Day in the Life: August 2008 Archives

Well, the Olympics aren't quite underway, but the fun has already started.

"As tens of thousands of foreign journalists arrive to test China's pledges to respect media freedom during the Olympic Games, the nation offered apologies Tuesday for the beatings that police gave two Japanese journalists who were covering a deadly assault by Muslim separatists.

Paramilitary police kicked and beat the journalists, throwing one to the ground, putting boots to his head and body, and damaging his photo gear.

In a separate incident, police entered the hotel room of an Agence France Presse photographer and forced him to delete photos of the attack scene, the French agency said."

Good grief.

Yeah, I've been AWOL, and I apologize.  This summer has been the scheduling equivalent of hell for me.  'Nuff said.

So, when Hublet and I went to see The Dark Knight, we were treated to a preview of the upcoming film Watchmen.  Which, okay, I knew it was based on a graphic novel that I hadn't read, and the preview looked interesting.  So a friend of ours lent us his copy of the book and I read it.

Note to readers - I'm not going to insert actual plot spoilers, so if you've never read the book you may be confused by the rest of this post.  Sorry about that.  If you're not currently undergoing treatment for depression, you might want to read the graphic novel yourself.  Otherwise, come back tomorrow.

Dear God.  That is the bleakest graphic novel I've ever read, and I've read quite a few.  I mean, it was kind of interesting coming to it twenty-odd years later, and looking back at all the 80's "NUCLEAR WAR IS IMMINENT!" hysteria, but I'm wondering who exactly the filmmakers want the audience to be? 

I know the fanboys will go, but the budget looks to be somewhat excessive, and fanboys alone won't be able to recoup the costs. And based on the trailer, I don't know how many folks will go expecting to see a big budget "dark" costumed caper and end up going, "WTF?  That's IT?  I hate you people!" Because there's "dark," and then there's Watchmen. 

Of course, I could just be projecting, because that was totally my reaction to the book...And it's not because I want everything to end up all hearts and rainbows, either, but a little bit of freaking ACCOUNTABILITY on the parts of the main characters beyond 5 panels of hand-wringing, some blonde hair dye and a trip to Venus would have been nice.  I'm just saying. Yes, I am bitter about Rorschach.  Deal with it.

If they're hoping to play into the mainstream American audience's recent taste for darker fare, they may have overshot it. The ending of Watchmen makes The Dark Knight look like a romantic comedy caper about a billionaire playboy and his wacky college pals Joker and Two-Face.

So now I'm left wondering - are they going to stay true to the original?  If they do, I'll be curious to see more of the marketing campaign.