Post by UltimateDC on Aug 16, 2009 1:45:09 GMT -5
Good evening, guys. My current assignment in English class is a Praxis project, meaning that we are assinged to put something out into the world. What i'm doing is putting out a question and seeing what responses I can get. And, naturally being a comic book geek, the question I put to you ties in to that; specifically, the comic Watchmen.
To recap the events of the book (mostly for the benefit of my teacher), Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985, where costumed adventurers are fact (or were, before they were outlawed). Cold War tensions are at their peak, with the U.S. and Russia on the verge of nuclear war. The story begins with the murder of former superhero Eddie Blake, and follows the mentally unhinged vigilante who believes this to be the beginning of a conspiracy.
Naturally, he turns out to be right. Adrian Veidt, a literal genius who built a financial empire on his vigilante identity Ozymandias, is revealed to be the murderer. His reason for this was that Eddie had stumbled upon his master plan for world peace. Adrian, knowing that the U.S. and Russia would never settle their differences, stages an alien invasion (think "War of the Worlds", but with super science). He kills half the city of New York, but his plan proves to work. The people of the world see themselves as one species, united against a common, foreign threat. Instantly, news programs report that there has been a peace agreement between the U.S. and Russia, and the future seems bright (if not a bit uncertain.)
In the story, Adrian Veidt causes a mass murder to take place in order to create world peace. Looking at this story and it's messages, did it affect your ideas about war in the real world? Did it make you see the United States's foreign policy any differently? Why or why not?
I would appreciate any answer or opinion you have on this subject. Thank you.
-UDC
To recap the events of the book (mostly for the benefit of my teacher), Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985, where costumed adventurers are fact (or were, before they were outlawed). Cold War tensions are at their peak, with the U.S. and Russia on the verge of nuclear war. The story begins with the murder of former superhero Eddie Blake, and follows the mentally unhinged vigilante who believes this to be the beginning of a conspiracy.
Naturally, he turns out to be right. Adrian Veidt, a literal genius who built a financial empire on his vigilante identity Ozymandias, is revealed to be the murderer. His reason for this was that Eddie had stumbled upon his master plan for world peace. Adrian, knowing that the U.S. and Russia would never settle their differences, stages an alien invasion (think "War of the Worlds", but with super science). He kills half the city of New York, but his plan proves to work. The people of the world see themselves as one species, united against a common, foreign threat. Instantly, news programs report that there has been a peace agreement between the U.S. and Russia, and the future seems bright (if not a bit uncertain.)
In the story, Adrian Veidt causes a mass murder to take place in order to create world peace. Looking at this story and it's messages, did it affect your ideas about war in the real world? Did it make you see the United States's foreign policy any differently? Why or why not?
I would appreciate any answer or opinion you have on this subject. Thank you.
-UDC
