the only thing im really worried about with this movie...

[Mr. Biggles]

It's this simple:

There will be idiots that will see this movie and think they know everything about it. Let them. Because when you try to have a conversation about the film and the book, they won't have a clue. And that's what it comes down to.

I was seriously just about to say the same thing. You took the words right out of my mouth t: Not literally, though; if you did, i would have choked, and easily be able to sue you.

 

[Crashley]

I don't think there will be that many posers when the movie is released because those who do see it (without comic knowledge) will mostly talk about the message it sends and its depth. Discussions that lack substance will die out quickly, eliminating the real posers from those who are actually interested in what it conveys.

Sorry I didn't realize this point was already made.

 

[Sockin]

the way i see it, regarding the average joes, there will be fans of the movie, the ones who think it's "super badass and awesome", and those that truly understand what the movie is about and what it means. And when that can be differentiated, it'll make a ton of a difference.

I completely agree with this, I don't really think the bandwagon fans/teenie boppers are going to be able to understand all the themes behind this to actually get it.

I just got the book last month and have read it twice and I'm still going back and reading it to try and pick out all of the messages.

 

[DayLucidity]

Hmm, I hadn't really thought about this before.

But you guys are right...there will probably be an influx of Watchmen fans. Sadly, as I'm a teenager and a girl, it will be likely I'll be thought of as one of them, again. (This happened with Batman this year...)

But tbh, I feel that it could be a good thing for the franchise Maybe we will see new products due to a larger market...

And I'm sure they'll all give up on it eventually. Teenagers often do.

 

[Elle Quence]

I have been reading the watchmen in between taking calls at work (can do so because sometimes its dead at night) for some odd reason Ive been identifying with Dr Manhattan lately, could just be the walking around naked whenever i get the chance, but it could also be that I understand his point of view now... maybe the posers wont matter, that's all they will be if they do not look beyond what has been given to them.
sadly ignorance is bliss

 

[redhawk23]

i like how much people scorn teenagers so much around here. I mean isn't it entirly possible that they might actually apreciate watchmen just as much as you? I mean you just have to look at the influx of sails of the g.n. to know that people are interested. Can you really blame a kid for not imediatly buying or knowing about a graphic novel that was released before they were born? Also surly not all of you got the book when it was still a limited a series, before it reached its present legendary status. I think everyone here is far too quick to critisize the younger age groups. Sure they may not get every single reference and nuance but neither did you before the fifth time reading it, before obsessivly discussing, or even reading the wikipedia page.

The point I'm trying to get across is yes, teenagers read comics and yes they get it. (Even if it takes a 200 million $$ movie to reel them in)

 

[Solidus]

It will be very interesting. I read Watchmen back in 92 for the first time. And it did seem many of the hard-core comic fans knew what it was.

But it was funny, one of my best friends had never read Watchmen. And after the trailer appeared on TDK, he went to the book store to get a copy of it, and funny enough the girl there said they were all sold out. People are checking it out to see what it is all about.

Yea there will be those fans that claim their fans, and not really try to understand what the movie is about. But oh well.

I think the more fans of this masterpiece the merrier.

 

[QueenChaos]

The thought of new fans popping up doesn't bother me incredibly, like many of you have said, I think it's great that more people are going to realise how awesome Watchmen is. What can be somewhat annoying is the idea of new "fans" emerging who don't genuinely adore it as much as others but still say that it's their favourite thing ever. That can't be helped though, and i'm sure regardless - it will be easy to realise who truly appreciates it and who is just following it like a trend. Those people will probably eventually "grow out" of the trend like they might with many things. Overall, Watchmen's future popularity isn't all that worrisome. I'm going to look forward to having more people to discuss it with locally, as currently I barely know anyone who has read it.

 

[DayLucidity]

i like how much people scorn teenagers so much around here. I mean isn't it entirly possible that they might actually apreciate watchmen just as much as you? I mean you just have to look at the influx of sails of the g.n. to know that people are interested. Can you really blame a kid for not imediatly buying or knowing about a graphic novel that was released before they were born? Also surly not all of you got the book when it was still a limited a series, before it reached its present legendary status. I think everyone here is far too quick to critisize the younger age groups. Sure they may not get every single reference and nuance but neither did you before the fifth time reading it, before obsessivly discussing, or even reading the wikipedia page.

The point I'm trying to get across is yes, teenagers read comics and yes they get it. (Even if it takes a 200 million $$ movie to reel them in)

 

[Mr. Biggles]

Yea there will be those fans that claim their fans, and not really try to understand what the movie is about. But oh well.

I think the more fans of this masterpiece the merrier.

I say damn the people who watch the trailer and head over to their local Hot Topic to grab a Watchmen shirt and claim to be a fan, and bravo to the people who watch the trailer and go to the comic store and purchase a copy of the novel to read and enjoy it as their own.

 

[Manic]

I think a lot of people here are overestimating the number of people who'll claim to be fans without trying to understand the story.

 

[Slipeor]

is that after it comes out, there's going to be all these poser 'watchmen fans' and everyones going to be all like "oh ya, watchmen kicks ass". Its going to get completely commercialized. It's just like now everyone is an iron man fan, and everyones a batman fan. But even with those, people who don't read comics knew who those characters were. But watchmen has always completely belonged to the hardcore comic fans (i was going to call us something else, but i don't want to piss people off). Is anybody else worried about this?

You're kidding me. Do you have any idea how stupid that comment make you look? How does your enjoyment of a movie get compromised by the reactions, either positive or negative, of the masses?

I'm 34 years old and one of the few people here that probaby read this series back when it was originally released. At the time comic books were far from cool and I read them in secret so that friends and girls wouldn't make fun of me. There were no superhero movies back then (aside from the Reeve Superman ones and Tim Burton's Batman which was one of the first times it was cool to like comics).

Fast forward to 2002 and I'm sitting in a movie theatre with my wife watching the first Spider-Man. I look over at her when Uncle Ben dies and she's crying. It was the greatest moment of my life. That little geeky kid who read Spider-Man now had someone close to him to appreciate the beauty and pain of the character. Spider-Man (and now Iron Man) being mainstream only added to my enjoyment. The fact that it got overblown and commercialized didn't make a difference. if anything, it helped add budget money to the movies, thus making them better.

You sound like an old die-hard Ramones fan that got mad when anyone other then them and their friends liked the Ramones. As soon as a band goes mainstream you want to stop listening to them. Let it go and enjoy the movie. I for one think it looks awesome.

 

[Mr. Biggles]

How does your enjoyment of a movie get compromised by the reactions, either positive or negative, of the masses?
Let it go and enjoy the movie.

..........I dont know about you guys but this actually made sense

 

[Elle Quence]

I guess it depends on the person really, Im cool with people getting into it, but if some d-bag goes around doing stupid things because they were influenced by this movie (and there will be people who do) I just dont want it to give a bad name to the rest of the fans

and I was so bored monday night on my break, and I was the only one at work so I was really trying to pass the deadness

so I drew this.... sorry if its a little crappy but dry erase markers are only so good

I was bored, but not bad, I also drew 3 more different ones, one sits in my managers office, I keep changing the faces to the as well, I dont know if people have noticed that part tho. I had to put paper behind it to take the picture or you just see everything else more then the drawing

 

[Katsuro]

You're kidding me. Do you have any idea how stupid that comment make you look? How does your enjoyment of a movie get compromised by the reactions, either positive or negative, of the masses?

I'm 34 years old and one of the few people here that probaby read this series back when it was originally released. At the time comic books were far from cool and I read them in secret so that friends and girls wouldn't make fun of me. There were no superhero movies back then (aside from the Reeve Superman ones and Tim Burton's Batman which was one of the first times it was cool to like comics).

Fast forward to 2002 and I'm sitting in a movie theatre with my wife watching the first Spider-Man. I look over at her when Uncle Ben dies and she's crying. It was the greatest moment of my life. That little geeky kid who read Spider-Man now had someone close to him to appreciate the beauty and pain of the character. Spider-Man (and now Iron Man) being mainstream only added to my enjoyment. The fact that it got overblown and commercialized didn't make a difference. if anything, it helped add budget money to the movies, thus making them better.

You sound like an old die-hard Ramones fan that got mad when anyone other then them and their friends liked the Ramones. As soon as a band goes mainstream you want to stop listening to them. Let it go and enjoy the movie. I for one think it looks awesome.

What's worse is this idea some people have that other people wont really like it as much as them, or something. Maybe I dont hang around those kinds of people, but I cant imagine there are all that many people who will claim to be Watchmen fans but not really be. Usually, when someone tells me they enjoy something, I believe them.

Sure, it might not turn into a lifelong obsession, but so what? They'll enjoy the movie in theaters, maybe catch it again when it comes out on DVD, and that's it. Maybe they'll buy the book, maybe they wont. No big deal, not everyone has time. Does being a "true" Watchmen fan somehow mean you have to obsess over it every day for years to come?

 

[Lobster Charlie]

I guess some folks are worried it will dilute the source material to a certain degree. Sometimes when the film adaptation of a book or comic comes out, certain liberties are taken, and the mainstream audience accepts the film as *the* version of X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman, or what have you. Then you get people who *think* they know what they're talking about, just because they saw the film.

Imagine if someone saw Superman Returns, and thought they knew Superman now, without doing any further investigation into the character or comics. I think that's what some people fear. Sure, it's sort of a silly fear in the long run, and it's not a fear I share, but I can understand where they're coming from.

BTW, great post Slipeor!

 

[The Guard]

What's with the paranoia? How is one person doing something stupid going to give a bad name to fans of the material?

 

[Elle Quence]

What's with the paranoia? How is one person doing something stupid going to give a bad name to fans of the material?

ok heres a bad example... but remember when jackass first became popular?.....
the concept of jackass was stupid to begin with, but monkey see monkey do, you never know we may have a bunch of cynical dick's running around as Rorschach after this.
hmmm did anyone notice that saw came out AFTER rorschach gave the guy a hack saw and lit the place a flame? Moore should sue the creators of saw
(whomever those people maybe, never watched crap like that) for infringement of such sadistic ideas

 

[Manic]

As a fan of Spider-Man, Batman, and the X-Men, I can tell you that there's absolutely nothing the general movie-going public could do to Watchmen that'd somehow magically ruin the graphic novel for me. Do you know the worst thing I've experienced regarding the X-Men movies? Questions from people who saw the movies and wanted to know stuff about the characters. That's about it. And I enjoyed answering those questions. Every now and then I'd have to correct somebody about something or other, but it was no big deal.

 

[Beanjuice]

i just dont want to see people walking around with watchmen shirts and hats after the movie comes out. claiming its the best movie ever,when they've never read the source material,or let alone have respect for where it came from. Just like teh dark knight. everyone loved it,everyone loves seeing stuff from it,but not everyone loves where it came from and its a shame

 

[Commodore Schmidlapp]

Awesome avatar^^^

 

[Manic]

i just dont want to see people walking around with watchmen shirts and hats after the movie comes out. claiming its the best movie ever,when they've never read the source material,or let alone have respect for where it came from. Just like teh dark knight. everyone loved it,everyone loves seeing stuff from it,but not everyone loves where it came from and its a shame

You and others are going to have to get a grip. What is this, the first movie made based off of something you've read ahead of time? Go talk to a Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Stephen King fan.

As hard as it may be for you all to accept, there are going to be a ton of people who watch this movie who've never read the graphic novel, and they are going to love the movie. I know that ruffles your feathers, but to sit back and complain that the book you've been a fan of for a while is going to become more popular is just... asinine. It's not going to ruin the book for you. Hell, if it makes you feel better, you can take the fact that you've read the book and know all the subtle nuances within and lord it over their heads.






*mumbling*
God, I swear. It's not enough that the teaser-trailer is getting more people to read the book, but apparently everybody has to read the book before they're allowed to enjoy a movie...

 

[I Am The Knight]

People are being way too over protective of the book. It's OK to enjoy would-be "mainstream", popular things along with the general public. No one's going to come into your room and tell you you're not relevant anymore because they saw a movie based on a GN you happen to love.

 

[The Guard]

ok heres a bad example... but remember when jackass first became popular?.....

the concept of jackass was stupid to begin with, but monkey see monkey do, you never know we may have a bunch of cynical dick's running around as Rorschach after this.

JACKASS was stupid, yes. It was also, for many people, hilarious. In short, JACKASS, like ANYTHING, was not just "popular because", it was popular for a reason. It touched a part of the mainstream public.

What does that have to do with WATCHMEN? Or are you trying to make a tired point about what's popular with the masses?

i just dont want to see people walking around with watchmen shirts and hats after the movie comes out. claiming its the best movie ever,when they've never read the source material,or let alone have respect for where it came from.

Question...what does WATCHMEN being the best movie ever have to do with whether people have read the book?

Who CARES if people have read the source material? Does that change the fact that the movie based on it is fantastic? That the script adapted from it was above average?

They are two completely separate things. What if it IS one of the best movies someone's ever seen?

Just like teh dark knight. everyone loved it,everyone loves seeing stuff from it,but not everyone loves where it came from and its a shame.

Who cares?

Just like not everyone is going to like what you personally like, not everyone will like the same media or the same presentation of material that you do.

I mean, in my mind, obviously people DO like what makes Batman work so well in the comics, because there it is, drawn from the comics and up on screen, and people seem to love it.

Do they know everything we do about the material? No.

So what?

 

[BirdsDoThus]

It as understandable fear, and I think it stems from the possibility that what made the book so awesome will be lost to so many. But just as there were people who read the book, liked the colors, then tossed it aside, there will be viewers who watch the movie, enjoy the special effects, talk about it for 2 weeks and then move on. It is how things progress.

Even so, I am excited. Thrilled! I feel it is a great time to become a Watchmen fan, because now (Hopefully) a large portion of the country is going to have Watchmen fever. And a lot of people who have never been exposed to something like Watchmen now will be, and maybe it will inspire them to read the book and learn even more.

I think the only things that will get me mad is someone saying something bad about a character in the movie. Obviously you can't get to know the characters as intimately in the movie as you did in the book, so Im gunna start feeling like a protective parent XD