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I'm wondering why it didn't (at least, to the best of my knowledge) happen with 300, V For Vendetta, From Hell, and so on.
Firstly, I think those were worse films ~ secondly, they weren't launched as long-awaited adaptations of the most celebrated graphic novel of all time.
I feel that I'd have walked out (having previously been told that it was the best comic ever) thinking "If that's the best they can do, then I don't think I'll bother" - that the film may actually have harmed the perception of comics in the mass public, rather than helped.
I agree that being told Watchmen the movie is a faithful adaptation of the best comic ever is like being told Blade Runner is a faithful adaptation of the best novel ever. Both are visually rich and detailed and deal with some interesting, ambitious ideas, but they're also very much framed by genre conventions.
If Watchmen the movie was being promoted as an adaptation of the best superhero comic ever, that would be more accurate and less bold; like, to use the same example, promoting Blade Runner as an adaptation of the best SF novel ever. It would be a debatable claim, but not unreasonable.
But in both cases, if the film is being presented as an example of the best a medium has to offer, basically you're left with some interesting ideas and visuals, very much entrenched in genre conventions. If you don't like SF/superheroes, and this is the best the form has, then you'd be excused for thinking the whole form is pretty limited.
And in the case of comics, I think that's true. The comic book form is, to a large extent, tied to a single genre of superheroes, and it is as though the novel, as a form, was mostly tied to science fiction. Some SF novels are intelligent, entertaining and memorable, and explore ideas that go far beyond their genre, but still a great SF novel is going to involve certain generic motifs and conventions, and it's going to have to overcome the association with a lot of trash within the same genre, and it's going to carry the stigma of being linked in the general public's minds with male teenage fantasy.
However intelligent and interesting Watchmen is, it still involves a lot of guys with gadgets, tights and silly masks, and a plot to invade the world with a giant squid, and a pretty weak role for the main female character ~ so yeah, I think a lot of people could be forgiven for thinking that if this is as good as comics get, it's still superhero nonsense.
However, my impression is that the idea of comic books as a respectable mainstream cultural form collapsed a long time ago now, so I don't think Watchmen will harm the general public's view of comic books ~ I don't think it will do more than confirm it. |
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