I Wonder if V for Vendetta is this Weird...

Okay, I was prepared for the ending of Watchmen to be weird. I was expecting plot twists and unforeseen outcomes. But I was not expecting teleporting, exploding, psychic, pseudo-alien clones.

The fact that Veidt was behind everything the whole time was not terribly surprising. I mean, if I was the world's smartest man, I'd probably be arrogant enough to assume that nobody would be able to stop my elaborate plan in time. And I guess he was right. It's kind of strange to think that in this story the "heroes" fail and the "bad guy" wins. Of course, I think the characters of Watchmen defy such simple labels. At the crux of the issue is that annoying ethical dilemma: how do you justify killing millions of people, even if it means potentially saving billions more? Who deserves to be able to make those kinds of calls? Can one human being ever justify passing judgment over another, let alone millions? Suffice to say, the end of the story got really philosophical.

I think Watchmen really tries to make an an argument for a godless universe. At least, not the normal kind of gods that people might pray to in church. In this story, it is men who become gods--Ostermann because of a typical comic book superhero freak accident, and Veidt because he is the archetypal superman. Both men push mortal existence beyond its boundaries and are able to see the forces and machinations that slowly change humanity over the years. Both men are presented as having godlike physical and mental capabilities. However, an interesting dichotomy exists between them. Veidt is concerned with building a utopia, a heaven on Earth for the rest of humanity. His actions are ultimately guided by his ethical beliefs on what will bring about the greatest good for the greatest number. Dr. Manhattan, however, is isolated from the rest of humanity and does not share Veidt's interest in its future. He is the more god-like figure in that, to him, humans hold no more significance than the smallest ants or the rocks on Mars. Without any sentimental attachment to humanity, Dr. Manhattan is able to see the long term insignificance of Earth's fate and turns his attention to more interesting matters. If one views Dr. Manhattan as a deity figure in this story, then the narrative runs thus: Man creates God, who then in turn loses interest in Man and abandons him. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but the idea that the very gods we created have abandoned us seems central to Watchmen's story.

There is so much more to discuss about these later chapters, but it's already quite late and I'm sure we'll talk about more ideas in class. I've got to get more sleep.