Hi, I'm assuming that you're commenting on the Snyder movie version of Watchmen vs. the original comic book, though any differences are probably immaterial in the context of this essay. What's interesting is that the person we assume to be the most powerful, Dr. Manhattan, has the power (really a limitation) of foreknowledge for most of both versions of the story, which seems to constrain him. The person who actually has the most economic power and influence, Veidt, is able to succeed by suppressing Manhattan's "omniscience". Further to this, Dr. Manhattan's greatest sin, if any, is his commitment to following the preordained series of events. More than that, it's his growing disconnection to humanity which makes him a threat. Veidt is a tricky one: you could say that he's a megalomaniac, corrupted by power, but I tended to believe that he was willing to do terrible things to serve a greater good because he could foresee a solution that he could implement. Vanity or cold calculation? Dunno. Fascinating, really.
Rorschach was broken by his understanding of the cruelty that humans could cause but he nevertheless carried on with his hopeless task, somehow managing to enlist the two remaining good people to help him. But even then, they had their own power addictions.
Great topic!
To me, the best symbol of the corrupting influence of power was the Comedian: he clearly relished the opportunities to use his power and made the most of the lifestyle he obtained through this.
Definitely more the movie version. I think where the problem of constraining power come into Dr Manhattan is in the fact that he has the ability to go to Mars or do whatever he really wants. People fear that type of power, including the ability to kill people in large numbers if he wants. Really he doesn't have anything stopping him from using it other than his own desire to do it, which partly comes from his indifference to people. There really isn't a way to constrain him.
With regards to Veidt/Ozymandias, yes, he is corrupted by his power. His belief that he knows better than other people about how the world should run and is willing to do what he did to Dr Manhattan and the people of the world as well. And there isn't really much of a way to stop him either because of his money and access to power, as well as his intellect.
I think there is a parallel between Manhattan’s withdrawal from humanity and what we’re seeing with mega-billionaires now. You get so aloof, so beyond, so concerned with tomorrow and fate and things you can manipulate on scales that are incomprehensible to others that you forget that normal people need to eat. Manhattan could have snapped his fingers and put a steak on every plate without killing a cow, but he wouldn’t. Same goes for these ding dongs who can solve so many issues with a wayward tweet or a few signatures. They are not living the experience of a real person, and they forget what it is like.
To some extent yes, but I do understand in some aspect Dr Manhattan's view. Funny enough, the best argument for something of a withdrawal of a power like this comes from Superman. He often talks about the fact that if he went around fixing everyone's problems for them, they wouldn't learn to do it themselves.
While I think there's definitely a problem in the real world regarding mega billionaires withdrawing from the world for sure, I don't think it's entirely a bad thing. They could definitely be doing more to help others but how much is an obviously difficult question. There has to be limits on what they should be allowed to do or should be forced to do through government or some other people having power. Because then we just using power for our own purposes and it might be destructive, like with Ozymandias.
Hi, I'm assuming that you're commenting on the Snyder movie version of Watchmen vs. the original comic book, though any differences are probably immaterial in the context of this essay. What's interesting is that the person we assume to be the most powerful, Dr. Manhattan, has the power (really a limitation) of foreknowledge for most of both versions of the story, which seems to constrain him. The person who actually has the most economic power and influence, Veidt, is able to succeed by suppressing Manhattan's "omniscience". Further to this, Dr. Manhattan's greatest sin, if any, is his commitment to following the preordained series of events. More than that, it's his growing disconnection to humanity which makes him a threat. Veidt is a tricky one: you could say that he's a megalomaniac, corrupted by power, but I tended to believe that he was willing to do terrible things to serve a greater good because he could foresee a solution that he could implement. Vanity or cold calculation? Dunno. Fascinating, really.
Rorschach was broken by his understanding of the cruelty that humans could cause but he nevertheless carried on with his hopeless task, somehow managing to enlist the two remaining good people to help him. But even then, they had their own power addictions.
Great topic!
To me, the best symbol of the corrupting influence of power was the Comedian: he clearly relished the opportunities to use his power and made the most of the lifestyle he obtained through this.
Definitely more the movie version. I think where the problem of constraining power come into Dr Manhattan is in the fact that he has the ability to go to Mars or do whatever he really wants. People fear that type of power, including the ability to kill people in large numbers if he wants. Really he doesn't have anything stopping him from using it other than his own desire to do it, which partly comes from his indifference to people. There really isn't a way to constrain him.
With regards to Veidt/Ozymandias, yes, he is corrupted by his power. His belief that he knows better than other people about how the world should run and is willing to do what he did to Dr Manhattan and the people of the world as well. And there isn't really much of a way to stop him either because of his money and access to power, as well as his intellect.
I think there is a parallel between Manhattan’s withdrawal from humanity and what we’re seeing with mega-billionaires now. You get so aloof, so beyond, so concerned with tomorrow and fate and things you can manipulate on scales that are incomprehensible to others that you forget that normal people need to eat. Manhattan could have snapped his fingers and put a steak on every plate without killing a cow, but he wouldn’t. Same goes for these ding dongs who can solve so many issues with a wayward tweet or a few signatures. They are not living the experience of a real person, and they forget what it is like.
To some extent yes, but I do understand in some aspect Dr Manhattan's view. Funny enough, the best argument for something of a withdrawal of a power like this comes from Superman. He often talks about the fact that if he went around fixing everyone's problems for them, they wouldn't learn to do it themselves.
While I think there's definitely a problem in the real world regarding mega billionaires withdrawing from the world for sure, I don't think it's entirely a bad thing. They could definitely be doing more to help others but how much is an obviously difficult question. There has to be limits on what they should be allowed to do or should be forced to do through government or some other people having power. Because then we just using power for our own purposes and it might be destructive, like with Ozymandias.