I haven’t read a graphic novel until Watchmen, and let me tell you, I’m a fan of pictures and superheroes. What I’m not a fan of is Rorschach. I think every other post-it referred to Rorschach as a prick. Serioulsy! The liberals, intellectuals, politicians and whores, are going to be in the bloody gutters, and Rorschach’s going to stare down and whisper, “No.” I’m sorry sexualized women and free thinkers, Rorschach’s world will follow in the vein of President Truman, apparently back in the days when people were kind and decent. . . sorry Paris. Rorschach at this point is a little too Ann Coulter for me. Despite hating his character, I understand where he’s coming from. It reminds me of what Jameson said when talking about parody; one has to have some sort of sympathy for the one they are parodying. I understand, Rorschach pities the world and sees it spiraling down the soon to be scabbed over gutters; he’s fighting to restore the decency he believes the country had before the 1980s. The only trouble is, indecency has existed throughout our history, only its occurrence has increased. Rape, murder and injustice were born far before the 1980s. Our media has become warped into this banal medium in which we hail the superficial. If you don’t have pseudo-news stations like Fox talking about the impending apocalyptic liberal takeover, then we’re inundated with the latest celebrity gossip because while guilty of buying into it, I could really care less whether or not Jennifer Aniston got new highlights.

I got bits and pieces from Watchmen that I could relate to the other class readings. In Jameson’s piece I recall him talking about how the boundary between high art and commercial art is becoming blurred, and books that would never have made it into the literary canon, are now some of its staples. I was reminded of this after reading the first installment of “Under the Hood,” in which Mason talks about grocery store worker Denise, and her 42 unpublished romance novels. When Mason asks Denise for advice on how to begin his book, Denise has this piece of advice. “Start off with the saddest thing you can think of and get the audience’s sympathies on you side. After that believe me it’s a walk” (1). I think T.S. Eliot would vomit on Denise’s blouse, since infusing personal tragedy in one’s work is evidence of having a personality, which for Eliot is a big no no. I found the story of Moe Vernon  wearing fake breasts when he found out his wife was leaving him for his chief mechanic interesting, and not just because he was wearing fake breasts. After telling everyone of his loss, Vernon is met with laughs instead of sensitivity showing that if something is too humorous, the real meaning gets lost or becomes less important.This is a parody vs. patische moment, in which parody loses, at least in Vernon’s case, miserably.  (I still love parody and refuse to be a pastiche sellout!)

On to my personal favorite, Bakhtin. Bakhtin states, “The style of a novel is to be found in the combination of its styles; the language of a novel is the system of its ‘languages’” (1192). Watchmen is most definitely a novel in Bakhtin’s standards because it contains different components of language. For example, Jon’s (Dr. Osterman), speech is scientific and mechanical. This could be a testament to him being radioactive, he has trouble understanding emotions, which is why Laurie gets pissed when she finds out he’s been using a body double in the bedroom. Dr. Osterman states, “Up is a relative concept. It has no intrinsic value” (12 chapter 3). Dr. Osterman’s dialogue is wooden and his speech does not contain slang. This is contrasted with other character’s dialogue like Laurie’s mother who is Polish and speaks in broken English. Sally Jupiter states, “So what, you want I should curl up and whimper for forty years? You want I should go be a nun” (2). Jupiter’s broken English adds to the language of the novel.

Overall I find Watchmen interesting and it’s so much more exciting than reading Shakespeare, and not just because there are pictures, but that helps. I just have one hang up, the Dr. Osterman and Laurie Jupiter relationship. It’s odd because her job is basically making sure that he’s Ahem, happy. Sorry Laurie, but radioactive sex is an STD that can’t be cured with penicillin. Yet they have problems in the bedroom . . . maybe it’s because he is radioactive. Everyone that comes into contact with him, has also developed lung cancer. . . hmmm. Interesting storyline, creepy, but interesting.