Watchmen and Underground rhetoric

I apologize for being a little late with this one this week. I hope it didn't screw up anyone's schedule.

We talked on Wendesday about the kind of story (or stories) that Watchmen is telling and perhaps some of the points its creators are trying to make. Last week you also wrote about the style of Watchmen, which may or may not have had explicit connections to Hebdige's ideas of style as a tool of the underground.

What I'd like you to do this week is something that we haven't debated about in a while. I'd like you to write about how Watchmen is or is not a form of underground or indie media. One arena in which we talked about this a lot was Firefly. We had arguments that it both was and wasn't underground. Its representations of characters and genre-bending might have made it seem indie, but its representations of genres and venue of viewing (a major network) made it more mainstream.

I think Watchmen has elements of both. Our theoretical lenses and readings should help you ground your feelings about the text (though it's not required, I'd highly recommend referencing and using a reading or lens from earlier in class. This will help guide your thoughts as a writer and your audience, as well.)

Try to focus only on the text and not that Watchmen's been around for a long time and has been made into a major movie. In other words, try to focus only on what the book is actually saying and how it does that, rather than all the hoopla around the idea of the book.

Finally, homework. I'd like you to come up with three possible artifacts for your upcoming paper (details here). We're going to discuss that in class and it will be your role question, so come prepared! I'd also like you to refresh your memory of your They Say, I Say readings. Look over your notes, skim the book. This will come in handy as you write.

Also, for pre-Monday homework, I'd like you to read these two articles. We'll also be discussing these in class, so print-outs will be handy. You can read them in any order, honestly:
SLATE:
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2012/05/before_watchmen_controversy_alan_moore_is_right_.single.html
FORBES:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2012/02/01/alan-moore-is-wrong-about-before-watchmen/

These articles (and Monday's discussion) is going to be a different approach to the text than tomorrow's blog, so try to do the reading after you reflect on the text without the hoopla.

Contact me if you have questions, have a good weekend and don't be an agent of oppression!