Alternative History

Having never read Watchmen or any of Moore's other graphic novels, I must say that I am very impressed. The story is especially gripping and the themes are momentous. However, I don't think that the visuals are as engaging as in Blankets...what I mean is that I tend to get caught up in the text instead of focusing on the visuals. Though I do admire his use of framing...but I'll elaborate more on the visual aspect in another post.

Right now I want to discuss theme. It's fascinating to see an alternative world where the Russians are much more aggressive and the Cold War is still ongoing. However, the biggest conundrum posed is the existence of Dr. Manhattan--what would happen to our world if a God-like figure walked among mortals? There are positives, such as the accelerated advance of technology, but should Dr. Manhattan really be relied upon to the extent that he is in Watchmen to preserve world peace? I believe that the essay Professor Glass presented is very convincing...and his premises create a new, more dangerous scenario for mankind. In the real Cold War, MAD (or mutually assured destruction) was a deterrent to nuclear conflict between the Soviets and the US. Nevertheless, the depiction of the Soviets in Watchmen as increasingly desperate with one humiliation (such as Vietnam, which the US won in this alternative universe)after another due to the US's strategic advantage of Dr. Manhattan is, I believe, an unfair one. It assumes that they lack rationality and are just bloodthirsty for revenge at great cost to themselves. Even when things got very close to a nuclear conflict in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the consideration of MAD was strong enough to deter it.

Another disturbing aspect is the vigilantes' political stances. They seem, as a whole, very conservative and pro-government. Especially telling was the list of "crimes" the new group of Crimebusters was supposed to fight, which included campus unrest. Now that does not seem to be that big of a priority to me, and perhaps it illustrated the increasing obsolescence of the vigilantes, especially with the arrival of Dr. Manhattan. Another scene indicating the vigilantes' disrespect for civil liberties is the memory Dan (the new Nite Owl) has of him and The Comedian during the police strike riots. After The Comedian throws some crowd-dispersing gas, the Nite Owl asks reflectively, "Who are we protecting them from?" The Comedian's answer of themselves is decidedly conservative and I believe inaccurate--the answer implied is the vigilantes themselves.

The use of the word vigilante is interesting, since to me it also holds negative connotations of citizens who took things into their own hands during WWI and forcibly discriminated against German Americans, Italian Americans, and even Reds. Vigilantism was even more prevalent during the Red Scare, and it was subtly endorsed by the Wilson Administration. The lessons learned from that abuse of civil liberties were carried over to FDR's Administration, which forbade vigilantism. I wonder why Moore seems to use that term more often-"costumed vigilante" rather than Superhero, which to me has a much more positive connotation.