Kamal Morgan
Contributing Writer
HBO premiered its T.V. adap- tation of the highly acclaimed “Watchmen” graphic novel this past Sunday. “Watchmen” is considered one of the greatest graphic novels ever written and was considered un-adaptable, un- til in 2009 when Zac Snyder di- rected the movie. Now in 2019, HBO took a chance and did its own version of the “Watchmen” world.
The graphic novel takes place in 1985 and critiques the idea of superheroes or vigilantes in real society. The theme of “who watches the watchers” takes aim at the morality and integrity of these heroes. The characters in “Watchmen” have no powers and are just regular people who call themselves the Minutemen. Their actions are looked at as those of vigilantes and not as heroism and thus are banned by the Keene Act of 1977 outlawing “costumed adventuring.”
There is no protagonist in the story, but one of the main char- acters, Rorschach, who got his name from the Rorschach test, is an anti-hero and lone vigilante and narrates most of the graphic novel. His character is built on the morality of good and evil without any grey areas and extinguishing evil around him — even though his right and wrong is different from everyone else’s. His intense, complex and radical views make him alluring to comic book read- ers and his popularity soars as the one of the most acclaimed anti- heroes in comic book history.
The show starts 34 years af- ter the events of the graphic novel. The revolving conflict is its racial and power dynamic as it takes place in Tulsa, Oklaho- ma. In 1921, white residents at- tack the bustling and prosperous Black Wall Street in the Green- ville district which is called the Tulsa Race riots, which is a real event. Nearly a century after the riots, Robert Redford is the president and institutes “Redfor- dations” which are reparations to victims of racial violence.
At the same time, a white su- premacist group called the 7th Cavalry who got their inspira- tion from Rorschach and wear his mask, and are parallel to the Ku Klux Klan, begin to kill police officers. Eventually, cops must wear masks to hide their identi- ties, even from friends and fam- ily, to protect themselves from this white nationalist group.
The entire show flips the nar- rative on the original comic book which was about the Cold War and nuclear threat to race, police and power. The police are fighting white supremacy and are threatened by these Ror- schach worshippers. They can only use their guns when they feel immediately threatened and lives are in danger by “buzzing out” their guns.
The show ventures away from the original comic book by focusing on today’s issues of racial violence, reparations, white nationalism and police brutality. It features the ac- tress Regina King, who dons the name Sister Night, as one of the main characters and police officers who must fight the 7th Calvary. “Watchmen” is an intense and must watch show where a person doesn’t need to read the original com- ic book to enjoy, for the new “Watchmen” tries to explore today’s society.