WATCHMEN:
Since I have already read the comic and watched the film, I thought I would do something more interesting in lieu of a response to the reading.
The Adaptation of Comic Book to Film:
"I'm never going to watch this fucking thing" Alan Moore once said about the upcoming adaptation of the beloved graphic novel to film. When I first read that in some magazine in High School, I felt hurt because I loved the comic and I was very excited to watch the film. I thought Alan Moore was just being cold and heartless, like "no one can recreate my masterpiece because I'm a fucking genius hahahahaha" but I realized later that is not actually the case.His problem was the same one that the Fans have. The Same that the Fans Always Have.
As Terry Gilliam once said about creating a film adaptation of Watchmen:
"Fans are terrifying. I have always hated fans, because they have such high expectations … I thought 'Fuck off, just fuck off. Let me fuck it up on my own. I can’t put the weight of you people on my back!'"
This is a reaction to what happens every time a film is released when a movie is based on a comic book, or a novel, or video game, or any other medium for that matter. Fans knock it because its not EXACTLY what the original source was. "Its not even close to the (insert source type here)" "They changed way too much." "Why wasn't Dobby in the movies between 2 and 7 Part 1?" "Why wasn't Tom Bombadil in the movie? Peter Jackson is retarded!"
Fans have issues because they always expect the same thing, and God damn the consequences. Who cares if Lord of the Rings is 20 hours long, at least it got every single syllable translated seamlessly into a film exactly the way I and I alone imagined it. Alan Moore's opinion is at least rooted in logic.
"It’s simply because they weren’t ever designed to be films. This is what I’ve been trying to explain to these stupid bastards for the past 20 years...This assumption that if something works in one medium it will work as well or better in another, I’ve got no idea where that comes from." says Alan Moore.
I believe later, Moore did in fact watch Watchmen, although retains that the above statement rings true, and that the screenplay was "as close as I could imagine anyone getting to Watchmen."
If an adaptation cannot ever compare to the original, than why make an adaptation? I'm sure its partially due to marketing and money-making, but partially due to the legitimization of the source. I feel like we believe that once something is a Major Motion Picture, its somehow accepted as being real or at least relevant.
So what were some things I liked better between Adaptation and Comic Watchmen?
(The adaptation I'm using is the Directors Cut, as it is more complete, and the additional scenes were just Icing on the already delicious cake. The Ultimate Edition, while it included some interesting scenes revolving around the Black Freighter, the actual Black Freighter animation itself was hard to watch)
In terms of the Comic, I liked how the characters seemed more complete. Because of its length we could go into more detail with what the characters were doing and why. The stories within stories seemed bonus and ancillary, but they added tons to the story in terms of allegory and background. Under The Hood, and Black Freighter were little additions to the overall world that were really cool.
I didn't like the Squid Alien though... I thought that seemed a little out of no where, and really a weird addition to the story. I get that a paradigm shift like a sledgehammer to the skull is necessary to get us all to stop murdering each other, which of course was Ozymandias' point, but that becomes moot once we see the ending, that Rorschach left his journal in the mailbox of the newspaper. Once everyone knows that Veidt was behind the alien attack, no one will say "Well, since we survived so long working together as a species without threat of annihilation, maybe we can continue." Nope. Clock strikes Midnight. Humanity is gone.
That's one of the main things about the movie that I actually enjoyed better. Dr. Manhattan going nuts and destroying the world seems far better integrated into the actual story rather than a random squid monster. If you remove all the scenes about the squid monsters design and creation from the comic and then just drop the thing in the middle of times square, everyone would hate that comic book. If you remove the squid entirely and then say Manhattan now hates us all and tried to blow us all up, then it makes more sense in the context. After learning that his powers may cause cancer, he removes himself to Mars and waits there. No one knows he returned after that, he could have been plotting destruction the whole time. The story itself on the whole does not inevitably lead up to a squid monster. Just the scenes that actually lead up to it.
The Movie also did a very good job of Dr. Manhattans back story flash back on Mars seem interesting. In the comic book, it just kind of dragged on for far to long, but in the quick edits and audio of the film, it actually was a dramatic and interesting scene. Also, the opening credits sequence is probably one of my more favorite sequences in movie history.
As for things I didn't like about the movie, I liked how Walter Kovacs became Rorschach a lot better in the comic, when he handcuffed the guy and burned him alive as opposed to just killing him outright. Also, the movie has forever ruined a good song and sequence from the animated movie Shrek with its use of the Hallelujah song during a rather explicit sex scene. That was just really uncomfortable for everyone in the audience when I went...
So what can we learn from all this? We need to stop expecting Adaptations to be Recreations. There is a major difference. Once we stop expecting perfection, we can begin to understand the differences, and enjoy each individually for the new qualities that they bring to the table.
As a send off to this extremely long-winded and possibly tangential post, I leave with some wisdom from Louis CK. He explains in the special Talking Funny that when he was younger he would do an Encore as an afterthought if the audience actually wants it. He would then ask the audience to call out their favorite bits that he would then perform. Now when creating his act, he completely throws out his material every year and never repeats it. He explains this madness by saying if people watch your HBO special and love it then come see it live, they will be truly happy, but they'll never buy tickets again. If they watch the special, come see the show when you're in town and its completely different, they're less happy but will return, because they know there is much more for you to offer.
