Meh, I don't think Chapters 5 and 6 of Understanding Comics were that great, so I'll talk more about Watchmen's themes and speculate on the characters. As to why Understanding Comics wasn't as good as it usually is, well, I think Chapter 5: Living in Line was mostly a rehash of things we've already learned in previous chapters, like Chapter 3: Blood in the Gutter. Or perhaps rehash isn't the right word, but I just felt extremely jaded reading it, like the conclusions were obvious and McCloud had already applied this method of analysis to previous concepts. Chapter 6 also contained material that McCloud had already mentioned, such as the increasing distance between pictures and words--pictures towards resemblance, words towards meaning. Even the classifications of word and picture combinations seemed trite.
On a completely random side note, one of my close friends, who's also an English major, was remarking on how surprised he was that so many people, including his professor, read Keats' poetry as very sexually involved. I actually made note of that while reading the excerpt from "Ode on a Grecian Urn" in Understanding Comics: the first line, "Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness" had surprising connotations to me (What if the addressee was ravished? Can a urn even be ravished? Why this strange metaphor to a bride?...) I don't remember discussing anything about Keats' sexuality in my British Literature class sophomore year, and neither does my friend, who was in the same class.
Anyways...back to Watchmen. Working off of some of the observations I made in my last post, I've decided that I have overlooked a major overarching theme. That is, I believe that Watchmen is a critique of the Establishment--a critique of overextended, uber-powerful government. There are several indicators of this. I believe in class Patrick mentioned that Nixon was still President because of the success in Vietnam in this alternative universe--if that's the case, then Watergate never occurred and he has managed to establish a stranglehold on the Presidency. Nixon was elected in '68, and in Watchmen it's now 85? He's been in power for more time than FDR was, though FDR would have been equal to him in the number of terms if he hadn't died (he was elected to a fourth term, after all). Anyways, I am not even sure there is conclusive proof that Nixon is President, the only indication of that that you see in the first four chapters is a newspaper with a headline saying that Congress is contemplating a Constitutional Amendment extending Presidential term limits to three terms. But assuming that this is correct, then a President who was supposed to have failed is now firmly entrenched in power.
And why is he firmly entrenched? Well, the US seems to be stuck in a never-ending Cold War because Dr. Manhattan makes the Soviets more desperate due to their humiliations. The key here is Dr. Manhattan. Who wants to challenge the Establishment when the government has a weapon like Dr. Manhattan? I believe that this is also a cause of the police riots, in which the very good question of "Who Watches the Watchmen?" is sprayed on a wall. In this case, no one. No one oversees the government's use of endorsed superheroes like Dr. Manhattan and the Comedian before he was murdered. Sure, the Keene Act was passed, which outlawed other vigilantes which had been seen as suppressors of the common people, but that's just the government consolidating control over the remaining superheroes. Now there isn't anyone left to challenge the government's authority since other vigilantes have been outlawed and the public is seemingly content with the Keene Act, except, I suppose for Rorschach.
Now I'll digress to contemplate the naming of the characters. Rorschach, whose mask reflects this, is named after a psychological inkblot test used to assess personality characteristics of patients. Of course, there are problems with assessment when each person's interpretation of the inkblots is wholly subjective. I wonder why Rorschach is named Rorschach...He is the only one of the vigilantes who refuses to follow the Keene Act. His subjective interpretation of the need for him to keep on fighting crime could be related to the inkblot test. Or perhaps it's just indicative of underlying psychological problems? Eh...I don't think I know enough about him at this point to make any conclusive guesses.
Ozymandias is another character whose name I noted. His name is a reference to a poem by Percy Shelley, a Romantic poet. Having analyzed this poem in British Literature, I remember that it was supposed to be a warning that even the reigns of great kings will eventually end (a warning against the hubris of the king's etched words on the pedestal, proclaiming his greatness while all that is left of his empire is ruins). Ozymandias is one of the vigilantes who has cashed out on his reputation and is reputed to be the "World's Smartest Man." I guess his reputation or intelligence won't save him from whatever calamity is coming. Or has he already fallen, a mere footnote in history because of the arrival of the monopolizing Dr. Manhattan?
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