MovieChat Forums > Watchmen (2019) Discussion > I have no idea why it's called Watchmen

I have no idea why it's called Watchmen

posted 4 years ago by jekporkins (1921)
12 replies | jump to latest

I watched the first episode. It was all right - there are some interesting themes here, and some cool directing and world building.

However, I struggle to see how this is a Watchmen tv show. I have read the graphic novel at least a dozen times over the years and I never felt race was really a focus/factor in the story. This show starts with the race riots in Tulsa about 100 years ago and seems to be focus on the cops fighting a war against white supremacists.

There are signs it's in the Watchmen universe - Rorschach masks, electric cars, Archie makes an appearance, Adrian Veidt, raining squids (?) - but I'm not sure how it ties in. Granted, it's way too early to tell and I am definitely sticking around to see where this goes, because it had better have a direct correlation to the graphic novel at some point if they are marketing and using the name. I'm going to put my trust in Lindelof, which is already suspect after how Lost turned out and those sloppily written trainwrecks Prometheus and Star Trek Into Darkness. I hope he wins me over here...

[–] dmac8 (5050) 4 years ago

I don't think Lindelof ever made that claim. And he's been pretty specific about what the focus of his Watchmen will be.

[–] exatera (3942) 4 years ago

I guess we will see as the story unfolds.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

Looks like another movie/serie gone "woke". Fuck this.

At least Zack Snyder got to make his movie before the clown era we now live in.

[–] exatera (3942) 4 years ago

What does the current story have to do with "wokeness"?

I really don't understand the hate when no one knows how it will go yet.

[–] dmac8 (5050) 4 years ago

Might be this...

What, in 2019, is the equivalent of the nuclear standoff between the Russians and the United States?” series creator Damon Lindelof asked about the original Watchmen’s central question at the 2019 Television Critics Association press tour in July. His answer: “It just felt like it was undeniably race and policing in America.”

[–] exatera (3942) 4 years ago

Besides, I don't understand how people were expecting this to fit into the movie - that story is completed, there is nothing to add. Obviously Lindelof had to come up with something entirely different, but that fits into the Watchmen universe. I guess we'll see how soon enough.

[–] LeWildPlatypus (765) 4 years ago

It's not woke because of the black leads it's woke because of the emphasis on race and white supremacists which if you're woke are around every corner.

It looks like this will have nothing to do with the comics or the film which a lot of people loved, it's Watchmen in name only. What is going on with HBO these days.

[–] footlegger (1462) 4 years ago

Well, there is a scene with a watch... and the play is called "The Watchmaker's Son" ;)

[–] Bercilak (300) 4 years ago

Don't hold your breath; it's "Watchmen" in name only. This is just another example of a studio using an established universe to tell a story that has nothing to do with the original story of that universe. It will rapidly degenerate into a soap opera with no real narrative arc. Watch. Or, better yet, don't.

Why do they do it? Easy. Money. By setting your mediocre, derivative story in an established universe, you save a significant amount in advertising costs (which are much higher than many people think) because you're working with an established property that people already know, and you're also scoring the nostalgia dollar.

That's why we have Star Wars movies that are only tangentially related to the original trilogy, Terminator movies that are so involuted, storywise, that they make professional navel-gazing look like a children's hobby, and I don't know how many Alien and Predator cinematic abortions.

I watched the first episode out of curiosity even though I knew better. I'm not watching any more of it.

[–] JakeSWITCH (504) 4 years ago

However, I struggle to see how this is a Watchmen tv show. I have read the graphic novel at least a dozen times over the years and I never felt race was really a focus/factor in the story. This show starts with the race riots in Tulsa about 100 years ago and seems to be focus on the cops fighting a war against white supremacists.

Interesting observation. I agree with you, too.

From what I understand after reading some interviews, Lindelof originally wrote the script for a show that he realised had a few similarities to "Watchmen" and then the rights were acquired some time later.

So, this show really didn't begin life as a sequel to Alan Moore's "Watchmen". It's based on pre-existing script that was later work-shopped and retrofitted to tie-in to the comic.

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You can read all of my latest film reviews here: https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/about/Jake

[–] AdamS (336) 4 years ago

You have to see the wiener of Dr.Manhatten….

It dangles about...

Don't worry, more is coming and its gonna be great!

*dangle dangle dangle*

[–] Geff (453) 4 years ago

Agreed. I will add that Rorschach cult is seen here as a an evil terrorist group. In the graphic novel it was not clear that Rorschach was a "bad guy". Indeed the book had no "good guys" and "bad guys" but only perspectives and ideologies. All that subtly and moral subjectivity is immediately thrown out the window here.

Although, I can see that there might be room for subversion. For instance, a question asked during the white supremacist's, interrogation was "Do you believe that alien invasions are a conspiracy theory". Indeed, there is a real conspiracy afoot.