Public Misconceptions about Watchmen...

[Figs]

I work at a movie theater so I hear tons of funny questions.

"Is this a comedy or something?"
"Those costumes look cheap."
"Mommy, look at her underwear."
"Oh! I wanna see that!" - "That's not for kids... that's for grownups." - "But mommy I wanna see it." - "Ok, fine."

it never ends

Please tell me your exaggerating.

Me: What's it about?
Matt: Okay, so, there's this team of superheroes called, uh, the Watchmen. And in the '50's the group breaks up, uh, and they lose their superpowers. The Blue guy was the leader and now he's trying to, uh, get them back together because Vietnam is happening. They all say "No" but then that old guy is thrown out a window so then they say, "Okay" because that was their friend. Now they have only a few hours to find the murderer because of that clock and Dick Nixon is probably behind it, I don't know.

Me: You and me are done....professionally.

 

[Kane52630]

My friend Matt and I had this conversation a few days back. I let him borrow my GN. Didn't seem to get to it yet. But our conversation went something like this:

Matt: You know, the trailer says it the most celebrated GN of all time, but I've never even heard of it.
Me:That's because you're not really into comics.
Matt: Well excuse me if i don't sit around and read them all day. I have things to do.
Me: And I don't? When I have free time I read a bit instead of spending countless hours on the internets.
Matt: Whatever. It probably won't be better than TDK.
Me: We'll see. Do you know what it's even about?
Matt: Yeah.
Me: What's it about?
Matt: Okay, so, there's this team of superheroes called, uh, the Watchmen. And in the '50's the group breaks up, uh, and they lose their superpowers. The Blue guy was the leader and now he's trying to, uh, get them back together because Vietnam is happening. They all say "No" but then that old guy is thrown out a window so then they say, "Okay" because that was their friend. Now they have only a few hours to find the murderer because of that clock and Dick Nixon is probably behind it, I don't know.

Me: You and me are done....professionally.

 

[RustyCage]

My friend Matt and I had this conversation a few days back. I let him borrow my GN. Didn't seem to get to it yet. But our conversation went something like this:

Matt: You know, the trailer says it the most celebrated GN of all time, but I've never even heard of it.
Me:That's because you're not really into comics.
Matt: Well excuse me if i don't sit around and read them all day. I have things to do.
Me: And I don't? When I have free time I read a bit instead of spending countless hours on the internets.
Matt: Whatever. It probably won't be better than TDK.
Me: We'll see. Do you know what it's even about?
Matt: Yeah.
Me: What's it about?
Matt: Okay, so, there's this team of superheroes called, uh, the Watchmen. And in the '50's the group breaks up, uh, and they lose their superpowers. The Blue guy was the leader and now he's trying to, uh, get them back together because Vietnam is happening. They all say "No" but then that old guy is thrown out a window so then they say, "Okay" because that was their friend. Now they have only a few hours to find the murderer because of that clock and Dick Nixon is probably behind it, I don't know.

Me: You and me are done....professionally.

HAHAHAHAHA! Post of the Month!!!

Your friend is absolutely nuts!! hahaha

 

[Shadow-Guardian]

You know what pisses me off? It's idiot teens who are gonna see the movie and the next day wear a t-shirt and add it to Myspace or whatever and act like their a huge fan, despite never reading the book. Or some dumb dude yelling "AW HELL NAW! OHHH! MAN THATS SICK! THAT AIN'T RiGHT YO!" in the background when they Doc naked. I just wanna beat the living crap outta people like that. Damn scumbags.

 

[Kane52630]

You know what pisses me off? It's idiot teens who are gonna see the movie and the next day wear a t-shirt and add it to Myspace or whatever and act like their a huge fan, despite never reading the book. Or some dumb dude yelling "AW HELL NAW! OHHH! MAN THATS SICK! THAT AIN'T RiGHT YO!" in the background when they Doc naked. I just wanna beat the living crap outta people like that. Damn scumbags.

yea, i hate posers too

 

[RustyCage]

You know what pisses me off? It's idiot teens who are gonna see the movie and the next day wear a t-shirt and add it to Myspace or whatever and act like their a huge fan, despite never reading the book. Or some dumb dude yelling "AW HELL NAW! OHHH! MAN THATS SICK! THAT AIN'T RiGHT YO!" in the background when they Doc naked. I just wanna beat the living crap outta people like that. Damn scumbags.

LOL yeah, it's gonna be really annoying, those people in the audience. But I'm gonna do my damnedest to not care what people think and just enjoy it for myself.

When it comes to posers wearing t-shirts and stuff, I mean, I see nothing wrong with people wanting to support it or be fans, that's really cool. It's a good thing for Watchmen to get an expanded fanbase and more support. And through wanting to be a fan and have a t-shirt and all that, eventually these guys'll work their way to being what you would deem 'true fans' via reading the novel and coming on the boards and stuff.

Even if they feel content with just watching the movie, as long as they get it, as long as they have that experience and it means enough to them, there's no harm in that either.

 

[Motown Marvel]

My friend Matt and I had this conversation a few days back. I let him borrow my GN. Didn't seem to get to it yet. But our conversation went something like this:

Matt: You know, the trailer says it the most celebrated GN of all time, but I've never even heard of it.
Me:That's because you're not really into comics.
Matt: Well excuse me if i don't sit around and read them all day. I have things to do.
Me: And I don't? When I have free time I read a bit instead of spending countless hours on the internets.
Matt: Whatever. It probably won't be better than TDK.
Me: We'll see. Do you know what it's even about?
Matt: Yeah.
Me: What's it about?
Matt: Okay, so, there's this team of superheroes called, uh, the Watchmen. And in the '50's the group breaks up, uh, and they lose their superpowers. The Blue guy was the leader and now he's trying to, uh, get them back together because Vietnam is happening. They all say "No" but then that old guy is thrown out a window so then they say, "Okay" because that was their friend. Now they have only a few hours to find the murderer because of that clock and Dick Nixon is probably behind it, I don't know.

Me: You and me are done....professionally.

see, while this may come off as ridiculous to people who know the story. for all the people who dont know the story, and only know what they've seen in trailers: perceptions like this are gonna be common, and its not surprising. what your friend thinks the movie is, is the movie lots of people think watchmen is gonna be. whether or not thats a good thing is yet to be seen. people wont know any better until they see the film. but, are they gonna see the film based on what they think it is?

 

[RustyCage]

Despite what they may think it is, most of them know that they DON'T know what it is, so they might want to see it out of curiousity, to see if they were right. Not to mention word of mouth corrections, looking it up, paying better attention to the words in the advertisements, etc. The reasons people go to a movie like this can be surprisingly complicated, although they may not be aware of it.

The conversation quoted above is an example of such.

 

[Motown Marvel]

Despite what they may think it is, most of them know that they DON'T know what it is, so they might want to see it out of curiousity, to see if they were right. Not to mention word of mouth corrections, looking it up, paying better attention to the words in the advertisements, etc. The reasons people go to a movie like this can be surprisingly complicated, although they may not be aware of it.

The conversation quoted above is an example of such.

but all that only applies to people who are actually curious about the film. just as many, if not more people, may know they dont know what its about, but they also dont care. because they're gonna take what they've seen in the trailers, mix it with what they know of comic book films, and pass a judgement. the only thing that will change that is word of mouth. someone telling them, "dude this movie was crazy, and awesome, and nothing like i expected, you need to see it!". only then will they maybe question the judgement they've already passed on the film.

 

[OctaviusINC]

see, while this may come off as ridiculous to people who know the story. for all the people who dont know the story, and only know what they've seen in trailers: perceptions like this are gonna be common, and its not surprising. what your friend thinks the movie is, is the movie lots of people think watchmen is gonna be. whether or not thats a good thing is yet to be seen. people wont know any better until they see the film. but, are they gonna see the film based on what they think it is?

Oh, I totally understand what you're saying. I don't expect people to run out and get educated about this film. I don't care if I'm the only one in my theater who read it. Sucks for them, right?

I just love hearing other people's perception of it. I'd probably be the same, scratch that, I KNOW I'd be the same if someone said "Explain Harry Potter" or "Explain Twilight".

Like my Physics teacher says after he listens to us art students try to explain the laws of gravity: "Aw, that's cute."

 

[Shadow-Guardian]

I have no problem with people wanting to read the novel, but when someone acts like they know everything about it, having never read the book, that's when I get pissed. Esspecially when the poser doesn't know WTF he's talking about, and starts talking about just he's seen from the trailers.

 

[Octoberist]

You know what pisses me off? It's idiot teens who are gonna see the movie and the next day wear a t-shirt and add it to Myspace or whatever and act like their a huge fan, despite never reading the book. Or some dumb dude yelling "AW HELL NAW! OHHH! MAN THATS SICK! THAT AIN'T RiGHT YO!" in the background when they Doc naked. I just wanna beat the living crap outta people like that. Damn scumbags.

You know what? That happens to everything.

 

[OctaviusINC]

You know what? That happens to everything.

Not The Spirit.


Hahahaha.


Oh I made myself sad.

 

[DACrowe]

I think people will like it a lot, similar to V for Vendetta's modest success, but with it having such a more dynamic look it will do better. But maybe not quite as well as 300. While 300 is a much shallower book (and probably film as well), it was shorter and action porn. This movie, hopefully, is not that.

But I think somewhere between $150-$200 million is perfectly reasonable and will be considered a success for an R-rated fantasy film released in March.

 

[CaptainGenerica]

expecting this movie to be a TDK like adventure.

Correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't that what comic book movies are shooting for now? Isn't that the goal, the ideal, the standard, nowadays? Is it not good for people to expect something like TDK, to have high expectations for plot, complexity, and thematic depth?

 

[The Guard]

Anyone with a shred of intelligence who paid almost any attention to detail should be able to put two and two together and figure out what WATCHMEN is "about". Would they know the entire story and all the relevant themes? No. Of course not. And they're not meant to from a trailer.

They would know the following:

1. This features heroes in the real world, in the 80's
2. Heroes presence caused problems for the world
3. Heroes being hunted/killed
4. Some kind of escalating nuclear tensions
5. The basics of the heroes and their methods.

That's all you should really need to know. If that stuff doesn't fascinate you, chances are you won't enjoy WATCHMEN anyway. Why the hell should the trailer give everything great about WATCHMEN away?

Unfortunately, many people are stupid, don't notice any level of detail, and make stupid comments like "That looks like SPIDER-MAN!"

 

[OctaviusINC]

Correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't that what comic book movies are shooting for now? Isn't that the goal, the ideal, the standard, nowadays? Is it not good for people to expect something like TDK, to have high expectations for plot, complexity, and thematic depth?

If by "nowadays" you mean the past few months. The only people that had high standards for comic films were the fans. And we are the minority. Everybody else walking in, especially critics, just thought about clever puns they could put in their review to demolish the movie.

TDK changed that. Which could be good or bad depending how you look at it. I think now EVERYTHING comic related will be compared to TDK regardless of the original source material because TDK was great and nothing else different could be as great

And if something DOES come close to TDK in mood or characterization it'll be considered a "rip off". It's the new Donner Superman.It's a gift AND curse for the fans.

 

[Bubastis]

My friend Matt and I had this conversation a few days back. I let him borrow my GN. Didn't seem to get to it yet. But our conversation went something like this:

Matt: You know, the trailer says it the most celebrated GN of all time, but I've never even heard of it.
Me:That's because you're not really into comics.
Matt: Well excuse me if i don't sit around and read them all day. I have things to do.
Me: And I don't? When I have free time I read a bit instead of spending countless hours on the internets.
Matt: Whatever. It probably won't be better than TDK.
Me: We'll see. Do you know what it's even about?
Matt: Yeah.
Me: What's it about?
Matt: Okay, so, there's this team of superheroes called, uh, the Watchmen. And in the '50's the group breaks up, uh, and they lose their superpowers. The Blue guy was the leader and now he's trying to, uh, get them back together because Vietnam is happening. They all say "No" but then that old guy is thrown out a window so then they say, "Okay" because that was their friend. Now they have only a few hours to find the murderer because of that clock and Dick Nixon is probably behind it, I don't know.

Me: You and me are done....professionally.

This **** is why I was afraid of it becoming a mainstream movie.

Most of them are pretty simple over here in North Virginia. Robert Downey Jr. being in the film, it being a typical superhero movie ("I don't care for superheroes anymore. And I don't read comic books... those are for kids. hopefully the movie will improve on the comic series.")

 

[Gridiron]

Please tell me your exaggerating.

Not really. Those are not exact quotes but they're pretty close.

Countless times a child will just beg to see a movie and the oblivious parent will agree just to get them to shut up. When Notorious came out, a mom brought her children to see Notorious. These kids were no older than 7 or 8. I went over exactly why it was rated R and after about 20 minutes of the movie she came down and demanded a refund.

 

[Motown Marvel]

This **** is why I was afraid of it becoming a mainstream movie.

you're afraid that people who havent seen the movie dont know what its about?

 

[Max Newlander]

I pretty much know nobody that has any idea's of the background of the GN or has even the slightest idea of what the movie is actually about.

Most people I know think it looks strange, and think its going to be another conventional Superhero type movie.

This sounds kind of bad, but I don't really care if folks decide to see it or just give it a miss because they don't care about it.

Why?

Well its a one off movie which is effectively completed.

I'm a big fan of the GN and can't wait to see Zack Snyders big screen version and vision, and I'm pretty sure I will appreciate and enjoy the final result.

However if Watchmen was part of a series or potential franchise, which required more movies to be made then it would be completely different. I would be watching the B.O results with my fingers crossed that it turns out a real success so the sequels would be green lit.

So I'm not so bothered if its a massive success or not, as long as I enjoy it and its a fair adaptation of the truely out-standing GN.

Oh, I went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" with my GF this weekend, so that I can play the "I went to see one of your movies recently" if she doesn't want to see it come March.

 

[Motown Marvel]

I pretty much know nobody that has any idea's of the background of the GN or has even the slightest idea of what the movie is actually about.

Most people I know think it looks strange, and think its going to be another conventional Superhero type movie.

This sounds kind of bad, but I don't really care if folks decide to see it or just give it a miss because they don't care about it.

Why?

Well its a one off movie which is effectively completed.

I'm a big fan of the GN and can't wait to see Zack Snyders big screen version and vision, and I'm pretty sure I will appreciate and enjoy the final result.

However if Watchmen was part of a series or potential franchise, which required more movies to be made then it would be completely different. I would be watching the B.O results with my fingers crossed that it turns out a real success so the sequels would be green lit.

So I'm not so bothered if its a massive success or not, as long as I enjoy it and its a fair adaptation of the truely out-standing GN.

Oh, I went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" with my GF this weekend, so that I can play the "I went to see one of your movies recently" if she doesn't want to see it come March.

the problem with this is, 1: next time a director wants to stay true to the source instead of giving into studio demands, this will not be a good precedent. if the film does well, future directors adapting comics can say: jsut look at watchmen, it was taken seriously and stayed true to the source, and it did fantastic at the box office. and 2. zach snyder was given lots of freedom on this film because of the success with 300. if watchmen does not do will, his next cinematic venture, the studio will not be so gracious to his needs.

 

[Figs]

Not really. Those are not exact quotes but they're pretty close.

Countless times a child will just beg to see a movie and the oblivious parent will agree just to get them to shut up. When Notorious came out, a mom brought her children to see Notorious. These kids were no older than 7 or 8. I went over exactly why it was rated R and after about 20 minutes of the movie she came down and demanded a refund.

By company policy are you forced to give the idiots back their money?

If I had my way I wouldn't, I would punch them in the teeth...regardless if it's a Mom or Dad.

Can't believe the lack of common sense in our society.


Those are really good points Motown, hopefully the movie doesn fairly well.

 

[TinkTonks]

Correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't that what comic book movies are shooting for now? Isn't that the goal, the ideal, the standard, nowadays? Is it not good for people to expect something like TDK, to have high expectations for plot, complexity, and thematic depth?

No, it's not a bad thing...I never said it was. The problem is, the majority of the people I personally know didn't like TDK for any of the reasons you stated above. In fact, most of them told me they thought the movie moved too slow, and it was "confusing" in parts. I never said these people I knew were smart But if they were confused by TDK and it's plot-driven story, they are gonna have a Scanner-like head explosion trying to follow Watchmen.

 

[Hellrider]

All my friends either know watchmen, or really liked the trailer. There were confusions and misconceptions, but the first trailer really didn't give much out at all, and even in the second trailer... The story is really hard to sum up into 2 mins.