So, a funny thing is happening with this show, where I like it so much that I can actively feel myself losing my mind and over-investing and reading too much into shit
BUT
Allow me to ramble on about how we're gonna see some daggum Indians in this motherfucker
So, we had an episode called "Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship," no gettin' around that one.
Tonight, we had an FBI agent directly mention that 7th Kavalry is a Custer reference. He dismisses this fact as, "Probably irrelevant." He's shown in the rest of the monologue to be a dipshit.
And then we have Veidt and the "Game Warden." That fuckin' scene, y'all. When you have buffalo and the Lone Ranger, you are SO FIRMLY in Indian Country. The eradication of buffalo was an active, intentional act of genocide. It was an attempt to starve out plains Indians, to irreparably disrupt their way of life. But the buffalo made it, and so did the Indians.
As for the Lone Ranger? His sidekick was Tonto. The Lone Ranger has a lot of other baggage (see also: Bass Reeves and the cold open of this show), but Tonto was a racist caricature who had global reach. He's, arguably, the most famous Indian. And he's fake. An insulting fiction. And yet, you don't have the Lone Ranger without him. That there have been so many Lone Ranger references, and no Tonto, is a significant absence.
Now, here's where I'm gonna make a bit of a leap. I feel like the show is beginning to steer towards questions of "sidekicks." Of exploited supporters left out of the grand narrative. In this episode, Veidt's clones are an obvious instance. But we've also got Laurie telling a story about the invisible woman behind the famous men. We get Petey, building a life in shadows. We get our first real instance of Pirate Jenny talking.
Perhaps this is wishful thinking on my part - I'm embarrassingly into this show. But it feels like this show is building to a place of, "Culturally, what are our unknown unknowns? What do we miss, willingly or unwillingly?" In my mind, "native people" is one pretty big answer.
America does not exist without the exploitation of natives. Without pushing us to the margins. I FEEL like Watchmen is steering towards a confrontation of this fact. I could be wrong! But there's, like, a LOT going on in the margins.
Also, Doc Manhattan is on Mars and that's the Red Planet. Just sayin'.
i wasn't so crash hot on this idea at first, particularly the angle on
'sidekicks' explicitly, which seems a little less relevant to the watchmen universe than some of the other hero tropes it tends to deal with. however, thinking about this in retrospect two other things angle us towards it:
- angela's eulogy. i don't know the reference and the lyrics escape me but i do recall it was about a dog. a trusty dog, a man's best friend dog, a loyal sidekick... but a dog. less than human. invisible when it matters. she took all day to write this eulogy. she was processing her emotions about her relationship to judd.
- laurie's connection with the owl ship at the end. she was very pleased to see it. and who do we know is driving it? there's going to be a relationship there. but hold tight, because...
the 'joke' in the episode's metastructure was less of a joke than it was a lesson in narrative design. what is introduced early and made to feel invisible will return to give us denoument. the night owl is increasingly a presence that must come on screen, for example. the joke characterises him as 'too soft', hard to believe from the mouth of god, but indicating a moral compass the show is direly wanting. but it's not about him - it's about pirate jenny. how did she get the ship?
the invisible woman at the end of the narrative, if you'll recall, was the inventor's daughter
how nothing anyone says or believes about Dr Manhattan lines up at all with how his story ended in the comic. People seem to have some really well defined ideas about him (that he's on Mars, that he can't look like normal humans) that don't make even the slightest sense.
This Craig Mazin/Damon Lindelof podcast about the show is really good.
Lindelof is a) Really fucking smart b) Really generous with sharing credit and c) Describes a writers room that sounds like an absolute fucking dream to work in. Mazin has an infectious enthusiasm that's super endearing. Just a real fun listen all around.
This Craig Mazin/Damon Lindelof podcast about the show is really good.
Lindelof is a) Really fucking smart b) Really generous with sharing credit and c) Describes a writers room that sounds like an absolute fucking dream to work in. Mazin has an infectious enthusiasm that's super endearing. Just a real fun listen all around.
Wow that’s surprising to hear. Lindelof has always come off very poorly to me. Maybe I’ll listen to the podcast to rid myself of my distaste of him if nothing else.
how nothing anyone says or believes about Dr Manhattan lines up at all with how his story ended in the comic. People seem to have some really well defined ideas about him (that he's on Mars, that he can't look like normal humans) that don't make even the slightest sense.
That's true for comics readers, as well:
I see a lot of angry comments about how Dr. Manhattan is supposed to have left the universe to go and create his own version of humanity. Where this is true, I'm getting hints that what his story is about now is what happened after that didn't work out.
That's especially true if Veidt's very limited companions end up aligning with Dr. Manhattan's "new humanity" in some way.
how nothing anyone says or believes about Dr Manhattan lines up at all with how his story ended in the comic. People seem to have some really well defined ideas about him (that he's on Mars, that he can't look like normal humans) that don't make even the slightest sense.
That's true for comics readers, as well:
I see a lot of angry comments about how Dr. Manhattan is supposed to have left the universe to go and create his own version of humanity. Where this is true, I'm getting hints that what his story is about now is what happened after that didn't work out.
That's especially true if Veidt's very limited companions end up aligning with Dr. Manhattan's "new humanity" in some way.
Isn't it possible that Dr. Manhattan could be on Mars and elsewhere at the same time? I mean, he can create copies of himself, I'm not sure if he's limited by distance from copies.
Also, what the heck exactly happened to Mars at the end there? To me, it seemed to be implied that he had teleported the planet somewhere else, maybe?
No, that was just a focus trick to single out the red planet for a minute to imply
the doctor had thrown that car. Is it the car that got picked up earlier, though?
Alphagaia on
Wanna try my Mario Maker levels?
Shoot m to BITS (hold Y) [hard] C109-0000-014D-4E09 P-POWER Switch Palace 3838-0000-0122-9359 Raiding the Serpents Tomb 1A04-0000-0098-C11E I like to move it, move it FCE2-0000-00D7-9048
If you need an actor who is generally amiable and upbeat but is DEFINITELY up to something and you have absolutely no idea what
why not get James Wolk?
pretty sure that guy's calvary, not like 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure. It would actually be a way better dodge if he totally wasn't and was just like drastically tone deaf. However his insistence at continually outing Sister Night is pretty obvious at this point.
Holy shit, the second Peteypedia entry for this week.
"If complete and utter chaos was lightning, then he'd be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shouting 'All gods are bastards'."
He reminds me a lot of the "criminal" that Nite Owl reminisce about in Watchmen whose kink was getting beat up by superheroes - whom Rorschach proceeded to take over the edge.
Maybe it's just a little bit of world building to remind us of where we are, that somehow this world is like 3% wierder then our own.
RedTide#1907 on Battle.net
Come Overwatch with meeeee
0
Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
I thought lube man was covering himself in napalm to die a horrible death
it was actually much funnier!
Yeah, right before I said "Is he going to light himself on fire?". Just as I finished he did his thing.
+5
GustavFriend of GoatsSomewhere in the OzarksRegistered Userregular
So I'm starting to go into gonzo places of my thoughts of where this is going.
So. The family Lady Trieu gets the farm from at the beginning were the Clarks. Farmers without a child. Owning a farm where an object from space falls. Emphasis on the name Clark once again.
Is there about to be another superpowered individual and does she want to make sure it doesn't fall into the control of the American government once again? Given Dr Manhattan won the Vietnam War in this universe.
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i wasn't so crash hot on this idea at first, particularly the angle on
- angela's eulogy. i don't know the reference and the lyrics escape me but i do recall it was about a dog. a trusty dog, a man's best friend dog, a loyal sidekick... but a dog. less than human. invisible when it matters. she took all day to write this eulogy. she was processing her emotions about her relationship to judd.
- laurie's connection with the owl ship at the end. she was very pleased to see it. and who do we know is driving it? there's going to be a relationship there. but hold tight, because...
the 'joke' in the episode's metastructure was less of a joke than it was a lesson in narrative design. what is introduced early and made to feel invisible will return to give us denoument. the night owl is increasingly a presence that must come on screen, for example. the joke characterises him as 'too soft', hard to believe from the mouth of god, but indicating a moral compass the show is direly wanting. but it's not about him - it's about pirate jenny. how did she get the ship?
the invisible woman at the end of the narrative, if you'll recall, was the inventor's daughter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2AVQVdeTL8
hey did I just see a newspaper that indicated that John Grisham is a supreme court justice
Lindelof is a) Really fucking smart b) Really generous with sharing credit and c) Describes a writers room that sounds like an absolute fucking dream to work in. Mazin has an infectious enthusiasm that's super endearing. Just a real fun listen all around.
Wow that’s surprising to hear. Lindelof has always come off very poorly to me. Maybe I’ll listen to the podcast to rid myself of my distaste of him if nothing else.
That's true for comics readers, as well:
That's especially true if Veidt's very limited companions end up aligning with Dr. Manhattan's "new humanity" in some way.
Also, what the heck exactly happened to Mars at the end there? To me, it seemed to be implied that he had teleported the planet somewhere else, maybe?
Shoot m to BITS (hold Y) [hard] C109-0000-014D-4E09
P-POWER Switch Palace 3838-0000-0122-9359
Raiding the Serpents Tomb 1A04-0000-0098-C11E
I like to move it, move it FCE2-0000-00D7-9048
See my profile here!
why not get James Wolk?
Hello, Other Person on Earth Who Watched Lonestar!
I'm sorry to say I cannot join you on this one
I'm thinking about...him
"Have you considered James Wolk?"
"Perfect!"
Oh fuck he is that guy
Lonestar was Good.
how dare you
i watched lonestar and tell you how much i didn't like it constantly
"And you are adequately self-aware to recognize the hypocrisy of that remark"
I love Tim Blake Nelson. That line is overwritten as hell but goddamn if he didn't sell it with his delivery
I want one
https://www.paypal.me/hobnailtaylor
I also lost it but I was in stitches because the character said, "what the fuck?" at the exact both times I said it. It was so good.
I really dig this show.
He reminds me a lot of the "criminal" that Nite Owl reminisce about in Watchmen whose kink was getting beat up by superheroes - whom Rorschach proceeded to take over the edge.
Maybe it's just a little bit of world building to remind us of where we are, that somehow this world is like 3% wierder then our own.
Come Overwatch with meeeee
it was actually much funnier!
Yeah, right before I said "Is he going to light himself on fire?". Just as I finished he did his thing.
Is there about to be another superpowered individual and does she want to make sure it doesn't fall into the control of the American government once again? Given Dr Manhattan won the Vietnam War in this universe.