2020-04-10

The Incredibles versus The Watchmen

In response to a Wisecrack video on The Incredibles and The Incredibles 2.

The Watchmen takes a similar look at superheroes, i.e., what is their impact on society? The Incredibles has real superheroes, while The Watchmen has mostly fake ones, but does that make them different in terms of this question? There's still a theme of abdication of personal responsibility to an image. There may be a couple of significant differences, however. In one case "fake" superheroes are everymen, while "true" superheroes are "gifted" and the latter are answering (or struggling with answering) a calling, while the former are making a noble self-sacrificing choice -- one that confronts everybody more-or-less equally. With the "trues" the failure to answer that calling is weakness (the film never shows it as "cowardice" and answering it only as toying with the law for "fun") and the "fakes" may deal an even more disappointing blow to their fans and society at large by, like Ozymandius, or even The Comedian, by using the trust afforded them by the superhero position acceded them by society for their own personal gain or self-indulgence or power for its own sake? Another point is that in both stories, superheroes are legally prevented from operating in public, i.e., they are effectively outlawed. This might be for the same ostensible reasons, i.e., to avert damage caused by vigilantism, vigilantes already always being counter to the concept of a society administered by laws and due process. Are both films (and comic book) the same on that point, or are there telling differences?


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