I have a bone to pick with the graphic novel The Watchmen. I know fans are going to hate me and defend the great storytelling and illustration and (gasp) how dare I. They'll say I don't understand the sophisticated metaphors, the political commentary etc. I'm also willing to bet none of them has read Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth.
A hero in mythology functions as a mirror, reflecting back to a society an ideal to strive for, teaching us the difference between good and evil. what happens when we deconstruct them—gleefully exposing them as flawed and all-too-human? None of the characters in the book are heroic or likable. Are we for or against them?
I used to be a causal reader of comics as a teenager and understood the traditional themes they drew upon. Years later, while perusing a comic store I noticed a darker, more cynical bent. It wasn't until I read the Watchman when the film came out that I realized where the change in tone came from. Heroes in movies and comic books have now dispensed with secret identities, are often vilified by the public they try to protect and are deeply conflicted rather than resolute with their high ideals.
Even Zac Snyder (who expertly directed The Watchman) couldn't resist ruining the eponymous Superman. He was dark and brooding where the character has traditionally been about light and hope.
Goddamn it how are we suppose to aspire to our better nature when being a good guy is viewed as a terrible idea. No wonder we have dictators and greedy CEOs as role models.
Campbell's study of mythology is still relevant and more important then ever. His insights on the garden of Eden was about man rejecting nature and cutting itself off from it's source. Well, here we are seeing the result of that hubris in global climate collapse.We see the rejection of the hero myth in the hopelessness of modern thinking.
So yeah, fuck Alan Moore's dystopian philosophy and the current disruptors who hate the world and regard heroic aspiration as a dead end.
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