The New Age of Superheroes: The Watchmen and the Dark Knight

As anyone can clearly see, this is a time for the superheroes, but this isn't the time for the superheroes you were once used to as evidenced by the gritty characteristics of The Dark Knight, and The Watchmen. These are a new bread of super heroes and they are getting much attention and praise these days since their movies are shaped as big block busters.

If you are a parent, you might be wondering what to expect from the watchmen movie. A lot of conservatives were truly shocked to see the kind of psychological stress the newest Batman Movie had in store for their children. Batman, they thought, was supposed to be kid friendly. Well, there is a good reason for this. Society has always been playing down the dark forces, the sins of the founding fathers. This is a necessary blindness in order for society to even exist.

Many are predicting that the watchmen will be shall also be a huge success. There is no doubt that it the watchmen will be watched, there is the huge fan base that will surely go to see it at least once, and this huge fan base is growing even larger due to the genius marketing strategy employed with viral online clips marketing strategy. There will be no

The issue here is the twisted morality that seems to come from everyone, even the heroes themselves. The heroes here are forced to choose between evils, and they are burdened with the responsibility of choosing for their society. Their hands are inevitably stained with blood.

The humanity of the heroes is underscored here. Look at superman, he decisions are hard because he has to sacrifice himself, put himself on harm's way for the sake of saving the lives of people. But of course, he is invincible and so this is not really a problem most of the time. That's why the writers try to up the stakes. They put superman in situations in which he might actually die. And of course, superman still sacrifices himself for others. He doesn't die though. They will never let him die because that would end the lucrative superman franchise. This makes his heroism incomplete. Think of the concept of heroism throughout history. The most honored heroes are those who die saving our lives. In any case, the decision to sacrifice him self doesn't seem to come hard for old superman. We have come to expect it in fact. It's nothing new.

Now consider batman in the dark knight. His humanity is highlighted. And the choices he made in that movie is reflective of the choices on which our society is founded on. In short, these choices, once questioned and problematized can threaten to shake our foundations, or worse, plunge our civilization's moral structures into chaos. The watchmen will also explore this. And perhaps will reach much deeper into these questions. Only the stout minded will appreciate all this work’s resonances.