Comments on: What The Informed Viewer Needs

By: HCE

HCE — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:52:53 +0000

I feel like you’re missing the point with Rorschach, perhaps as much as those who see him as the hero of the story, but whatever – this’s hardly a serious critique.

In terms of recent female Moore characters, I remember liking Dhalua Strong, and I’m not sure why Promethea should be disqualified for having sex?

By: Phill

Phill — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 02:15:21 +0000

Great stuff, Dorian.

By: Dani Atkinson

Dani Atkinson — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:43:47 +0000

Regarding Moore and women, what about Top Ten? A wide selection of very human female characters, and you’d be hard pressed to pigeonhole any of them as victim or vamp (well, maybe Girl 13, if you really want to), and nary a one enlightened through kinky sex.

The trouble with Watchmen and women was that there weren’t enough of them. But that was true of the genre being taken apart as well, and while I’m generally leery of the “but the men are just as bad” argument, in this case, all the men are much much WORSE.

The “Ozy is totally teh gayzorz!” thing was kinda eye-rolling, though.

By: Dorian

Dorian — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:44:45 +0000

Steven–Promethea does continue the “young woman finds enlightenment through kinky sex” trend that appears in Moore’s more recent work, though.

By: Steven H

Steven H — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 08:53:52 +0000

Except Promethea, of course?

By: Josh

Josh — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 02:06:44 +0000

This is awesome stuff, DW. I too am not sure that Laurie and Sally are the best data points for establishing the sexism of Moore's work, just because everyone in Watchmen is such a schmuck; but damn, to the extent that women appear at all in Moore's stories, they really don't get much of a choice other than that of vamp or victim, do they?

By: Ed (Jack Norris)

Ed (Jack Norris) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:14:20 +0000

_Every_ character is a parody (if that’s even the right word) of comic book fans, with each one representing a different way in which we’ve had our minds twisted by a lifetime’s exposure to the superhero genre. You could probably even devise some sort of bogus horoscope-like thing to class & type fans with.

By: skizelo

skizelo — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:15:42 +0000

I have to say, insinuating Alan Moore hates women because of a character from a story which is a comment on a genre which has streaks of misogyny in its history is weak sauce.
Other than that, yep, bang on.

By: Tim O'Neil

Tim O'Neil — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:15:09 +0000

Hmmm. I just realized: Moore hates red haired people.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:27:44 +0000

It’s very strange that so many people don’t see Rorsharch like that, it seemed pretty blatant from the first page (and Seymour as this weird metaphorical iteration of Rorsharch, or this fanboy agency behind him — peer-pressured by the macho right and held in suspension at the end on whether he’ll continue Rorsharch’s work, what the reader thinks by the end).

I always though Ozymandias would be perfect if played by Tom Cruise, with that sense of megastardom arian quality mixed with that smugly maniacal arrogance and hubris and tinged with this scifi pyramid-loving cultist lunacy. But the shit gay jokes would probably still be there. Sigh.

And your post pretty much captured what weird personal issues Alan Moore must have been going through at the time (which encapsulates most fanboys entire lives and the last decades of the industry).