Oh, dear, people are unhappy about their comics being too left-leaning again.
The CW’s Batwoman was initially getting review bombed by a bunch of people (because … women and gays? Not in my Gotham!) and now that trend has continued with HBO’s Watchmen series, which premiered this weekend. According to CBR, the show has a 93% Fresh rating from critics but is scored at 49% by audiences. Of course, there are those with legitimate criticism of the series—as I have my own—but many other complaints are about the show’s perceived “politically correct” narrative and it being “too woke,” upset that this new series has a very political stance.
Except that, you know, the original comic by Alan Moore is super political, left-leaning, and was created to mock a lot of things. But you know, people don’t actually like to think about it, especially when it comes to one character in particular: Rorschach, Ted Cruz’s favorite.
In the show, there is a white supremacist group called the “Seventh Kavalry” in Tulsa that has taken to Rorschach’s black-and-white mask, and they are acting up in response to President Robert Redford’s push to implement reparations to those affected by past racial injustices. That absolutely makes sense, since Rorschach, in the comics, is outwardly (checks the list) racist, homophobic, sexist, and a total and complete fascist. Alan Moore literally wrote him to make fun of The Question, Mr. A, and a bunch of other Steve Ditko comic characters that the artist/writer used to promote his Ayn Randian ideals.
Watchmen has always been about taking the idea of superheroes to its natural conclusion with the events in world history. That’s why, at least from my perspective, the issue of reparations makes sense in this context. For the first time in a long time, that is a serious topic of debate, and with the presidency something you can do for unlimited terms in the world of Watchmen, a president, especially a popular one, could tackle that kind of legislation. In a place like Tulsa, which has always had a racial divide and dark history of white inhabitants being antagonistic when their Black counterparts make it, this just seems like the natural conclusion—especially when Rorschach’s journals were shared with the equivalent of Breitbart News.
These white supremacists are the logical conclusion to his rhetoric.
Does that mean you’re a white supremacist if that was your favorite character in the comics? No … unless you actually are a white supremacist. Rorschach is an interesting character because Alan Moore is a good writer and knows how to teach without preaching. His work is layered and thoughtful but also filled with clear intent. From what I have watched of the show, while it isn’t perfect, I’m willing to give Damon Lindelof room to tell the story as long as he does the same. Well, as much room as you can give a former Lost showrunner, but that’s a whole different kettle of alien squid.
Still, more than anything, I wish that audience reviews stopped being a way for people to drag something for being “too woke,” because it creates bad faith for everyone. We are allowed to have different tastes and have our political leaning affect out taste, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be fair.
(via CBR, image: HBO)
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Published: Oct 22, 2019 04:06 pm