I maintain that the point changed entirely from "we must unite to face a common enemy" to "Be good or 'God' will punish you".
Did you think Watchman had a hopeful point in the comic books? Because it's not. It's the most cynical thing imaginable. It's not a good thing that people unite against a common enemy in the book. It means people are sheep and need to be lead by lies. It's a totalitarian idea. Evil wins, innocents suffer and God walks away.
Both Watchmen and V for Vendetta are Moore looking at totalitarianism from different angles. Ozymandias is an ubermensch/Hitler. He's a zealot idealogue who'll destroy millions of people for his truth.
The two things the V for Vendetta movie got completely wrong were (a) the stupid love story angle; and (b) everybody putting on the mask. That's the opposite of Moore's point. It's not about "I am fucking Spartacus" and democratic unity. It's about radical, anarchic resistance.
Did you think Watchman had a hopeful point in the comic books?
No, I don't think Watchmen ends with hope. But I think it's more believable that sheeple will go along with the plan if it's an alien threat instead of a god-like one.
what does one do against the space squid?
I do admit that ita has me stumped. I suppose I would start with research into the biology of the alien and interdimensional portals. I'm guessing Adrian would have some ideas, too.
But I think it's more believable that sheeple will go along with the plan if it's an alien threat instead of a god-like one.
They won't unite for long. Even after WWII the U.S. and France were fighting ten minutes after DeGaulle was in office. And the 9/11 pax was short lived. It's kind of a stupid idea. Even the most sheep-like humans are going to forget about space squid dangers without regular reinforcement. You'd really need to stage a space squid attack on a semi-regular basis for decades.
I'm guessing Adrian would have some ideas, too.
But either solution is his, since both crises are his.
From the movie I got the idea he thought he could discorporate and eliminate Dr. M. Less so from the book. Do the sources support my conclusions?
Even the most sheep-like humans are going to forget about space squid dangers without regular reinforcement.
I thought that was kind of the point. (Or at least, I took that away from the ending, but that might be because I read it post 9-11.) Ozy had this great idea, but it was all going to fall apart anyway.
Prior to 911 I thought Ozy was a bad bad man but that his plan would work. Post-911 I don't think the plan will hold out for very long. I used to think that Alan Moore believed the plan would work. Now I'm not so sure. My attitude about the world has certainly changed since I was 19 and reading Watchmen for the first time. Perhaps I've allowed my naivete to frame my understanding of the book this whole time. Dang it, I just finished it and now I feel like I ought to read it again.
From the movie I got the idea he thought he could discorporate and eliminate Dr. M. Less so from the book. Do the sources support my conclusions?
I think Brute Discorporation was always Plan A, because that offered the most control, but the less reliable Plan B (talky meat) was always factored in. He had a psych profile on Manhattan for a long time, so he was playing that angle for years. Trying to play on his disassociation and force him off-planet.
My impression from the book (and I'm mainly posting this so that Miracleman can swoop in and correct me with an actual cite) was that Veidt thought Plan Disintegration was worth a try, but wasn't banking on it being permanent.
I also think that maybe Veidt got a little too full of himself wrt his power. He thought he was all-powerful, he thought it was a good idea, so clearly it was a good idea.
