham City, but the crime comes from the loss of order. Batman is a complementary force to the Enforcer. Even though his abilities and intelligence surpass those of law enforcement most of the time, he is still a complement to law enforcement, whose ultimate goal is to restore order in Gotham City.
The existence value of Batman is based on his identification with the legal order of an ideal democratic society, and his existence lies in maintaining such values. The story of the "Batman" movie is essentially the process of this order being challenged and finally rebuilt. Along with this process, Batman also completed the growth process of birth, transformation, questioning, and redemption.
For most audiences, a winner in life like Batman certainly meets their movie viewing expectations. People love the real hero of An Liang, who has a dramatic process from being a mortal to a hero, and this process also entices the audience to become emotionally engaged while watching. People saw the possibility of mortals to succeed from Batman, and watching Batman's growth gave them spiritual satisfaction and a strong sense of substitution. This sense of substitution, for Chinese audiences, can also be found in those classic martial arts novels. The death of parents, wealthy family and high-tech equipment, etc., undoubtedly increased the drama and legend of Batman.
What kind of superheroes are the Watchmen? Are they chivalrous? They uphold morals and beliefs? Are they exterminating violence? They have established a new order that is reasonable and legal?
no!
In fact, they were "court dogs"; in fact, one of them killed tens of millions of people and destroyed several cities in a terrible plan; in fact, some of them became petty citizens, some strayed On the streets, some die, some are "protected" by the government, and even love has become a task...
These so-called superheroes, what they do, is really not heroic, and their own world is also full of Jealousy, conspiracy, rape, out of control desire...
The great thing about "Watchmen" is that in the context of the disintegrating society, it has created a group of anti-hero superhero images, each of them has a period of their own. story. Together, they demonstrate a profound questioning of society and human destiny, a deep sense of loneliness and despair.
A few words of gossip before we start discussing each member of the Watchmen. I especially like Jin Yong's novels, and among Jin Yong's dozen or so martial arts novels, "The Lu Ding Ji" is the pinnacle. Many friends say that "The Legend of the Deer" is the development history of a gangster and a gangster, but the appearance of Wei Xiaobao completely subverts the inherent routine of martial arts novels. In the classic martial arts novels, the protagonist who is a peerless martial artist, handsome in appearance, often has a complex family background, and is often hated by the country and the family is gone, replaced by the son of a prostitute. This guy has no martial arts skills, no looks, his family background can be said to be low, and he has no hatred for the country and family, but such a thick set of books is written about this hooligan who loves to brag but can be a man. way back. Jin Yong is really used to writing "The Great Hero", does he want to change his taste and write about the development history of the villain in the market? otherwise. The deer, the deer of the hero chasing the deer, is about the world; the ding, the cauldron of the Central Plains, is the ritual vessel for cooking the deer, and it is the imperial art of governing the world with Wenzhi and Wugong. The so-called Lu Ding Ji, on the surface, records the prestige and water history of the hooligans, but at the heart of it is the political life of the Chinese people, as well as the various worldly customs reflected in the political life. These are the Chinese people's national character that has existed for thousands of years.
The movie "Watchmen" can be compared to "The Deer and Ding Ding". As mentioned above, the image of the watchman subverts the traditional image of a masked hero who enforces the law in addition to violence and safety. The director (or the original author) mobilized various means and shaped them with rich details. Through their joys and sorrows, their thoughts and thoughts, we can understand various phenomena in modern society and the human nature behind them.
Everyone belongs to the era and is a part of the era. Even if they each have their own magical powers, they can only rise and fall with the torrent of the times. Just like in the movie, Dr. Manhattan pointed out that everything is destiny, and it can only be followed, not resisted.
A friend used a wonderful analogy when describing the relationship between the torrent of the times and individuals: he said that individuals are like fish in a torrent, they can dance in the tide, but they can only follow the current and cannot control themselves.
What makes up a torrent?
It's actually everyone, those who are dead, those who are alive, and those who are about to be born. In the "Watchmen" story, everyone has a share in this torrent, including these masked heroes of course.
How to make sense of these trend-setters? There are several clues:
1. The passage of time, the nostalgia for the old days, the elegy of the traditional chivalrous spirit;
2. The absurdity of life: fear and jokes
3. The miracle of love: the fragility and greatness of man is
no different from all literature , love, time and the meaning of life are always inescapable motifs. In the world of watchmen, they cannot escape the torture of these three ultimate meanings of life. Under the torture of this triple shackle, each watchman shows his own uniqueness. Even, the different personalities are full of contradictory drama, we may list them as the following contradictory and complementary queues:
1. The Comedian and the Pharaoh
2, Rorschach and the Night Owl 2 Generations
3, Silk Spirit 2 Dai and Dr. Manhattan
also have to mention Night Owl 1 generation and Silkling generation.
Joke:
Joke's death led to this story. I haven't read the original comic book, so I don't know if the director was completely loyal to the original book when he created the character of the comedian. In the film, the director passed a funeral, and each watchman (colleague) recalled the fragments of the joker before his death, which gave us a three-dimensional understanding of the character at once, and also led to other watchmen through the joker. The author, showing the inextricable relationship between them, promotes the development of the plot, and the effect of this narrative is refined and restrained.
We restored and analyzed the scene where the joker appeared, and remembered his key lines.
Scene 1: Killed. The scene, at home, a lot of old photos of the first generation of Silkling, and a group photo of his daughter, the second generation of Silkling, with Dr. Manhattan, but the part of Dr. Manhattan was torn up, which conveys his love for his daughter and A detached relationship with Dr. Manhattan. The appearance of the comedian, accompanied by the sharp whistle of the kettle, made people feel restless. He was watching the news, but kept changing channels until the nostalgic advertisements stopped. Is this showing his contempt for real politics? And when he fights assassins, viewers see pornographic magazines on his desk. When the joker found out that he could not escape this time, he said a very important line: this is a joke, it is a joke. Mom, forgive me". Before he was thrown out the window, we saw his classic bloody smiley badge. Scene
2: After the "militias" group photo, they wanted to rape the Silkling generation. The killing part, full of all kinds of narrative hints, is just a faithful description of the rude, violent, but charming style of the joker. And the feelings of the Silkling generation for the joker seem to be difficult to describe with love or dislike. Joke's resistance, which looks more like a masochistic flirtation, seems to have inspired Joke's vicious and violent instinct, making him as evil as the smiley face on his belt. For many years Later, when the Silkling generation recalled the past to their daughter, they said that the joker was "both good and evil". Please note that she means that the joker is not all UNJUST, there are JUST times. And the joker always thinks that he He was the one who had the last laugh.
The third scene: the Vietnam battlefield. The joker brutally killed Vietnamese soldiers. After the victory, in the bar, the joker thanked Dr. Manhattan for helping the United States win the war. Here, we can see the laughter The carpenter has a position, at least he is on the side of the United States. Did this patriotic position find a reason for his killing on the battlefield? Then after a period of rogue, this villain shot and killed probably with The Vietnamese woman of his own child, and blamed the indifference of Dr. Manhattan for the woman's death. He complained that Dr. Manhattan never cared about human beings and kept himself further and further away from human beings.
Session 4: The meeting. In this scene, the director also explained the triangular relationship between the second generation of Ye Xiao and the second generation of Silk Ling and Dr. Manhattan. But back to the joker, in this scene, he mocks the Pharaoh's action plan to reduce the crime rate as "all shit", and he drinks and smokes in the meeting, appearing indifferent. When the Pharaoh says that with the right leadership, the Watchmen can save the world, the Comedian clashes with him. This is the reason why I put the joker and the pharaoh in the same group. The joker does not believe that human beings can be saved. He is essentially a pessimist, with only a position but no belief; the pharaoh, like him, believes that human society is full of problems and that human beings are degenerate. , but he believes that through the leadership of Superman, humanity can be saved. This is the fundamental conflict between the joker and him. The joker believes that human beings are born to kill each other, and the emergence of nuclear bombs is doomed to the fate of human annihilation.
Scene 5: Suppression of riots. The crowd questioned the legitimacy of the watchman, and the joker and the second generation of Ye Xiao came to press him. The second generation of Ye Xiao was chattering at the crowd, but the joker started fighting directly. He shot rubber bullets at the crowd to disperse the chaotic crowd. He told the second generation of Ye Xiaoxiao that Congress was passing the bill, and their days of enforcing the law were numbered. When Night Owl II learned that Watchmen would be outlawed, it begged one of America's favorite questions: What about people's American dream? The American Dream is that individuals, through their own efforts, can achieve their dreams and realize their personal values in the paradise of the United States. The second generation of Ye Xiao abandoned the life trajectory of inheriting his father's business, and found his own American dream by becoming a watchman. Now the Watchers are going to be disbanded, and their dreams have ceased. So the second generation of night owls will ask, what's wrong, what's wrong with the American dream? The joker answers before Vietnam becomes the 51st state's graffiti wall, the American dream has come true!
It's a wonderful irony of a hero's American dream shattered and an empire's American dream realized through violence and dictatorship in a chaotic and filthy street.
Scene 6: Memories of "Death". The joker was drunk and cried before the death bed. This passage is very important for the promotion of the plot, providing clues and setting up suspense. At the same time, the self-report of the joker is also crucial to understanding the character. The Comedian's opening line is famous: it's a joke, it's all numbing jokes. Then he said that he thought he knew the world, and he knew that he had done a lot of bad things, but it was all because of the war. But what he can't imagine now, the pain that has nowhere to say, makes him only cry to his half-life opponent "Death". Finally, after leaving two important clues behind, he said again: Mom, please forgive me.
The several appearances of the comedian not only promoted the plot and showed himself, but also brought out other characters. He is a complex individual himself. The most shallow personal characteristics are rough, lustful, alcoholic, lustful and murderous. But behind the bloodthirsty, what was he thinking about? Why so bloodthirsty? Why did he cry over the Pharaoh's grand plan?
Many friends who discuss "Watchmen" say that the joker is a sensible person. Indeed, the joker said, he thought he knew the world. His understanding of the world is that human beings are born to kill each other, and it is only right in this world that the strong eat the weak. The so-called fairness and justice is just a game of the strong, just like his criticism of the pharaoh's plan to punish the gang is just a game of pretending to be white and fighting Indians, and justice is just a beautiful decoration of violence. But that doesn't mean that laughter is at ease. Although he is brutal, he is also sentimental in nature. When he was extremely disappointed, he would say "Mom, please forgive me", a phrase that yearned for forgiveness and comfort because of his vulnerability. His love for Silk and his daughter, and his distaste for Dr. Manhattan's hypocritical indifference, all showed that he was vulnerable and submissive in addition to killing. But in the real world of the jungle, he indulges in violence, because he believes that only violence can make him have the last laugh in this terrifying world. So, apart from violence, he has no faith, all he has is a position as an American and a government spy.
When the Watchers were abandoned by a piece of law, the Comedian could no longer justifiably use violence, which should have deeply disappointed the Comedian. He became more cynical, but felt lonely and unable to find a way out because he had no faith. All of these might spur him to a more aggressive bloodthirsty, and only violence can unleash his wildness and free him from sentimental misery.
The laughing man is sad but not merciful. He found all kinds of excuses for his killing, such as for the American dream (ironically, this version of the American dream turned the United States into a dictatorial empire), such as the inaction of Dr. Manhattan. After shooting a pregnant Vietnamese woman, he easily pinned the blame on Dr. Manhattan. Just as when he cried to death, he pushed all crimes to war. This is the logic of the joker: the world will go into chaos because of human nature anyway, and I am powerless and unwilling to change it. But he has never been able to get rid of the sentimentality in his heart, which is why the Silk Spirit generation said that he is both good and evil.
It is precisely because there is such a little sadness that when the joker learns of the terrifying plan of the pharaoh, his worldview completely collapses. Maybe he felt that he was already sinful enough, maybe he also felt guilty for his weakness to escape sin; but when he discovered Pharaoh's plan, he lost his judgment, and he found that he was still unable to understand the world, and human nature was dark. The depth of the labyrinth is far beyond his imagination, and he does not know the world as well as he imagined.
When he said goodbye to "Death", when he said "Mom, please forgive me", the joker was already dead.
When Rorschach paid tribute to the joker, the joke he quoted poetically summed up the sad life of the joker. The audience will not forget this joke. The word JOKE runs through "Watchmen" from beginning to end. The so-called JOKE points to absurdity and impermanence. The comedian can't find the meaning of life, but he can't transcend the cage of emotion and desire. He watched from the sidelines, seeing that there was no way to save this world, and that he could not find the meaning and value of life. Sometimes the comedian is like a mean critic. When he burned the map depicting the Pharaoh's plan, he still believed that the fate of mankind was to perish, which is why he was cynical and disregarded the life around him.
This is a lost and fragile man. Although he has a burly appearance and a fierce personality, he is still lost in the torrent of humanity, unable to find a way out, and cannot save his broken heart.
Absurdity is the world in the eyes of the joker, one of the key words of the watchmen, and perhaps the most important one.
Pharaoh's big plan to kill and save people, is it a ridiculous joke? Is it really possible to pull humanity back from the brink of nuclear war through deception and killing?
--------------to be continued----------------
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