{"id":5589,"date":"2016-07-16T06:39:21","date_gmt":"2016-07-16T01:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5589"},"modified":"2016-07-16T06:39:21","modified_gmt":"2016-07-16T01:09:21","slug":"emmy-nominations-new-watchmen-series-fan-of-joker-dark-knight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=5589","title":{"rendered":"Why the Emmy-Nominated Watchmen is a Must-Watch for Any Fan of Joker or The Dark Knight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U<\/span>nless you\u2019ve been living under a rock, you\u2019ll be aware that superhero movies have become a pop cultural monolith \u2013 Joker<\/i> has already collected more than $ 600 million at the box office, and earlier this year, Avengers: Endgame<\/i> smashed records, proving that we truly are living in the age of the superhero franchise. Against this backdrop, HBO has brought to screen a graphic novel that set the template for today\u2019s \u201cadult\u201d superhero adaptations: Watchmen<\/em>, streaming on Hotstar Premium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was <\/span>Watchmen<\/span><\/i>, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, which was one of the earliest graphic novels to deviate from the colourful, child-friendly format followed by most comic books. The characters \u2013 the violent Rorschach, the jaded Comedian, the megalomaniacal Ozymandias, and the glowing, radioactive, superpowered Dr Manhattan \u2013 were subversions of the trope of the noble superhero. Where mainstream heroes like Superman were considered role models, the characters in <\/span>Watchmen<\/span><\/i> were flawed and more true-to-life.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1986 and 1987, over the course of twelve issues, Moore and Gibbons introduced us to a morally ambiguous world \u2013 a place where not all heroes wear capes, and not everyone wearing a cape is a hero either. The name of the graphic novel itself is drawn from the loose translation of Roman poet Juvenal\u2019s quote \u201cQuis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes\u201d \u2013 Latin for \u201cWho watches the watchmen?\u201d In <\/span>Watchmen<\/span><\/i>, Moore and Gibbons tackle implications of what it would really mean if society were to valorise vigilantes, and how the world would cope with the appearance of a being with honest-to-god superpowers. <\/span>Watchmen <\/span><\/i>is a deconstruction of ambition, greed, and power, all undercut by humanity\u2019s intrinsic fallibility.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just <\/span>Watchmen<\/span><\/i>\u2019s themes that are weighty; the plotlines are equally ponderous, dealing with serious topics like political corruption, extramarital affairs, and strained international relations, all set against the period-appropriate backdrop of the Cold War. Unlike the idealised world presented in comic books, <\/span>Watchmen <\/span><\/i>provided an unsettling mirror to our reality while retaining the fantastical notion of costumed crimefighters. It was these qualities that led to commentators frequently saying that of all the comic book and graphic novel properties, <\/span>Watchmen <\/span><\/i>was the most \u201cunfilmable\u201d of them all.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n