What can we Afford to Lose?

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Here's the defense of the squid.

Spoiler

People always say watchmen is even more relevant now than it was in the 80's particularly because of 9-11. Ground zero was created because thousands of New Yorkers died. But the difference between the would-be utopia Veidt created and the nightmare Osama Bin Laden created is this: When human beings crash planes into a set of buildings, everybody has somebody to blame. When an unstoppable alien destroys New York, it's a force of unearthly terror against humanity. No religion, political ideal, or background can explain the alien. That makes the sides as simple as Angry force vs. humanity. It brings humanity together because humans don't have anybody to blame.
A man-made laser kills everybody? The following week, Bill O'Reilly will be on TV blaming the liberals or the Al-Queada. A big f***ing alien attacks us? We're screwed. Nobody to blame.

Spot on , if it isnt the squid, it has to be at least something that looks alien.

 

[CaptainGenerica]

We don't even have to know what it is, if people are worried the squid will look silly. As long as the point is made that people are convinced it's not of this earth, a flash of light and a shot of the destructive aftermath should be sufficient.

 

[CrimsonMist]

i think the lesbians, Dr. Long and the newstand scenes SHOULD stay in the movie. If only because of the ending. They don't have to spend a half hour on each character and develop them thoroughly, but enough so that when the ending comes, it'll be really emotional.

"I mean, it's all we can do to try to help each other. It's all that means anything..."

Honestly, one of the best parts of the entire book. And i really hope it makes it in the film.

 

[Steyin]

i think the lesbians, Dr. Long and the newstand scenes SHOULD stay in the movie. If only because of the ending. They don't have to spend a half hour on each character and develop them thoroughly, but enough so that when the ending comes, it'll be really emotional.

"I mean, it's all we can do to try to help each other. It's all that means anything..."

Honestly, one of the best parts of the entire book. And i really hope it makes it in the film.

QFT. The whole sequence with the lesbians and Long is absolutely necessary. It illustrates exactly what Veidt wants to eliminate with his scheme towards Utopia. Humanity's stock is plunging and something needs to be done about it; to serve an example that "we're better than this" in a way.

 

[Freakjokerxxx]

The squid needs to be kept. If he drops a bomb then nations will blame each other and the war will ignite even more. With the squid, they believe it is an alien invasion and they need to band together to stop the unseen enemies from space.

EDIT: I could see Mr. Long and the lesbians being cut from the movie. Along with the guy in the prison (can't remember his name. Don't have my book one me) who wants to get payback for Rorschach putting him away.

 

[BirdsDoThus]

You can't cut Big Figure! You'd lose too much hilarious!

They'd have to chop it down of course, but I really hope they don't get rid of it all together.

 

[BirdsDoThus]

Double

 

[Rain Dog]

I could see Mr. Long and the lesbians being cut from the movie. Along with the guy in the prison (can't remember his name. Don't have my book one me) who wants to get payback for Rorschach putting him away.

That's what I'm thinking got cut but I really, really hope that's not the case. Part of what made the ending so emotional to me was the fact that you got to know these characters.

 

[redhawk23]

dude if they cut out the squid iwould be so rediculously mad, like seriously that would be rediculous. For me it would change the story and the believability entirely. As others have said if it isn't something just totally insane like the squid the world would just blame eachother and nothing would be solved. But the squid just shows how crazy and twisted Ozzy's mind is, I really hope Schnyder has more sense than that, though honestly after seeing the crazy mutant warriors in 300, i don't think he would be able to resist doing the squid

fingers crossed

 

[THE INTRUDER]

Could those people be Dr. Long and his wife?

 

[THE INTRUDER]

 

[Sandman138]

i think the lesbians, Dr. Long and the newstand scenes SHOULD stay in the movie. If only because of the ending. They don't have to spend a half hour on each character and develop them thoroughly, but enough so that when the ending comes, it'll be really emotional.

"I mean, it's all we can do to try to help each other. It's all that means anything..."

Honestly, one of the best parts of the entire book. And i really hope it makes it in the film.

CM knows what's up. It's the regular people on the street that are the true stars of Watchmen. The masks are all trying to make sense of their actions but the humanity displayed when the clock strikes twelve is beyond the limited scope of any of their philosophies. It is the lynchpin that keeps all of Watchmen together.

 

[Trevor Goodchild]

The lesbians, the psychiatrist, the black freighter, the comic book writer, the squid and pretty much every other background character are the things that make Watchmen so distinct from every other superhero movie. If you take them all out it’ll become just another standard comic book adaptation. One of the reasons why they are so important is precisely because they are genuine WTF moments. And as people have said before me, we need to become familiar with at least half of those characters so the ending would be even more dramatic.

Otherwise:
They are already getting rid of the pirate story, so I think the abduction of the comic book writer and all those other people involved with the squid is the least relevant. Instead they could make the ending into an even crazier moment - without the squid exposition beforehand, after Vied explains his plan we would have a reason to at least partially take Nite Owl’s side in his incredulousness. Then the squid thing appears and the whole thing will go nuts.

Bernie’s newsstand and the comic kid are there in the movie, I’d imagine all other minor stereotypes could be there as well. Their stories will be trimmed anyways, so I’m confident it can all fit in a 2½ hour movie without a problem.

Also Dr. Manhattan’s segment has the potential to become the most deeply profound visual sequence in the entire movie. I mean, how else can they explain his unique perspective of time without using narration?

 

[Rasputin911]

The thing is, A squid-alien seems so cliche', even in the comic book. When i first read it i thought "was this the most original alien you could come up with, Ozy?"

Squids aren't even alien, they exist on earth. I would go for using an alien spacecraft (a kamikaze-type attack with a flying vehicle would be very reminescent of 9/11, and would be symbolic of how everyone in the Western world "united" for a short time after that attack) or a cloverfield type creature. Squids are just too....

 

[Sandman138]

ph'nglui mglw'nafh cthulhu r'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

 

[Figs]

LOL

I agree with what Sandman138 just said. Damn good examples.

 

[Armored Avenger]

I would go for using an alien spacecraft (a kamikaze-type attack with a flying vehicle would be very reminescent of 9/11, and would be symbolic of how everyone in the Western world "united" for a short time after that attack)

A spaceship could be called a secret Soviet weapon or aircraft. It must be an Alien-like creature.

 

[CrimsonMist]

ph'nglui mglw'nafh cthulhu r'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

This man speaks the truth.

It's not about a "squid". it's about incomprehensible doom and destruction.

 

[SLVRSR4]

I think we can stand to lose Rorschachs second appearance at both Moloch's and Dreiberg's places.

 

[The Guard]

It's not about a "squid". it's about incomprehensible doom and destruction.

It's not incomprehensible. Those elements do not require a tangible alien creature to exist. It's a squidlike alien, make no mistake about it. But the point is not so much about what it IS, so much as what it, being what it is, represents. There's a reason Moore chose the imagery he did for the alien. Sandman's on the right track. That alien squid/creature is all of humanity's, shall we say, moral inadequacies, coming back to haunt them. And I get that, but I really think what they "replaced" it in early drafts, while not as intricate, made more sense in the overall context of WATCHMEN.

 

[CrimsonMist]

It's not incomprehensible. Those elements do not require a tangible alien creature to exist. It's a squidlike alien, make no mistake about it. But the point is not so much about what it IS, so much as what it, being what it is, represents. There's a reason Moore chose the imagery he did for the alien. Sandman's on the right track. That alien squid/creature is all of humanity's, shall we say, moral inadequacies, coming back to haunt them. And I get that, but I really think what they "replaced" it in early drafts, while not as intricate, made more sense in the overall context of WATCHMEN.

I agree, and maybe i have to read it again, but when i did the first time, to me, when the squid hit, everything just STOPPED. It's like a reverse effect on what Cthulhu is. The madness of it all, is that everything stops and peace is made, as opposed to people going crazy, and destroying themselves. So yea, perhaps i was wrong to an extent. But the idea of a squid alien causing all that destruction, resulting in world peace is rather incomprehensible, in the story, to all the city people. I really have to read the book again, if only for a better conversation.

 

[The Guard]

I've always seen the squid as a sort of "This is the result of all you have done wrong, come to life in horrific fashion", and as a harbinger of things to come, because, as we know, the peace attained after that event may well be a shaky one.

 

[AAB Gamma Gamma]

Keep the squid!!!