• Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    10 days ago

    Alan Moore wrote Rorschach for a fucking reason and it wasn’t because “Rorschach was right!”

    Moore was clearly aware of people who are sympathetic to great causes but would undermine them and destroy society just to be able to say that they were right.

    Rorschach was right in many ways, but he spent his time looking down on everyone and anything else. His hate for the world was visceral and colored his perception. He was happy to destroy the world just so he could prove to himself that the world was beyond redemption.

    The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘SAVE US!’…and I’ll look down and whisper ‘No.’

    -Rorschach from Moore’s Watchmen

    He doesn’t support these movements because they’re filled to the gills with fucking Rorschachs.

    • Shiggles@sh.itjust.works
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      10 days ago

      There’s like a dozen in this very thread lmao

      Moore hates idol worship. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d personally fist fight anyone that idolized him.

    • Akasazh@feddit.nl
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      10 days ago

      Rorschach was very conservative and anti sex, much like the maga base. The attractive thing about that is that there’s a clear right and wrong.

      Later on he’d rather be killed than to admit ozymandias being right. His diary field the hateful marginal right-wing maga-crowd that had their anger taken away by the world peace that had materialized.

      • Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org
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        10 days ago

        Ozymandias was wrong.

        He wanted power over a world scared of an “outside” threat that didn’t exist. As soon as anyone with any knowledge was able to debunk the ‘attack’, regardless of how, it would get even worse. The difference was only how far in the future. Rorschach didn’t die because Ozy was right. He died because he couldn’t be complicit in a world where evil got to win.

        Ozymandias wanted to believe a heroic ideal as much as Rorschach - one that’s just as self-deluded. He wanted to believe that there was an end to “history”. He wanted to decide when the future began. But he forgot just one fact that Rorschach at least was cognizant of:

        Nothing ever ends, Adrian.

        None of those characters were right.

          • Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org
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            10 days ago

            Totally agree with this. It’s part of why I dislike that DC writers sometimes import traits from the Watchmen into their Charlton counterparts. Obviously, if you scratch the surface of Rorschach, you find the Question staring back. If you look at Silk Spectre the right way, you see Black Canary. Nite Owl 1 & 2 are the Blue Beetle (I’m glad that Moore never got to adapt Jaime).

            I want most of my superheroes to be clean and honest. I want to know that when I read a story, the Question follows leads responsibly (even if they do sometimes involve aglets) - whether that’s Vic or Renee under the no-face. I want to know that Dinah Lance comes from a loving family, has a man she loves and trusts, and is dedicated to being a hero and a mentor to those who aren’t in the same place. And so it goes for all of them. I want those characters to be heroes and in the right - or at least, in the realm of responsibility.

        • Akasazh@feddit.nl
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          10 days ago

          Didn’t say Ozymandias was right, I said Rorschach chose to die rather than submit to Ozymandias. And, like Ozymandias, he had already put into play his trump card, but he couldn’t tell him that, so he decided to take it to his grave.

          Both are cases of misplaced heroïsm. Neither are sure what the future will bring.

          • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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            9 days ago

            The way you said “rather die than admit ozy was right” was stated quite matter of fact-ly

            • Akasazh@feddit.nl
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              9 days ago

              You’re right, it’s a small difference. Rorschach couldn’t admit that there was a point, there was a path to harmony. Like oz he’d put his plan into working before too.

              He couldn’t admit to oz being right, because he morally was disagreeing with the method. But in fact he disagreed because it made himself unviable. He counts in humanity to find conflict to disturb peace.

              So ultimately Rorschach is right.

    • Juice@midwest.social
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      10 days ago

      What part of rorschach’s views are revolutionary? Rorschach is a chud. Maybe his views are extreme but not revolutionary. False equivalence be wilin

    • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 days ago

      I’ll take Rorschach at this point I’m not gonna lie. Something, anything has to give, and the road we’re on rn is much worse.

      Edit: lol the only replies to this are from people I had to block previously due to trolling/ignorance etc. Figures.

  • Paul Drye@lemm.ee
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    10 days ago

    It would probably be faster to list the things he doesn’t have a negative view about.

  • njm1314@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    What revolutionary culture? I’ve never seen any evidence that inspired revolutionary culture. Some cringe culture absolutely, but actual revolutionary culture? Nonsense.

    • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeOP
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      9 days ago

      Have you never seen Anonymous before? They are a revolutionary group whose motif is the Guy Fawkes Mask, which is a symbol that comes directly from the character V from V for Vendetta, who wears one because his mask “is an idea, and ideas are bulletproof”. Anonymous has done a lot of notable things, both good and bad, such as going after the Church of Scientology and trying to take part in the pandemic riots, and it is in response to some of this that Alan Moore has brought up the revelation or fact that Anonymous, he would tell/inform you, is excessive and misses the point, distorting his vision for social action, with him implying the same exact objection about Luigi Mangione and those who support him years later. He made characters regardless of good and evil, not models of it (heck, V admits at one point he sabotaged a train just to get his hands on real butter to go with his breakfast, an unmistakably “this must be an anti-hero” move, but everyone wants to focus on things like the “what they did was monstrous, so they made a monster” justification that wasn’t meant to be taken as the doctrine it became), and he did not intend people would weaponize use of it as a platform, though most people are only aware of the initial remark of praise he gave Anonymous for combating the Scientology, which is what made it to the encyclopedias.

      • Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Anonymous are not a revolutionary group imo. Revolutions are bloody are done the in the streets. They’re a nuisance at best.

        what they did was monstrous, so they made a monster" justification that wasn’t meant to be taken as the doctrine it became), and he did not intend people would weaponize use of it as a platform,

        Personally I think that was pretty naive on Moore’s part. It resonates with ppl because it’s true. Revolution is often bloody and morally black because ppl have reached their breaking point.

          • Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world
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            8 days ago

            Revolution doesn’t necessarily have to entail violence or blood

            Licking a doorknob doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get sick but the overwhelming odds are you will. Also using Egypt and Catalonia as examples of peaceful revolutions is strange considering Egypt squashed tons of challenges to the throne, revolts, etc. with violence and Catalonians have engaged in straight up terrorism

    • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeOP
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      8 days ago

      You’re describing the early days, though. That’s what most people see remarked on. The point is about what this all turned into. He can quite specifically be quoted as referring to how toxic things seem to have become.

          • Fleur_@lemm.ee
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            8 days ago

            It’s like you haven’t even read the article. What you cited is a piece on the state of fandom. Here are the only somewhat relevant quotes from it. Notably they are consistent with everything I quoted in my previous comment

            "I speak only of comics fandom here, but have gained the impression that this reflexive belligerence – most usually from middle-aged white male conservatives – is now a part of many fan communities. "

            “Those who vote for Donald Trump or Boris Johnson seem less moved by policy or prior accomplishment than by how much they’ve enjoyed the performances on The Apprentice or Have I Got News for You.”

            You are being deliberately disingenuous which I can only assume is to either push an agenda or to desperately hold on to the idea that you are ‘right.’

            By not doing due diligence you have undoubtedly contributed to spreading misinformation. Please consider reading your sources and if you did actually read this article, I would strongly recommend undertaking a media literacy course or perhaps an english language course.

            • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeOP
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              8 days ago

              You say that like that invalidates my takeaway from it. In the world of Alan Moore, the two topics are mixed by default, with one often used as a proxy discussion for the other. Given this context, you could easily go to those who are acting on behalf of either a fandom or a movement and say “heed this person’s caution” and it wouldn’t be out of place.

                • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeOP
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                  7 days ago

                  You say that like anyone has to be specific about it, and even then it ignores Anonymous (which is a movement) takes the spotlight here. You can infer a few things if you take his words and apply them to different movements. In fact, it can be applied to your approach to his criticism here. Unless, of course, Alan Moore is inconsistent as a political thinker in the first place.

          • SupahRevs@lemmy.world
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            8 days ago

            This piece criticizes people who vote for Trump and Boris Johnson because they identify as “fans” of these politicians vs being aware of policy and voting based on that policy. It says that fans who come together to celebrate are fine. It is the fandom of Trump that disrupts peoples lives, and he does not like how “fandom” is used in politics that impact millions of peoples lives.

            • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeOP
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              8 days ago

              It came off as a kind of blanket piece the way I absorbed it, like it could apply to Trump and Johnson but it could also apply to political movements in general as well as his fictional genres, hence the first part where he mentions his first experiences with comic book clubs.

              • Fleur_@lemm.ee
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                8 days ago

                He summarises his position in literally the second paragraph

                “Ten years on, let me make my position clear: I believe that fandom is a wonderful and vital organ of contemporary culture, without which that culture ultimately stagnates, atrophies and dies. At the same time, I’m sure that fandom is sometimes a grotesque blight that poisons the society surrounding it with its mean-spirited obsessions and ridiculous, unearned sense of entitlement. Perhaps this statement still requires some breaking down.”

                This is very clearly an article specific to fandom and largely has little to do with his thoughts on political movements. Additionally, when he does make political statements he does with negative attitudes towards conservative leaders and voters. See my other comment for quotes

                • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeOP
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                  8 days ago

                  In the world of Alan Moore, fandom intertwines with political movements. Anonymous literally uses his Guy Fawkes Mask as its sole symbol. Have you never watched V for Vendetta or read up on Anonymous?

  • FryHyde@lemmy.zip
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    8 days ago

    TBF Alan Moore has a negative view of the idea that anyone has ever read or enjoyed his work.

  • UrukGuy@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    UK here - never used stone, LBs or pints as a measurement

    If I was measuring bodyweight, I would use KG. Grams for anything light.

    The only time I see Milk measured in pints, is bottles or cartons of standard dairy milk in supermarkets. Any other milk is litres, including dairy such as Jersey / Cream top milk

  • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    Yeah, I feel the same way, a lot of these movements are just tyrannical government psyops waging proxy wars in the information era.

    I realize that sounds like something a nutjob conspiracist would say but just look at how often the larger groups end up spouting pro-Russia and pro-Chinese sentiments, look at how forceful they are about spreading their ideologies here in the fediverse, look at an LBRY video comment section or at middle eastern talking heads.

    Everyone in this whole world pretends to be a revolutionary and almost nobody is anything more than just another tool for a machine built for war and greed.

    • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 days ago

      Everyone in this whole world pretends to be a revolutionary and almost nobody is anything more than just another tool for a machine built for war and greed.

      the single most important thing you will ever learn in life, is when to recognize your level of expertise. It will benefit you to no end, and prevent you from making a fool of yourself.

      There are things that you are familiar with, and there are things that you are not familiar with. Be quiet, please. Just don’t say things. Unless you know explicitly, it will be productive, in which case, do say things.

      • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        I think it’s better to get your opinions out there so you can face backlash when you’re wrong. Where most people misstep in this hypothetical is they rarely try to look at it from their opponent’s perspective and/or from an unbiased third party perspective, and instead radicalize further.

        • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          8 days ago

          that’s definitely important, but there are two problems, not everything is important enough to even be discussed in the first place, especially under most contexts that political discussions happen within. It’s a waste of time, you would be better off spending your time elsewhere.

          There’s also the problem of the echo chamber re-enforcement. Differing opinions only help in a productive and collaborative environment, without one, they do nothing and are meaningless. Politics entirely lacks this environment.

          Where most people misstep in this hypothetical is they rarely try to look at it from their opponent’s perspective and/or from an unbiased third party perspective

          I 100% agree with this, people need to spend more time conceptualizing issues, and thinking about them more thoroughly, that’s a huge problem here. But again, does it really matter? Should you even care about it in the first place? Would you be better off if you had invested your time into becoming a better person, rather than a more argued person.

          This is actually something i’ve been thinking about over the last few years, and i think i’m starting to finalize it in a semi consumable form at this point. You need a fundamental threshold of importance for the things you care about. Something like a family member getting cancer, probably pretty fucking important. You should probably care about it. Something like a random traffic accident halfway across the country? Literally irrelevant to you. Makes no fucking difference.

          If you follow online politics at all, one thing you will notice especially among the right, is how much complete and utter garbage is talked about it on a regular basis. 90% of it is literally meaningless and doesn’t have anything to do with you. And yet, people still care about it for some reason, why?

          it’s the foundation of the political brain rot this country has experienced over the past 50 or so years.

      • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        I’m not sure if I get your point, as I’m sure happens to you quite often, are you calling the banning of discussion which is borderline illegal, inciting violence etc, and then the banning the discussion of that ban, a psyops campaign? I had to read comments in your Other Post to get a grasp of the situation.

        I feel like you really should have noticed the signs that you’d taken a wrong turn in your life when Hexbear users starting backing you up.

        • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeOP
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          9 days ago

          They weren’t backing me up. Or are you referring to them?

          What happened was I happened to step on an unlucky metaphorical giant hornet’s nest responding to someone who was randomly bringing up Luigi. If a form of advocacy is extreme enough, it causes a cautionary reaction, which is the most concise way I can put it. I then mentioned the whole thing elsewhere, but the ever-famous Blaze then asked me to not preach to the choir, instead saying I should tell everyone who was relevant to it. So I did, and that got removed by one of the mods of [email protected] who told me to bring the matter to [email protected] instead. So I complied again, doing that, and rather than being meditative, the response from all of them came off as vigilant, and then he posited the idea of bringing it back to [email protected] formatted as a “the mods of YPTB removed my inquiry” complaint. So, again, I complied, only for both of the people in charge there to shame me for my way of thinking and implying I did everything I did in an attempt not to comply. All because a hundred people held the position that the CEO’s murder was ethically unquestionable.

    • Call me Lenny/Leni@lemm.eeOP
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      9 days ago

      Yeah, the part two thirds of the way down in the first one corresponds to where it becomes what is being referred to in the TIL.