this is satirical for anyone unfamiliar. It's a page from the right wing newspaper that the character Rorschach reads devotedly. It's got everything. Excessive labels. :liberty-weeping:, the works

  • AcidSmiley [she/her]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Not only did Zac Snyder not understand that Rorschach was meant as a satire of grimdark law and order takes on Batman like Year One, no, his Rorschach and his Batman are the exact same character.

    • FlakesBongler [they/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Still love how Rorschach was a none too subtle dig against Steve Ditko's Mr. A as well

      Nearly the exact same outfit, nearly identical philosophy

      But where Mr. A is a principled newspaper reporter who moonlights as a vigilante, Rorschach is a greasy weirdo who only reads the greasy right-wing tabloids

      He's ugly, he doesn't bathe and moreover he's short and drives a psychologist to the brink with his depravity

      Nobody should like Rorschach and yet, for some reason, he's the most popular character

      • emizeko [they/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        3 years ago

        Mr. A was inspired by Objectivism, the belief system and moral absolutism of the philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand.

        :kombucha-disgust:

        this makes me appreciate the satire way more

        • FlakesBongler [they/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Those Mr. A comics basically read like Chick Tracts, but for objectivism

          Like they basically all have a scenario where Mr. A gets the drug dealer/pimp/gangster into a life or death situation and it always has them being like "You can't just let me die" and Mr. A without missing a beat always goes "Yes I can, because A is A" and let's them fall/get hit by a train/get crushed by a car crusher

          Okay, he never actually says "A is A" but it would have improved the comics somewhat

      • NotALeatherMuppet [none/use name]
        ·
        3 years ago

        everything you've said is correct but "I'M NOT TRAPPED IN HERE WITH YOU, YOU'RE TRAPPED IN HERE WITH ME" is a fantastic line

        • FlakesBongler [they/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Alan Moore is such a good writer that he managed to make a violent dumpster goblin likeable

          • Frank [he/him, he/him]
            ·
            3 years ago

            I wouldn't say he's likeable, but he does have virtues. Which, depending on how you feel about Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia, is a good thing or a bad thing.

          • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Understandable maybe, but he didn't make the guy at all likeable. These people just decided they like bad traits.

        • HeckHound [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Also it doesn’t help that he gets the most badass ending out of all the characters in the comic. He refuses to help cover up the mass murder of innocents and chooses to be executed rather than compromise his morals. Meanwhile Night Owl and Silk Spectre just pathetically accept defeat and retire and Dr. Manhattan tells Ozimandias all his plans are ultimately futile before fucking off into space forever. When I first read Watchmen as a teen I thought Rorschach was the only actual hero in it, mostly because of this scene.

      • AcidSmiley [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        both of these dress and think exactly like a 4chan libertarian ca. 2008. the difference is that with Rorschach, the smell, social ineptitude and general unhingedness of this archetype are portrayed in a realistic way.

    • ssjmarx [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Snyder's Watchmen lifts so much of its cinematography and script directly from Moore's book that they gave him a writer's credit. honestly its impressive how, despite that, Snyder managed to turn Rorschach into the main POV and sideline the actual main character Night Owl just through which scenes were given more screentime and how the editing framed the characters.