The Watchmen & Humanity

Hi All!

I saw the new Watchmen movie yesterday. It was excellent; probably the best movie based on a comic book. I highly recommend it. You can watch a review I did of it here.

The best part of the movie was that it provided a plethora of topics to think about. The character of Dr. Manhattan provided several of these topics by himself. In particular, I couldn't help but identify a little with the doctor in his lack of connection to humanity.

I often feel like a robot observing the world but not interacting with it. I walk from one place to another in the city without caring or even noticing the people I pass along the way. I care about my immediate family and friends. But people I don't know (or don't know well) don't inspire empathy or compassion from me. I think part of my problem is that I don't interact with others often enough, something I'm trying to repair. Perhaps this was part of Dr. Manhattan's problem as well.

While I certainly don't consider people akin to unliving matter, often the deaths of people mean little to me. While I feel a token sympathy when I hear of deaths on the news, they really don't mean anything to me. I felt nothing when I heard of the 9/11 plane crashes. If a large proportion of humanity was killed in a major disaster, I don't think I'd really care. I often think that it would be neat to see the end of the world in my lifetime.

Similar to the doctor, there are many aspects of humanity that I don't understand and strongly dislike. The idea of getting in touch with humanity is a scary one. The Comedian was knowledgeable about the truth of humanity and he was a murderer and rapist.

Rather than self-exile, I'm going to continue to interact with people in small amounts and hopefully I'll make more friends and learn more about how and why people act.

Hey, my French classes will also help is this. Language is a good connection to the mindset and nature of people.

See you next time!