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.
A real Heather - Heather Graham - was cast as Heather McNamara, but her parents wouldn’t let her take the part because they thought the language and the content were too risque.
Good thing she held out and was able to make less-risque films like
Boogie Nights.
Oh
Heathers.
I remember searching out blue tights so I could be just like Veronica! Good times.
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.
Got no specific cite, but that was my impression as well. Disintegrat-o-Plan was more of a "might buy me a minute or two" than a "Woohoo! Zapped Dr. M into Frosted Quantum Bits! Pwned, Blue Penised Bastard!"
As for whether either the "God Hates You" or "Psychic Squid" plan was meant to, in and of itself, achieve World Peace, I don't think either was meant to. The point was to temporarily unite humanity against a common threat, then Ozy builds on that. He already had his new, more optimistic product lines in place, etc etc. His plan, I think was more of a "Yes, UNITE! Now, isn't that nice? Don't you like that? Tell you what, alien or no alien (or Hateful Blue Dong God or no Hateful Blue Dong God), let's just keep up this whole united thing, what do you say? Huh? C'mon, guys...global hug."
Early Buzz: The First Reviews of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek
The person who collected these excerpts of reviews claims they're spoiler-free, but I haven't read the whole thing yet....