HBO’s new Watchmen show has a lot on its mind, though I wonder if it knows what to do with it.
The original comic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons gave rise to numerous imitators: Superhero “deconstructions” that leaned into the gritty tone and texture of the book, without capturing its political purview. The sequel show, created by Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) seems to understand what made the 1986-87 graphic novel great; Moore and Gibbons’ story, set contemporaneously, explored the era’s Cold War political anxieties and fears of fascism through the lens of “realistic” superheroes, whose emergence in the 1940s led to an alternate history. Lindelof’s approach feels similar. He uses the genre’s big ideas to touch on several hot-button issues of the last few years — issues that have existed for decades and centuries, but have gained mainstream exposure through social media: police brutality, and white supremacy. And while the show seems to separate the two, despite their deeply entangled structural history, it appears to do so knowingly — perhaps even winkingly, with more in store. Whether it succeeds, however, remains to be seen.
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The original comic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons gave rise to numerous imitators: Superhero “deconstructions” that leaned into the gritty tone and texture of the book, without capturing its political purview. The sequel show, created by Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) seems to understand what made the 1986-87 graphic novel great; Moore and Gibbons’ story, set contemporaneously, explored the era’s Cold War political anxieties and fears of fascism through the lens of “realistic” superheroes, whose emergence in the 1940s led to an alternate history. Lindelof’s approach feels similar. He uses the genre’s big ideas to touch on several hot-button issues of the last few years — issues that have existed for decades and centuries, but have gained mainstream exposure through social media: police brutality, and white supremacy. And while the show seems to separate the two, despite their deeply entangled structural history, it appears to do so knowingly — perhaps even winkingly, with more in store. Whether it succeeds, however, remains to be seen.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...