1) Read (at least) the first chapter (hopefully more!)
2) Made a map of the characters and their relations in class
3) Discussed some of the ways the visuals/information work together
4) If you haven't seen it, you're at least aware that there is a movie adaption of the comic
For this blog post, I'm interested in returning to an idea we discussed briefly on Wednesday and working to connect it to some of our earlier reading.
First off, I'd also like you to read this interview with Alan Moore, the creator/writer of Watchmen, with the UK Guardian. (I also feel I must be explicit in telling you that the other comic this article discusses, Lost Girls, is very, very, very sexually graphic. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but don't go Googling it around children.)
What I'd then like to you to think about and discuss in your blog post, by using the Alan Moore interview, the Dick Hebdige piece about style, our class discussions, Watchmen itself and perhaps any other readings that seem applicable is: Why and how is the style of Watchmen important?
Style, of course, can mean many things, such as:
-genre (what genre(s) does Watchmen belong to? Based on that, what do you expect from/of it?)
-appearance (colors, panels, expressions, actions, etc.,)
-themes (what recurs, is brought up again, reworked, reexamined)
-character/plot patterns (hero, love story...this is also similar to genre)
-tone (dark, humorous, etc.,)
You may also consider how style impacts some of the other lenses we've talked about in connection with Watchmen:
-a feminist lens (How are women portrayed? And men?)
-an underground/indie lens (kind of related to our recent anarchy/hierarchy paradigm we made in class)
-a Marxist lens (where's the money/power?)
-Where are the non-white people lens?
And, perhaps, more recently, via our field trip to the design center, we now have:
-a historical/cultural lens
Now, this is a lot and I neither expect nor do I think it'd be productive if you tried to answer every question (unless you want to write a book). Instead, what I'm interested in is you picking one way to answer how and why the style of Watchmen is important. Of course, there is no right answer (or your online discussions this week would be very boring), so the more important thing is to fully explore how your conception of a way to answer this works.
For example, it might not work if I say that the style of Watchmen matters because comic books are cheap and, hence more available to people, unless I put it in context. The comic book you bought is probably not any cheaper than any other book and is certainly more than if I'd given you something off the internet, but if I think of it as an art book, well, art books are very, very expensive. This brings visual storytelling (not cinematic anyway) to the masses.
That's a really crude and not very good example, but do you see how I focus on one area? (I'm sure you can already see some holes in my example. In fact, another part of your work for this Friday is that you need to comment on this post about some of the ways my "reading"or example response is too limited.)
I'm going to be out of town this weekend, so if you email me, it may take some time to get back to you (which is saying something because I will freely admit that I can be a little flighty when it comes to email.) But please do not hesitate to let me know if anything comes up.
Keep reading, keep thinking, don't be an agent of oppression, have a good weekend and I'll see you Wednesday (no class Monday!)
i think that your response isn't that great because it was very jumbled you kept on the same topic the whole time but you subcategories were very confusing and unorganized. I also thought that it didn't really have an end result there was no main point like either that comic books are cheap and accessible or that they aren't.
ReplyDeleteI think what makes your response so limited is how you didn't really look at what makes it an "art book'. You could go into so much more with that statement, referring it back to the style of the book, how it is presented as art to you. Also, you included a little reference to audience, which could also be expanded upon when talking about the style of Watchmen. It seemed like you were so focused on one area, that the other points that go along with it were neglected.
ReplyDeleteMadison--Great description. One word I've heard used to describe what you're talking about it "takeaway" or the "so what?" In a piece of writing, the reader should always have something to take away or should be able to answer the question "So what?" You're definitely right that my quick sketch lacks that.
ReplyDeleteSarah--You hit on an important point. Unlike Dick Hebdige, I wasn't defining my terms. It's important to have your audience know what you're talking about instead of just assuming. If I had defined what I meant by art book, for example, it would have been much harder for someone to say "this isn't art!" and dismiss my argument altogether. (Also, keep asking questions about audience. It's always an important dimension in writing.)
ReplyDeleteOne of the limits of your example is that you do not explain why it is important or significant that visual storytelling can be brought to the masses through relatively cheap comics, as opposed to art books. You could have related the release and evolution of comics to the development of mass communication and media, giving it context to discuss its significance.
ReplyDeleteI don't think your response is too great because it's confusing and contradictory. Your saying that comic books are cheap, but at the same time that the comic book we bought isn't any cheaper than any other book. This makes the reader question what your saying.
ReplyDeleteI think the response is too limited due to the fact that many people might consider a comic more than an art book; that it might have better important images that tell a story.You could have said how they're both meant to tell their own stories through the artwork and they would be perceived differently by people.
ReplyDeleteYou have a very short and limited explanation on why watchmen matters you did not really answer the question that on why it matters you said that it was cheap to buy comic books and therefore more people see them. You also turn it around and say that watchmen is not cheaper then a normal book so the example does not give the best representation of how or why the style of watchmen works.
ReplyDelete