"Watchmen" & NYC: It's Complicated

I never read, and knew nothing about, the original Watchmen comics series when they were published in 1986/1987. At the time I was a little too young either to understand or appreciate them. Honestly, I've never been a big comics/superhero fan so I didn't pay this series, amongst many other superhero series, much attention.

Honestly, I've always felt that superheros are for kids or adults with maturity issues.

But I decided to check out the new Watchmen series on HBO simply because of the cast -- after all, when you have Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Tim Blake Nelson, Jean Smart, and Don Johnson on the same show, I'm watching the damn thing, no questions asked. 

And I did. And I love it.

Unlike most superhero shows that are about endless explosions and easily defined heroes/villains driven by ridiculous things like world supremacy or just pure destruction (so many of these villains want to both destroy and rule the world at the same time which makes no sense), Watchmen is rooted in history. It's rooted in the humanity of its characters and the people of this country. The actions of the heroes and villains make sense -- and the subsequent violence is something you feel, that impacts you emotionally, that shows you the true horror of it. 

The real villain in Watchmen is the history of racism of the United States. The real heroes are those fighting it. The real violence is the violence we commit against ourselves. Most of all this is a show about identity -- not only the secret identity of its superheros and villains, but the identity of America, the identity of all of us. 

Many of the characters in this show wear masks for a variety of reasons, good and bad. The show is about the masks we all wear and how our identities are both empowered and weakened by them, about how the masks we all wear to protect us also warp us -- and our world at large.

I will NOT attempt to summarize the story because I don't want to ruin the pleasure of watching Watchmen but the last few episodes are some of the best TV I've ever seen.

So, you might ask, what does this show have to do with NYC? Well, at the heart of the Watchmen series is the after affects of what happened to American after NYC suffered a giant squid attack in 1985. This attack was masterminded by an evil genius who was actually trying to bring about world peace (he did -- but it's complicated). And the most recent episode centered around a young black police officer in 1930's NYC who, unknowingly, founded the Watchmen. It's an incredible, beautifully told story. 

I can't recommend this show enough!