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NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > WATCHMEN MOVIE RELEASE RAISES FEARS OF INCREASE IN MASKED VIGILANTES
WATCHMEN MOVIE RELEASE RAISES FEARS OF INCREASE IN MASKED VIGILANTES
February 8 2009
Hollywood, CA – It is rare for a movie to affect the social and political landscape of a country. ‘Birth of a Nation’, ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, ‘Blackboard Jungle’, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, ‘Philadelphia’, and ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ are all examples of films that have broken the borders of the silver screen and made a distinctive impact on society at large. While no one expected a similar reaction from the recent spate of superhero movies, some critics and government officials are fearing just that with the impending release of Zack Snyder’s ‘Watchmen’.
The movie, based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, tells the tale of average people who have taken on the persona of superheroes in order to enact justice. While one character, Doctor Manhattan, possesses superpowers the remainder of the players are ordinary people who have taken crime fighting on as a profession. That casual approach to super heroism is exactly what is concerning officials.
“Batman is obviously a character that is a normal human being that decided to become a crime fighter but he is of course a billionaire which puts his story as much into the realm of fantasy as anyone with actual superpowers. The characters from ‘Watchmen’ are for the most part working Joes who have decided to become vigilantes and many people are concerned that that could break its way into the real world,” said Scrape TV Entertainment analyst Tracey Temple.
“There was an incident last summer where a man dressed as the Joker attempted to rob a movie theatre and that is what concerns many officials. Not so much the introduction of superheroes, but the inevitable introduction of super villains.”
New York, the setting for much of the ‘Watchmen’ storyline, is where most of the concern is coming from.
“New York is safe. New York is safer than it ever has been and we want people to know that we do not need your help fighting crime. The men and women of the NYPD are the best crime fighters in the world and they do not require the assistance of any superheroes,” said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “We do not want a rush of people
taking the law into their own hands. Not only will you potentially injure yourself, we will not tolerate vigilantism and people who commit such acts will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
‘Watchmen’ has been the most heavily hyped movie of 2009 with anticipation of the filmic results anticipated not only by fans of the comic but also fans of director Snyder whose last film, 300, was a critical and box office success. The concern is that should the movie become a break out hit like last summer’s ‘The Dark Knight’ that random acts of crime fighting might become pandemic across the nation.
“It’s a dangerous line to walk. If they go too far officials risk people not even doing simple things like calling 9-1-1 but if they don’t go far enough, they risk unleashing super villains across the unsuspecting public,” said Scrape TV Crime analyst Willard Weston. “Of course they may be underestimating the apathy of the general public, especially in a city like New York. People rarely help when it isn’t too far out of their way, never mind going to the trouble and expense of making up a costume and spending their nights finding crimes to fight. I do think the concern is a little bit too much, but it’s probably better to overly safe than it is to be sorry, especially when it comes to super villainy.”
Few are expecting the more fantastic parts of the movie to be enacted in the real world. Those segments include Doctor Manhattan and his exile on Mars.
“I wouldn’t surprised to see someone attempt to make themselves into a God like Manhattan but that is likely to fail. Should the movie inspire real life superheroes it’s likely to be a little more mundane,” continued Weston. “The way the economy is there are going to be a lot of people with a lot of spare time which would leave their nights more or less free. I shudder to imagine what the quality of unemployment insurance produced costumes would be and we all know that a good superhero is all about the costume. It should be interesting either way. One would hope though that this doesn’t result in the destruction of New York City. That’s an awfully big price to pay to for a movie.”
‘Watchmen’ premieres March 6.
Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent
NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > WATCHMEN MOVIE RELEASE RAISES FEARS OF INCREASE IN MASKED VIGILANTES
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