Quick Links
Archives
Categories
Calendar
Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
XML/RSS Feed
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: May 10, 2004 06:50 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: May 10, 2004 06:50 PM
The WTC and "The Watchmen"
Wow, it's one month since the
attack on the World Trade Center ...
Wow, it's one month since the attack on the World
Trade Center. Cleanup continues in New York and Washington, American and British
forces are in the middle of attacking areas of Afghanistan, and I'm finally
getting around to starting my Blatherings here on my
website.
I was hoping to start under happier circumstances.
Actually, I'm not going to dwell for too long here on such world events. Plenty of better writers have been discussing the issues much more eloquently than I can; and besides, I firmly believe we should be trying to move on. Not to say we should forget these events; heavens, no, there is still a lot to think about and a lot to take care of. But we also can't spend all of our time brooding over it, hiding out in our homes waiting in terror for what's going to happen yet. See, that's just what the terrorists want, to spread a little more terror. I think the best thing we can do, psychologically and economically, is to work on resuming our normal lives as much as is possible.
Anyway. I said I wouldn't dwell, but I did discover -- or rather, rediscover -- something interesting the other day.
For some reason, I grabbed my copy of Watchmen (DC Comics, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons) and started flipping through a few of the pages. Shortly afterwards I just ended up rereading it cover-to-cover. I always remember it was good, but I'd forgotten the depth of subtlety and complexity wrapped up in there.
But one of the things that struck me as I was reading it, was that the story takes place in 1985 ... America is still involved in the Cold War ... and Russia is intent on invading Afghanistan. It's the central focus of the impending war boiling in the background throughout the story, as the Doomsday Clock ticks ever closer to midnight. Reading it again seemed to have eerie connections to the real-world events of today. Not completely parallel of course. The villains have changed, the stakes are different. But much of the story ... the strained politics, the growing sense of helplessness and uncertainty, the increasing difficulty of decisions needing to be made ... even the ghastly death of millions of people in New York City, all suddenly seemed strangely less fictional than they used to.
And from another angle ... One of the themes of the story, particularly dealing with Dr. Manhattan's revelations, is how the smallest, most minute actions can have lasting repercussions in the future. I wonder if the writer could have had any idea, as he wrote about a military skirmish in Afghanistan in 1985, how the ripples of that event would lead to the formation of the Taliban and, over fifteen years later, help create the situation the world is in now.
But enough of this blathering for now.
I was hoping to start under happier circumstances.
Actually, I'm not going to dwell for too long here on such world events. Plenty of better writers have been discussing the issues much more eloquently than I can; and besides, I firmly believe we should be trying to move on. Not to say we should forget these events; heavens, no, there is still a lot to think about and a lot to take care of. But we also can't spend all of our time brooding over it, hiding out in our homes waiting in terror for what's going to happen yet. See, that's just what the terrorists want, to spread a little more terror. I think the best thing we can do, psychologically and economically, is to work on resuming our normal lives as much as is possible.
Anyway. I said I wouldn't dwell, but I did discover -- or rather, rediscover -- something interesting the other day.
For some reason, I grabbed my copy of Watchmen (DC Comics, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons) and started flipping through a few of the pages. Shortly afterwards I just ended up rereading it cover-to-cover. I always remember it was good, but I'd forgotten the depth of subtlety and complexity wrapped up in there.
But one of the things that struck me as I was reading it, was that the story takes place in 1985 ... America is still involved in the Cold War ... and Russia is intent on invading Afghanistan. It's the central focus of the impending war boiling in the background throughout the story, as the Doomsday Clock ticks ever closer to midnight. Reading it again seemed to have eerie connections to the real-world events of today. Not completely parallel of course. The villains have changed, the stakes are different. But much of the story ... the strained politics, the growing sense of helplessness and uncertainty, the increasing difficulty of decisions needing to be made ... even the ghastly death of millions of people in New York City, all suddenly seemed strangely less fictional than they used to.
And from another angle ... One of the themes of the story, particularly dealing with Dr. Manhattan's revelations, is how the smallest, most minute actions can have lasting repercussions in the future. I wonder if the writer could have had any idea, as he wrote about a military skirmish in Afghanistan in 1985, how the ripples of that event would lead to the formation of the Taliban and, over fifteen years later, help create the situation the world is in now.
But enough of this blathering for now.
Posted: Thu - October 11, 2001 at 08:24 PM