"Watchmen" Fanatic Derangement Syndrome... (Debbie Schlussel responds to critics)

debbieschlussel.com ^ | March 5, 2009 | Debbie Schlussel

[EveningStar]

I guess I shouldn't be amazed at the number of slacker ignoramuses who are up in arms about my frank review cutting down the absolute crap they worship a/k/a "The Watchmen", coming out in theaters late tonight. The e-mails they send me and the comments they make about how "deep," "edgy" and "profound" this vile piece of trash (which is none of these) reminds me of the blind statements of followers of Jim Jones. And we all know what happened after they drank he purple Kool-Aid. If only this movie could achieve that result, it would be the most fantastic exercise in natural selection ever conducted in America.

[Future Snake Eater]

You’ve seen the movie?

[Borges]

I don’t know about the film which I haven’t seen but the original comic book was a spoof of the idea of superheroes and that life wouldn’t be any better with them than without them. So the mayhem serves a thematic purpose.

[editor-surveyor]

"Her signal to noise ratio approaches zero."

Only for those without an antenna.

[a fool in paradise]

I thought Japanese high school final exams played a part in their teen suicide rate (determines which colleges you can attend and “sets up” the whole rest of your life).

[Enterprise]

Will do.

[Enterprise]

Yes. (sorry)

[a fool in paradise]

It sounds to me as though Watchmen is an orgy of gruesomeness served up to delight those how enjoy carnage for carnage's sake, who enjoy vivid depictions of cruelty and savagery as a kind of light entertainment.

The original Watchmen comic wasn't an "orgy of gruesomeness" although the accounting of what is depicted does sound somewhat accurate to presented what happened in the comic book.

But like with the director's remake of Dawn of the Dead, it sounds as if he missed the point of the story and focused on squeamish elements for EXTREEEEEEEME sake.

[Borges]

Here it is...

http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/the_complete_list.html

It’s a prety good list. The qualities you describe are just reflective of the era. You can’t really argue with most of the stuff on there.

[editor-surveyor]

"The idea that every cultural artifact should be appropriate for children is just asinine."

Even those marketed to children? Using childhood oriented themes?

[Borges]

Thge film is rated R so children shouldn’t be able to see it in theater with their parents. And what childhood oriented themes are here? Keep in mind that comics haven’t been ‘just for kids’ for a very long time.

[Mr. Silverback]

Yet few grow up to practice these things. I wonder why?

In all seriousness, have you considered the demonic aspect? In a spiritual sense, Japan is one of the darkest nations on the planet. If you're Satan and you've got a kid worshipping a demon or two and viewing Christianity as something that might as well be from another univere, why both trying to get him involved in rape or knocking over convenience stores?

[editor-surveyor]

Thanks for pissing on what’s left of America.

(is the fire out yet?)

[Mr. Silverback]

They are dealing with declining birth rates and skyrocketing suicide rates though. Could that be the trade off?

Good pickup. I'd say the answer is very likely "yes." Japan is very spiritually dark.

[Future Snake Eater]

It's very convenient to lump it all together: One murder in a work of art, say Crime and Punishment, is just the same as a murder in the latest teen sex slayer film.

It sounds to me as though Watchmen is an orgy of gruesomeness served up to delight those how enjoy carnage for carnage's sake

So the context surrounding violence matters, but in this case, the context doesn't matter?

You could list out the "horrific" violence of "Bambi" with vague descriptions, hyperbolic descriptions of the mayhem, and apply no context to any of it in order to raise the hackles of the uninformed.

Or a better example--"The Passion of the Christ." Probably the most violent movie I've ever seen. I suppose that was just garbage without "artistic or aesthetic merit," too, huh?

[a fool in paradise]

From Debbie, “And maybe your sister should be fed to dogs and your mother raped and your brother should have his arms sawed off. You know, just to make the point.”

Didn't they show this bit in Sin City: The Movie?!

[editor-surveyor]

"Do you think depicting something fictionally is a defacto endorsement?"

Certainly if it is depicted glamorously.

[Mr. Silverback]

When Oedipus blinds himself after committing years of incest, is the audience titillated? And why didn't Sophocles depict the incest itself? That would have been very titillating indeed.

Wow, great minds think alike!

[Antoninus]

It’s a prety good list. The qualities you describe are just reflective of the era. You can’t really argue with most of the stuff on there.

We're thinking of different lists, I think. The one I saw came out of the UK and had things like "His Dark Materials" and "Harry Potter" on it.

[Mr. Silverback]

That doesn’t explain the suicide rate.

[Future Snake Eater]

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