BlerdUp Watchmen

Watchmen & Trans-Generational Trauma: BlerdUp Episode 39


Transcript:

00:00
BlerdUp BlerdUp welcome to the show where we
00:02
talk about Neera culture from a bee POV
00:04
a black POV of course we are on Facebook
00:06
at BL e Rd you P we are on instagram @
00:10
BL ER d . u p and we are on twitter @ BL
00:14
ER d you check us out on blurred comm
00:18
they've they've really expanded their
00:20
content lately mm-hm I saw some really
00:23
cool write about black cosplayers if you
00:25
are a black cosplay reach out to them
00:26
they also have some cool merch on so
00:29
right now my favorite are the the
00:32
blurred comic leggings mm-hmm and
00:34
there's they have a cool partnership
00:36
there they're having um these famous
00:39
anime characters like Goku and Naruto
00:42
and Luffy yeah right
00:46
and it's blurred style on their clothes
00:48
so I'm looking for to seeing how that
00:50
how that comes out so check them out we
00:53
are here to talk about this week's
00:56
episode of watchmen titled this
01:00
extraordinary being which deals with
01:03
black washing as opposed to white
01:06
washing the show also deals with trans
01:09
generational trauma you'll go into full
01:13
spoilers on the show so if you haven't
01:15
watched this episode yet come back later
01:17
if you have seen it let's do it there's
01:20
a lot to dissect I should probably also
01:23
introduce my co-host
01:27
I'm just here no how you doing I'm all
01:32
right hello everybody yeah we had quite
01:34
a talk off the mic life is life is men
01:38
entering a new decade yeah we got a
01:41
month left and a lot of changes yeah
01:43
changes are coming energy is moving yeah
01:47
all right okay
01:49
y'all can do DMS for that for those
01:51
deeds later don't do actually I'm good
01:54
too I'm tired okay let's get to watch so
02:05
first of all this is by far the most
02:09
intricately put together episode two
02:12
and for my money the best episode today
02:16
it was definitely the most shocking I
02:18
was not expecting it to go in this
02:20
direction at all yeah they they really
02:24
set up the dominoes from the first
02:26
episode and they're starting to let them
02:28
fall just beautifully and as you said
02:31
just not what you expect but what she
02:34
surprisingly didn't know that you needed
02:36
I don't know if I needed it exactly but
02:40
it definitely yeah I mean it got my
02:42
attention really got my attention I
02:44
think one thing that was refreshing
02:47
about this episode is that it doesn't
02:49
follow the formula we were starting to
02:52
get used to yeah here's some random
02:55
first scene introduces a character or
02:57
something and then here's a little drama
02:59
and then here's crazy Adrian Veidt at
03:01
the end and then we're done right yeah I
03:03
know
03:03
I didn't even show up in this oh yeah
03:05
you know we're still following one
03:08
character like the last episode was
03:09
about I forgot his name Looking Glass
03:11
what was his yes yes we're still
03:18
following one character but this time
03:21
it's done through another character
03:24
Angela absolutely not only do we learn
03:31
more about will Reeves but Angela does
03:35
at the same time and in the process
03:38
it's hi so much together of the whole
03:41
watchman universe right between the time
03:43
of his memories and the present yeah
03:52
just made for extremely powerful
03:54
television I'm on a reference a
03:56
Huffington Post article later on the
03:59
show but it called it the best hour of
04:02
TV this year that I could definitely
04:06
agree with when you look at all the
04:07
artistry that went into it and just how
04:09
unique of a story they told I don't
04:12
think I've ever seen this kind of story
04:14
on TV before I never have seen this
04:16
issue or many of the issues that were
04:18
addressed in this episode I've never
04:20
seen them on TV I did find myself
04:21
thinking about 30 minutes in well okay
04:25
who is this for
04:26
because we're black and we already know
04:28
this so is it for us or is this to
04:30
explain this to people who don't know
04:33
that this particular aspect of our
04:35
history and culture and our cultural
04:37
psyche but then I decided it didn't
04:39
matter because I was still enjoying it
04:41
so yeah well if you look at a show like
04:45
dear white people mm-hmm I think that's
04:48
a show where it's like these obvious
04:51
talk about black lives matter and these
04:54
very kind of broad strokes yeah I don't
04:59
think that show is for us it's not it
05:01
really isn't
05:01
I can't get into it for that reason like
05:03
I know why are you telling me or for
05:05
some of my queer friends there's some
05:08
praise for that show pose yeah but
05:10
there's also some criticism that it also
05:12
kind of yeah it's not it's not for them
05:14
it's for non queer folks to kind of to
05:18
learn the history and there's very
05:22
affirming things about both pose and
05:24
dear white people but ultimately the
05:26
storylines and the messages contained
05:28
are things that if you are in those
05:30
cultures you already know right you're
05:32
familiar even with those cultures you
05:33
already know continue your point though
05:36
yeah I just when I when I look at dear
05:39
white people and what the Watchmen
05:42
creators have done with this episode
05:44
specificity the whole series really both
05:47
this episode specifically I definitely
05:50
feel like this is for us too mmm yeah I
05:53
can I can agree with that I guess even
05:55
I'm sorry even though we know what has
05:58
happened to our people in the past and
06:00
know what happens to us now there are so
06:03
times that we do need to be reminded and
06:05
the way that they have Illustrated small
06:10
microaggressions to just unimaginable
06:13
violence it is something that we need to
06:16
be reminded of sometimes yeah I mean it
06:18
is stuff that we already like I said I
06:20
couldn't really decide who it was for I
06:22
decided it didn't matter ultimately
06:24
because I was enjoying it enough to
06:26
where I wasn't really thinking about it
06:27
I don't know if enjoy is the right word
06:29
but appreciating he not sure
06:31
appreciating it enough to not really be
06:35
thinking about it on that kind of meta
06:37
that kind of meta way at the minute
06:39
but I mean it can be both at the same
06:42
time so I think the way that they
06:43
explored a lot of the issues in this
06:45
show were both illustrative and
06:47
instructional but also again affirming
06:49
like it was okay see this is something
06:51
that we know but this has never been
06:53
explored in a TV show before so this is
06:55
nice to see somebody gets it we are
06:57
showing this to the world this is a part
06:59
of our culture a painful part but an
07:01
important part and also just amazing
07:04
that a white man is crafting these
07:07
narratives yeah yeah I guess I mean I
07:10
don't know I'm I'm when I'm sure he has
07:12
help I'm sure but the other day he is
07:15
surrendering
07:16
he gives the okay on all these things
07:19
right yeah yeah I just I really don't
07:22
know where this is going next you know
07:24
here's the thing we're talking all
07:25
around the plot and everything because
07:27
we're trying not to spoil it no no I
07:28
already already said that we could okay
07:31
good cuz never mind moving on yeah let's
07:33
just get to it mm-hmm
07:35
usually in the first scene there's kind
07:38
of in I've always talked about this kind
07:40
of unraveling of like a mural you know
07:43
and sometimes it doesn't connect with
07:44
the following scene in plant seeds for
07:46
later while establishing character the
07:49
first scene was with hood it justice to
07:51
an extent you kind of get a little bit
07:53
more about his character but it really
07:56
does but it's the way that this scene
07:58
was painted it's different from the
08:00
introduction of Lee true for example
08:02
very much so or Looking Glass from the
08:05
previous episode very much so and also
08:06
this is the mythical hooded justice
08:09
right and that's a very important
08:11
distinction and they've this is a very
08:13
clever I think because he's been I've
08:15
been wondering this whole time why are
08:17
they showing us these clips of hooded
08:18
justice in this TV show right on TV in
08:21
the Watchmen universe this whole time
08:23
I've actually said on a previous episode
08:25
I don't see why this is here it feels
08:27
like filler like the the pirate
08:29
storyline in the book exactly um and
08:32
there's a very real reason why they've
08:33
been showing this to us this whole time
08:34
it's been priming our mind for this
08:36
episode yes and it's very cleverly done
08:42
it's just I don't know where they're
08:45
gonna go next with this because this
08:48
this episode was really a game changer
08:49
this show has been blowing my hair back
08:52
pretty consistently but this
08:53
episode was at the same height as the
08:55
first episode the premiere yes in that I
08:57
was just not expecting anything here and
08:59
I just don't know what's gonna happen
09:02
next but I really want to see what does
09:04
well for me I still think this is the
09:06
best episode because with episode 1 you
09:09
don't expect anything and you're like
09:10
wow so we already kind of expect
09:13
greatness and they went even beyond that
09:16
yeah mm-hmm let's get into it okay some
09:19
more sure I just want to go kind of beat
09:22
by beat in this episode and just kind of
09:24
just explore the themes in the end the
09:26
crafts were taken to Angela and Justin
09:31
the pills and things starts to just
09:32
disintegrate around her
09:34
I love the transition of Angela being in
09:37
the present in the past you know she's
09:39
talking to agent Blake and all sudden
09:41
behind her is the piano playing on her
09:44
left is a drummer and I loved the way
09:47
they used color in this episode yes that
09:50
was amazing and I liked how it is
09:52
illustrated both the present and the
09:53
past right
09:54
that was really an interesting choice I
09:57
think it speaks a lot to the way that
09:59
just culturally I feel like black people
10:02
were time travelers angry we kind of
10:04
tend to live in both the paths the pain
10:06
of the past and the hope of the future
10:08
all at the same time future yeah oh yeah
10:11
exactly
10:12
and it very much that that was a really
10:14
clever tool to illustrate that but can I
10:17
feel like just interacting with people
10:19
from different cultures I really feel
10:20
like we have a really unique connection
10:23
to our past because it has really shaped
10:25
our entire culture in a very immediate
10:28
way we're but a certain part of our past
10:32
that the pain the the the struggle bit
10:34
of our past is what is defiant is
10:36
unfortunately what is to find a lot of
10:38
our present-day culture now and it's
10:41
hard to reconcile that because we
10:43
clearly we all have ancestry before that
10:45
but we don't know it sure so it's just
10:47
interesting I feel like we are all still
10:49
there's a lot of talk about things like
10:51
post-traumatic slave disorder and just
10:55
sort of the psychological effect that
10:57
that has had on us as a people and I
11:00
feel like that color the usage of color
11:01
showing how the past is still very much
11:04
affecting the present I thought it was
11:06
interesting there were times when
11:07
Blake's face would come into the frame
11:10
in kind of color and she'd been both
11:12
sort of flickers of color and she'd be
11:14
saying something very helpful and very
11:15
caring but because she wants something
11:18
from Angela ultimately and then that
11:20
would be juxtaposed with a shot a
11:23
reminiscence of the Tulsa massacre with
11:26
those same flickers of color there's
11:28
just this really interesting dichotomy
11:29
yeah in black American culture and even
11:33
though this is a fictional version of it
11:34
clearly with Redford Asians and
11:36
everything but it's still that same sort
11:38
of thing that that's being Illustrated
11:39
and I really like that yeah we get to
11:41
Anjali getting her first entry and his
11:45
memory is being graduating from the
11:48
Academy or joining the police force and
11:51
when she's first there she's in color
11:53
mm-hmm and then she slowly gets
11:55
decolorized because she's fully a part
11:57
of this world now right and I loved how
11:59
they flicked back and forth when she
12:01
would show back up and critical points
12:03
and it was such a good reference because
12:04
that's when you realize this is the
12:06
thing that Angela is really taking away
12:08
from ice yeah
12:09
it's not just us learning she's also
12:11
learning she's not just learning but
12:13
she's experiencing exactly the joy and
12:15
the horror and the rage mm-hmm you know
12:19
it cuts to the the chief given a speech
12:21
and he look back and she's looking at
12:23
the chief but then it cuts back to her
12:25
and it's the grandfather now school
12:27
Reeves and is where I first felt the
12:30
dread is you see the white officer in
12:32
the distance
12:33
putting badges on everyone and you're
12:35
like don't tell me he's gonna skip oh
12:37
yeah yeah if you're black and you have a
12:40
great you know what's coming already
12:42
know you know what's coming and you know
12:48
the show is going to go there but you
12:49
just you have that tread you're right
12:51
and there it is and then the black guy
12:55
there is we didn't know but it was his
12:57
inspiration for joining the force will
12:59
Reese is still you know even from his
13:02
watching the movie in Tulsa he still
13:06
respects the law trust in the law that's
13:07
named of that bass Reese film yep he
13:10
still is holding on mm-hmm
13:12
so that even though he's experienced so
13:13
much already he's still holding on and
13:15
he gets pinned I mean sure actually for
13:18
him there's probably a bigger honor to
13:19
be in my
13:20
black eye mm-hmm who other black people
13:23
see as an Uncle Tom for joining the
13:25
force yeah and saying what was
13:27
interesting was he said to him that he
13:28
was his inspiration right and the guy
13:30
apologizes to him for it
13:32
yeah it's just you know that's another
13:34
hallmark of black American culture with
13:36
great accomplishment also comes great
13:38
bitterness you've got a sacrifice so
13:39
much and some of that includes in you
13:42
know I think that can lend itself to a
13:45
certain kind of wariness when it comes
13:47
to people who say that they look up to
13:48
you like you really don't want to do
13:50
that you know is that chanseong from a
13:52
couple years ago like don't don't don't
13:54
chase me or yes yeah yeah yeah I don't
13:56
remember the song know what you're
13:57
talking about yeah that was it
13:59
hit hard mm-hmm and even you saw at the
14:01
very end when his son wants to become
14:03
him and he gets that don't be like me
14:08
okay yeah yeah you cut to the club
14:11
mm-hmm with June I think that was the
14:14
reporter's name June I'm not mistaken
14:16
the black woman yeah I think so I don't
14:19
remember
14:20
I like how they were talking as you said
14:22
it cuts back to Angela at important
14:24
times and she says I'm not angry you're
14:28
talking about his wife right future wife
14:30
you yeah okay the time they were just
14:31
quitting it's interesting you called her
14:33
the reporter cuz I only ever think as
14:34
you're right she was a reporter but that
14:36
detail kind of escaped me because I the
14:38
whole time I was like oh that's the baby
14:40
oh you thought that the whole time yeah
14:42
see I didn't I didn't think about that
14:44
and Tara ideas reveal I feel like it
14:46
must have been you know like I just
14:47
thought oh that's the baby they grew up
14:48
like I don't know I mean I immediately
14:49
twigged on to that okay anyway um and
14:53
I'll get to kind of things I got that
14:55
kind of got me caught up in the drama
14:56
but that's one of them mm-hmm
14:58
I think her saying I might angry further
15:00
instilled in us that she's not really
15:02
controlling it's not like a lucid dream
15:03
where she can kind of walk around and
15:05
explore these memories this is just a
15:07
set this is happy yeah and you're gonna
15:08
say everything that your grandfather
15:10
said and feel everything that he felt
15:12
experience everything that he felt right
15:14
the concept of this this this drug is
15:17
just really interesting isn't it yeah
15:20
just the idea of living through someone
15:22
else's memories is so fascinating like
15:25
again it's that it's a another trip and
15:28
I'm not saying that we were the only
15:29
culture in the world with the connection
15:30
to our past that's clearly not true I'm
15:33
just saying
15:34
I don't think that that's recognized how
15:36
much it is shape is how much the
15:37
immediate past is shaped as people still
15:39
love to say things like Oh slavery was
15:40
so long ago yeah my grandmother's
15:42
grandfather not that long
15:43
so it was interesting to just see that
15:46
that illustrated in this way I don't
15:48
want to beat a dead horse and say it
15:49
again but no I think it's really
15:50
important hmm
15:52
and here's where the color thing kicks
15:54
in again when Angela was in 2019
15:57
tripping on the drugs she saw the
15:59
drummer on her left and she saw her
16:01
grant her grandmother essentially know
16:04
her great-grandmother will Reeves mother
16:06
playing the piano yes in black and white
16:08
and she was in color but now that she's
16:11
in black and white all the things that
16:12
are out of time are in color
16:14
yeah so you have while wills walking the
16:17
beat his mother is playing piano in
16:19
color on the street so so it's still
16:23
illustrates that memory hunson as he's
16:26
walking around
16:26
of course because he's in a law uniform
16:28
trust in the law and that's kind of that
16:30
the soundtrack maybe that's a you know
16:32
instead of having like earphones or
16:33
you're in the car blasting your tunes of
16:35
the cop this is your tune you're just
16:38
the haunting of that memory
16:39
it's your sound tracked yeah to being a
16:42
police officer that's and that's it
16:44
that's your motivation for being a
16:45
police officer how heavy is that really
16:48
I mean there's just so much going on in
16:50
this episode it was a really emotionally
16:52
impactful episode and the more I think
16:53
about it the more I just feel like wow
16:56
that was a lot like that's exactly what
16:58
I texted you after I watched it just wow
17:00
what was that that was a lot yeah I
17:03
thought it was really awesome that they
17:05
linked the first issue of Superman to
17:09
will Reeves being put into that carriage
17:12
to leave Tulsa it was being destroyed
17:14
yes and I feel like oh I called it cuz I
17:17
said in the very first time and the very
17:19
first blurred up episode where we talked
17:21
about Watchmen he's like Black Panther
17:23
fur you know the ages I didn't think
17:25
that Bill Reeves would become who he
17:26
becomes but I was I did pick up on the
17:29
whole black superhero thing and the fact
17:31
that in The Watchmen we don't have the
17:33
black superhero but maybe we do so I was
17:36
I was very proud of myself I never call
17:38
stuff like that in TV shows and I called
17:39
it ha
17:40
fiber so I don't want to like you know
17:43
hurt the mics here okay our friends ears
17:47
more color the cops and they offer Riza
17:49
ride and then when they drive off
17:51
there's bodies being pulled behind their
17:54
car in color you know again he's still
17:56
being haunted by mm-hmm these memories
17:59
and we gots about that hanging scene yes
18:02
can I just quickly can we give props to
18:04
that actor do you know where we've seen
18:06
him before the actor who plays will
18:07
Reeves no fences he's the son in fences
18:10
okay yes okay so he's definitely got
18:13
some very high-class Broadway style
18:17
acting chops and he really he just does
18:20
such a good job of playing somebody who
18:22
is eaten up by this seething internal
18:24
rage that only lets itself out in
18:25
moments that I mean you really just it's
18:29
rare that you can see somebody who can
18:30
portray that kind of interior tea and a
18:32
character and he really does a very good
18:33
job with it and in that hanging scene he
18:36
starts to really because before then
18:38
he's he's kind of a weirdly low-key
18:40
person much like his granddaughter later
18:42
on right he only really lets out what he
18:46
who only really shows I think what he's
18:48
feeling and key moments and this is very
18:50
much one of those key moments right I
18:52
think you you talk about how he he stays
18:55
low-key but he has this rage but
18:58
obviously he has some sort of hope that
19:01
he can still bring about change working
19:03
within the boundaries of of the law
19:06
yeah he's angry but he's not bitter yeah
19:09
which i think is a really interesting
19:10
choice for that character because I
19:13
think the tendency is often to it's to
19:16
to confuse black anger with black
19:18
bitterness and I think very few of us
19:20
are bitter but a lot of us are still
19:21
angry sure and I think that that again
19:23
just so many layers I thought it was
19:26
fascinating how they they hung him up
19:28
but when he got put back go first I want
19:31
about the music right the music how I
19:33
mean just the whole music throughout
19:34
this whole yeah this was amazing it was
19:36
also character in itself yeah there were
19:37
some choices but as he's getting hung
19:40
that music starts to distort and was he
19:43
once he's cut down it shows Angeles yes
19:46
so she's feeling that like can you
19:48
imagine the horror you know you are
19:49
however many generations removed from
19:51
the fear of lynching I mean I don't know
19:53
I hear people describe stuff I go back
19:56
and I listen to old slave narratives I
19:58
read old books you know all of these I'm
20:00
the book blurred but I mean I read all
20:02
of these things and here all of these
20:04
things and you kind of get the
20:05
secondhand empathy for the horrors of
20:07
living under that kind of fear of
20:09
lynching of racial terror and we have a
20:12
version of that now with over policing
20:14
and just mega country although we
20:18
personally don't have that because of
20:19
where we live right now sure but it's
20:23
just that really could you imagine being
20:26
taken back in time to that there's
20:29
another movie coming out soon with
20:30
Janelle Monae I remember the name of the
20:33
movie right Antebellum Antebellum yes
20:34
Antebellum Antebellum Antebellum yes
20:37
Antebellum and it looks very much like a
20:39
book called kindred by Octavia Butler
20:41
which was written in the 70s I know if
20:42
you've heard of it you know me no okay
20:45
I'm well if you haven't heard of it I
20:46
will also explain it briefly for our
20:48
audience Lee's kindred is a science
20:50
fiction book but it's also very much a
20:51
social horror book was written by
20:53
Octavia Butler who is the grand-am of
20:55
science fiction she is also one of the
20:58
few the proud the black women who write
21:01
sci-fi okay she's brilliant people love
21:04
to talk about 1984 as a parable for our
21:07
time 1984 is trash for our time in my
21:10
opinion 1984 at a very specific time it
21:12
applies to it's not now but Octavia
21:15
Butler wrote the parables that's
21:17
literally now she literally in the early
21:19
90s wrote about America being taken over
21:22
by a dictator whose slogan is make
21:24
America great again not joking anyway
21:28
kindred is her first book she wrote it
21:30
in the 70s and kindred deals very much
21:32
with it well the plot of kindred this
21:34
woman in who's a writer who's you know a
21:36
young black woman she's a writer she's
21:38
married to this much older white man
21:39
they're very progressive very socially
21:42
active and engaged and all of a sudden
21:44
women begins to travel back through time
21:46
and take the place of her will not take
21:49
the place but live in the same time and
21:50
on the same plantation as her
21:53
great-great-grandmother as a slave so
21:56
she's being transported from this very
21:57
pan-african racially progressive 70s at
22:01
the time it was the 1970s in California
22:04
to slavery
22:07
mm-hmm and she's kind of bouncing back
22:08
and forth and it's terrifying because
22:10
you know one day she's in her house with
22:11
her white husband writing a book and
22:13
next day she's being threatened with you
22:15
know having her hand chopped off for
22:17
something you know and it
22:18
it's that same sense of horror that you
22:20
find in a book like kindred that is in
22:22
this episode because angela is feeling
22:24
this hanging yes like it's it's crazy I
22:26
just don't know how I don't know how
22:30
okay maybe you know who wrote this
22:33
episode again was it Daniel so Lindelof
22:37
wrote this he co-wrote it I forgot who
22:39
else did it with him okay basically
22:41
helped write this episode because I just
22:43
wonder how did he know like how did he I
22:47
mean that's some serious empathy on
22:49
display I'm very impressed
22:51
yes because we're wood yeah I did
22:53
because that really got me I think the
22:55
other layer that's important is when we
22:58
generally talk about slavery and
23:01
violence it's generally looked at like
23:06
only males got it right but to have
23:09
Angela to cut back to Ange and see the
23:12
horror on her face it I mean obviously
23:16
didn't happen to Angela but we often
23:20
ignore that that same boss that happened
23:23
to men happened to women too yes you
23:26
know and they you know also with sexual
23:29
assault I didn't hate the r-word but
23:31
sexual assault
23:32
they had it worse yeah yeah and also I
23:35
think there's a clear point about
23:36
empathy there as well I mean this is
23:38
suffering on black male suffering is
23:40
black female suffering black female
23:42
suffering was black male suffering it
23:44
maybe not so much now I don't know it
23:45
gets complicated the internet will have
23:47
you believing anything but very much
23:50
that it was a community suffering it was
23:52
not just black men were suffering black
23:54
women were suffering
23:54
everyone was suffering communities were
23:56
suffering again it's good to see both
23:58
sides of that so yeah so now we got Ruiz
24:03
putting on a hood becoming a vigilante
24:05
for the first time yeah okay so quick
24:08
shout-out to one of our listeners Eric
24:11
you called this I don't know how you did
24:14
it also again I'm shocked cuz Eric you
24:17
know who I'm talking to you're white and
24:18
you called this and I don't know how you
24:20
did it hit me and hit me and the message
24:22
actually DM me sir because I want to
24:24
know how you figured this out one of our
24:26
listeners
24:27
messaged me a while ago and figured that
24:29
this was what had happened figured out
24:31
that will Reeves was hooded justice I
24:34
don't know how he picked that up because
24:36
I was like of course he's not go to
24:38
justice there's no way he's in The
24:39
Watchmen and he's a completely different
24:41
character I don't know how he called it
24:43
but he did and I want to know how
24:44
message me you hear me message me sir
24:47
anyway moving okay
24:48
you heard it yeah i listening that he
24:52
didn't take off the news but that's such
24:56
a good point such a good illustrative
25:01
point though I think that he didn't take
25:03
off the news and of course he didn't
25:05
take off the news because I mean they're
25:06
still playing with the character who was
25:08
created for Watchmen who always had the
25:10
news so no you're right I guess for me
25:12
if I'm going to try not to be detected
25:15
mm-hmm if I was just a guy in a hood
25:18
just mean people up that's one thing but
25:21
if I've been news and the people who I
25:23
assaulted or I save said oh we saw this
25:26
guy right yeah hood a new sign right
25:30
maybe but there's two things there
25:32
nobody else was doing he was literally
25:34
the first okay so this the thought of
25:36
somebody in a hood new sir not beating
25:39
people who were criminals up is so
25:41
shocking that I'm sure people weren't
25:42
really noticing with details like that
25:44
of course I'm not I'm not
25:48
and also there's an interesting point
25:50
which I'm sure we're going to dissect
25:52
more later everybody thought he would by
25:53
default the default person especially in
25:56
those times as a white person of course
25:57
it ever occurred to anybody he could be
25:58
black the noose was mentor the noose had
26:01
other implications in the white psyche
26:04
sex stuff will get there too so yeah he
26:12
goes home in now he's like okay I'm
26:14
angry mm-hmm just whenever you see Jun
26:17
it's that you know trust black women
26:20
they just pop in the brain and I
26:23
constantly this show always gives you
26:25
what you don't expect and she was this
26:27
show always gives you what you don't
26:29
expect and she was a very I loved how
26:31
her character was just always kind of
26:33
dodging just out of the frame of what
26:35
you were expecting her to be she wasn't
26:37
you know that trope she wasn't his mama
26:38
she wasn't his
26:40
playthings she wasn't a toy she was just
26:43
she was very much her own person he
26:44
didn't know she had her oh he was who
26:45
had a brief part so I really enjoyed
26:48
that absolutely yeah and you're right
26:49
she kind of trusts black women because
26:51
we're people that was very much yeah so
26:58
did will name give his last name Reese
27:01
because of the hero because if you look
27:06
at the information on IMDB I think it's
27:08
spelled differently but even so maybe
27:13
okay I don't know I didn't think about
27:15
it so yes we could to him finally
27:19
perfecting his costume with his wife
27:21
mm-hmm
27:22
he has makeup around his eyes just like
27:24
Angela but hers is pitch black in his is
27:28
white both protect them but for
27:31
different reasons
27:31
yeah really visually clever absolutely
27:35
you know it was really satisfying for
27:37
him to get his revenge on those assholes
27:38
at the warehouse that was really cool
27:40
and then once he gets to that market he
27:43
freezes like the matrix in thin air it
27:45
doesn't when again the color comes back
27:47
in and agent Blake comes in in color
27:51
outside the market she's it's not like
27:53
they're bringing Angela back to the
27:55
present in the jail mm-hmm you have
27:58
Blake coming into her world and then it
28:01
cuts to Angela behind the hood now yeah
28:05
just-just-just brilliant yeah brilliant
28:08
Anika making um Regina King does a great
28:11
job in embodying her grandfather yeah
28:14
because she very much has his body
28:16
language in her mane and his mannerisms
28:18
so she really watched those actors
28:20
really watched each other and really did
28:21
a good job with those performances yeah
28:23
because there's moments when it shifts
28:24
to her and it takes you a moment to
28:26
realize that it has because her
28:28
performance is that on point she's got
28:29
the same facial expressions the same
28:31
body language but it's very much not the
28:32
same body language she has his mother
28:34
night etc right sister now yeah
28:36
sister night sorry I always call her
28:37
mother night that's horrible um I just
28:40
looked it up and actually you're right
28:42
Reeves is spelled the same way like
28:43
Reeves the Superman Reeves but I don't
28:46
know I didn't really think about that I
28:47
guess that's very it's very meta if they
28:51
did choose to do that I mean
28:54
he may really see himself as I'm gonna
28:56
be like my hero I don't know how well he
28:58
really knew his Mohammed dad are like
28:59
really remembers them like that I don't
29:02
know if they actually maybe quizzing Li
29:03
happening we maybe we can look it up
29:05
maybe but if he just arrived in town and
29:08
said enough about bass Reeves that you
29:11
do wonder if he's related to him and
29:13
some kind of way but and his whole life
29:15
has been based on trying to make a
29:18
difference and but staying within the
29:21
confines of the law mm-hmm that's a
29:24
really interesting point maybe he did
29:26
choose it but if so it's a great detail
29:28
yeah and then we get we get to captain
29:31
metropolis yeah okay now this I knew
29:37
where this was going to go the minute he
29:38
showed up I thought because again in The
29:41
Watchmen you know that hood of justice
29:43
and Metropolis have some kind of
29:44
relationship and I thought oh no him
29:46
right cuz I thought oh this is captain
29:48
metropolis this is going to be so slimy
29:49
and awful cuz you know it's gonna happen
29:51
it's just yeah I didn't think about it
29:53
see you know so and in our endgame
29:55
mm-hmm review I talked about how you
29:58
know cab gets the hammer mm-hmm and he's
30:01
fighting that you know he's fighting
30:03
fans and he gets beat up and then you're
30:05
so caught up in that gentleman oh my god
30:06
cap really has the hammer in oh my god
30:09
everyone's down what what's gonna happen
30:11
then all sudden cap on your left I was
30:14
like I'm so caught up in the drama this
30:19
episode okay as soon as she's like no in
30:22
Augusta yes and he's thrusting into it
30:25
yeah I was like oh yeah I think the
30:30
minute he put on the hood and became
30:31
hood at justice I was my brain was just
30:34
scrambling to figure out wait now how is
30:36
the whole mythology gonna change now and
30:38
I think because I was so adamant in
30:40
disagreeing with Erik that this was that
30:42
he was that he has definitely not hood
30:44
of justice and that's a silly idea and
30:45
must be wrong I immediately was like
30:49
whoa whoa wait this really is a thing
30:50
House is going to change everything else
30:52
so I was like really scrambling to
30:53
figure it all out so I kind of my mind
30:55
move from A to B to C to D to oh no not
30:57
him right so yeah for me I don't know I
31:01
was just I guess because I was writing
31:02
notes for the show and stuff I
31:03
I wish is very present in this in this
31:05
episode I was just what are they gonna
31:07
do next but I would really just wanted
31:08
to just be in the moment and so as soon
31:10
as that happened I was like oh that's
31:12
right
31:13
that was another kind of oh yeah I
31:15
watched the episode twice and it was
31:17
doubly disappointing both times because
31:19
the thing is when he comes into nice
31:20
it's when captain metropolis comes in
31:22
and sits at the dinner table and is
31:23
talking to not bass Reeves
31:27
yeah - will Reeves and - Jun and Jun is
31:32
very much like okay I'm here talking to
31:34
and they have that little conversation
31:35
that's a lovely character moment for her
31:37
I immediately know I mean huh we've all
31:40
seen this happen enough times I
31:42
immediately know that this dude is going
31:44
to be that white person right who's very
31:47
much like you're my black friend but two
31:51
years ago I organized a get out watch
31:53
party mmm in Seoul and a number of black
31:56
folks I got was around thirty folks came
31:58
to watch us it was great and I remember
32:01
in the theater when got what's to make
32:03
Harry's name was equal to Chris I forgot
32:05
his name Chris you know he's with rose
32:09
and he's with the white family and there
32:11
are things that would happen and the
32:13
black woman exclusively in the audience
32:15
would give us all like mm-hmm mm-hmm
32:17
because they know what's about to happen
32:19
they know what's up they they have that
32:21
that ain't like no and you could just
32:24
see that on her face in this mm-hmm
32:26
at that interaction very much so and it
32:28
was on my face to us it's like oh no I
32:31
just knew it wasn't gonna go to a good
32:32
place
32:33
no no of course not but yeah he would
32:35
say your participation legitimizes the
32:38
whole operation but you must keep your
32:41
identity a secret not everyone is as
32:43
tolerable as I am I'm the good one God
32:47
you know and then you know of course
32:48
what happens Regine say they don't care
32:51
about you they only care about what you
32:53
can do for them mm-hmm before all that
32:56
when she was encouraging him to be
32:58
originally a genius she said you're not
32:59
gonna get justice with a badge and a gun
33:02
mm-hmm just honestly after hearing that
33:08
quote alone I wonder how many black
33:09
officers who are watching this show
33:11
currently started to question themselves
33:13
yeah there is something to be said
33:15
because the show's caught a lot of fire
33:16
for being
33:17
cop quote-unquote not anymore I don't
33:20
think no I think yes I don't think it
33:22
ever really was a lot of people were
33:24
seeing it that way because there is such
33:26
a strong emphasis on police
33:27
participation in the show but yeah with
33:31
this episode I think it's pretty clear
33:33
that this show does not have a pro
33:35
police message no and that's gonna be
33:38
interesting I'm pretty sure this one
33:39
pinched some people where they lived I
33:41
don't think it ever did I mean it showed
33:43
cops being real fascist hey folks off
33:45
the street whole communities can you
33:48
imagine if they didn't invade Nixon
33:50
Ville and it was like Malcolm Ville you
33:57
know I agree yeah I don't think it was
33:59
ever pro-police either but I think that
34:01
a lot of people may have tried to try to
34:04
say it was in order to discredit the
34:06
show I think there was a really strong
34:08
statement made in this particular
34:10
episode about that now that said I think
34:15
there's also a lot to be said for okay
34:19
how do i phrase this so we have will
34:22
reeves AKA hooded justice the real
34:24
hooded justice which begs the question
34:26
who's this person who they're putting up
34:28
his hood of justice in this television
34:30
miniseries and who gave him the idea
34:31
yeah who gave them the idea - yeah and
34:33
who so what I'm wondering is is there
34:36
somebody else who then later replaces
34:38
him as the the real quote/unquote hood
34:40
of Justice some white person and who is
34:42
that because that's gonna be I think
34:44
hopefully an interesting plot point that
34:47
they're gonna attach that they're going
34:48
to approach later on because there's
34:50
still the hood of Justice mythology from
34:51
the comic to reckon with right and that
34:54
was some white guy at some point so what
34:57
are we doing here but anyway the thing
35:00
about willory though is that he he
35:02
really has this this burning desire this
35:05
rage that is motivating him to go and do
35:10
something to fight to fight against
35:13
injustice in his community and he allows
35:15
himself to be talked into and to some
35:17
extent seduced into joining of white
35:20
organization that promises to fight for
35:22
him if he fights for them right and of
35:25
course that doesn't happen and I my
35:26
heart broke for him in the scene where
35:28
he's on the phone begging him you said
35:30
you would help me
35:31
and there's just it's such a beautiful
35:33
performance because there's that rage
35:34
there yeah but there's also very much
35:36
like a broken wounded little boy like he
35:38
but you know you said you'd help it you
35:39
see that Tulsa boy you know who just you
35:41
know has that that notice please look
35:43
after this boy and a baby standing in a
35:45
field watching his community burn you
35:47
see that those ideals yeah I mean you
35:50
you slowly see the cracks mm-hmm I mean
35:54
for me my heart broke when they revealed
35:56
that Bank advertisement of the white
35:59
superhero catching the black person yes
36:02
any-any had he was just like oh my god
36:03
this is what I signed up for it exactly
36:05
and he walked away by trying to get this
36:07
off his face exactly exactly
36:09
but at that point he still does think
36:10
that this is going to do something good
36:11
for black people then he gets on the
36:13
phone and later on after all that
36:16
happened we we got a right but let me
36:20
make that the general point I'm making
36:21
so I guess it just illustrates something
36:23
interesting about in a way the dangers
36:26
of letting yourself be diverted there's
36:29
that wonderful quote by Audrey Lord the
36:31
Masters tools will never dismantle the
36:33
Masters house there's that whole point
36:35
made here about letting yourself be
36:37
divided into other interests not the
36:39
collaboration is a bad thing but letting
36:41
yourself be used with the promise of
36:45
help later as leverage that shit doesn't
36:48
work historically doesn't work and it's
36:52
an interesting it's an interesting
36:54
choice to include that here and they did
36:56
it so beautifully because I think a lot
36:58
of us have felt that pain firsthand of
37:01
maybe having friends of a different race
37:03
who whose issues you're really down with
37:05
and then it turns around that they don't
37:08
have that they don't have your back in
37:09
the same way or that they harbor anti
37:11
blackness and you're the special one or
37:13
when push comes to shove they're not
37:14
there for you exactly they're not going
37:16
to fight with other people on your
37:18
behalf we're military women right
37:19
exactly or you're in you're fighting for
37:21
them so I mean I think it's yeah there
37:23
it goes in so many different ways or so
37:25
I think that that's a very again an
37:27
interesting point but specifically in
37:29
the context of this show it's very much
37:30
about blackness and anti black ops I
37:32
mean you can that's part of what I'm
37:34
saying you can spread it out to queer
37:36
whites gender rights etc but this show
37:39
is about me is about blackness and anti
37:40
blackness the first crack is
37:44
him getting almost hung by his own
37:47
people that he thought were his people
37:48
next crack is obviously seeing that Bank
37:51
advertisement and then he goes to the
37:54
theater mm-hmm what happened same thing
37:57
that happens when you put too many
37:58
animals in the same cage Oh true yeah
38:01
I'm I love how he was still dead payant
38:03
like it was like he was reacting to that
38:05
hard he he goes in the theater and even
38:08
still his reactions are still very cool
38:10
and calm he still try to hold on to some
38:12
semblance of hope and like that theater
38:18
scene like with that that body was kind
38:19
of just laid out and from the screen
38:21
like oh so gruesome Jesus and it was a
38:24
rare it was a rare example of black
38:27
suffering and black pain being used to
38:29
illustrate a point that was both
38:33
exploitative and informing the story
38:35
like it was gross and horrible and awful
38:37
to look at but it was also very much in
38:40
that kind of sci-fi way where it's so
38:42
far removed from reality that you don't
38:44
feel it as personal even though it's
38:46
being used to illustrate a very real
38:47
point it's hard to do so well done other
38:51
layers let's get to this Reeves was
38:55
first inspired to be a part of the law
38:59
and be a force for good in the theater
39:02
when his mom was playing there his first
39:05
time on the beat his mom was playing his
39:07
soundtrack and then his mom was playing
39:10
in that theater too and that's from the
39:14
story standpoint the last time he was a
39:16
part of the law just there's just so
39:22
much mm-hmm so as you said yeah he goes
39:24
to what did captain metropolis say
39:29
you're gonna have to solve black on rest
39:31
on your own oh the pain of that and you
39:35
know I will say I don't know that I'm
39:36
necessarily convinced that he thought
39:39
that the police were ever his people I
39:41
think he was suspicious the whole time I
39:43
think he had a pretty good idea that he
39:45
was not going to be long starting from
39:47
his badge pinning ceremony and then he
39:50
was that the suspicious look he gets
39:52
when he brings that white man in for to
39:54
be right and the white cops come and
39:56
they make him kind of pale
39:57
servus make an apology and then they go
39:59
away and there do the little hand symbol
40:01
I think he's suspicious the whole time
40:02
but I also don't think he's expecting it
40:04
to be as bad as it is I think that when
40:08
he brought them in and he mate and that
40:10
white cop made that guy apologized I
40:12
think he thought he really trusted them
40:14
it was only after he saw him back out on
40:16
the street and then came to talk to that
40:18
cop again like what happened like a key
40:19
oh don't don't bring this up here yeah I
40:22
think you know what I'm going back and
40:23
say that was the first crack for him but
40:26
I think he really did trust them mm-hmm
40:28
in the beginning but yeah so right when
40:32
he he kills that that market owner
40:35
throws that those is his uniform away
40:37
his hat down and puts on the hood is the
40:42
shot of him burning down the warehouse
40:44
okay when he just called me shot that
40:47
market owner who is a despicable
40:48
character and he kind of wanted him to
40:50
get his the whole episode from the very
40:52
first time you see him yeah but you
40:54
don't know what's coming for him like
40:55
that yeah uh I screamed I screamed in my
40:59
house like I was so shocked again this
41:02
just I'm this show is always doing
41:04
something I would expect and I'm not I
41:06
wasn't as caught up in the drama as you
41:07
were I think cuz I was trying to figure
41:09
out where it's gonna go
41:10
how's this gonna fit into the North
41:11
ology what's happening next what else
41:12
did they change who was Chinese in the
41:15
original Minuteman I don't know he was
41:16
like all these different things but I
41:19
wasn't expecting him to just because I'm
41:21
still very aware that we are operating
41:23
under the rules of segregated America
41:27
segregated pre reparations Watchmen
41:30
America after that with somebody who
41:32
lived through the Tulsa massacre
41:35
I wasn't expecting him to do that see
41:38
interesting Lee I saw that coming a mile
41:40
away
41:40
I didn't I screamed I was expecting him
41:43
to do something but I mean I was
41:45
expecting maybe go beat them all again
41:47
but not to kill them all that was
41:50
something and he was hidden those
41:51
headshots like man I mean that was
41:54
interesting he was like this hmm
41:56
the John wick of totally yeah again that
42:00
the stuff him watching the warehouse
42:02
burn was was gorgeous mm-hmm even in
42:05
black and white right thing most of this
42:08
episode the cinematography was really
42:10
good because most of us
42:11
so it was in black and white and I so
42:15
you know how insecure it gets all of
42:16
these accolades over its lighting
42:18
because it's actually really difficult
42:19
to light black people well on screen and
42:22
they do a very good job but do a very
42:24
good job here too because it's not only
42:26
lighting black people on screen but it's
42:28
also lighting them in black and white
42:30
and making it look still very rich and
42:33
very full and very nuanced and not just
42:34
very monochrome so they did a really
42:37
good job with this here great point
42:38
because you very clearly understand who
42:40
has different skin tones for example
42:42
absolutely mmm so here's where we get
42:45
where Reeves comes home feeling
42:47
accomplished like I really made a
42:48
difference if any catches his son trying
42:51
to be like him mm-hmm
42:53
on that note what do you think Angela's
42:56
father was like because sometimes traits
42:58
skip a generation like I'm really
43:00
curious about if he maybe went he took
43:03
up the mantle in the future or was he
43:06
just a regular person and then Angela
43:08
just kind of took her grandfather was
43:09
paying it kind of passed over it well no
43:12
wonder about that because you know here
43:13
a he he was in Vietnam long enough but
43:17
before the war ended long enough for it
43:19
to become a state and live there long
43:21
enough for Angela to have been born
43:23
there and raised there for a large
43:25
amount of her life so I do wonder what
43:27
he was like I wonder if I'm going to see
43:29
that actually or maybe have her talk
43:31
about it because here's the thing will
43:32
Reeves clearly was nowhere around right
43:34
and as far it was yeah and was well
43:37
uh-huh yeah at least not discernibly and
43:39
was never really spoken up because
43:41
angela has no idea who he is so when so
43:46
when Jun says that they need to go away
43:48
you do kind of wonder is there a
43:50
stepfather somewhere or what did she
43:53
tell him about his father well the next
43:55
episode if I'm not mistaken you know
43:56
they kind of show little previews yeah I
43:58
think it shows a lot of her time in
44:00
Vietnam I think it does so hopefully so
44:02
I'm really a bit about the father
44:04
definitely or you know just did he die
44:07
in Vietnam who knows you know there's so
44:09
many things that could have happened but
44:11
again this shows really good because
44:13
it's not exactly on cliffhangers but it
44:15
is on cliffhangers like they tell a
44:17
complete story in each episode but they
44:20
really want you to see where the story
44:22
continues as I said during our first
44:24
review maybe
44:25
review of the second - they answer
44:27
questions and even those answers are
44:29
like hydrates it makes more questions to
44:32
be asked later on
44:33
Oh hydra hydra hydra sorry hydrates i'm
44:36
sitting here like what kind of the once
44:44
june takes her son back to Tulsa it cuts
44:49
to will holding the news and then it
44:51
invented the transition to the older
44:54
version holding it in the wheelchair
44:56
watching he's still fighting injustice
44:59
in his old he's using that technology he
45:03
stole he use it on them but and that's
45:08
so authentic to the Watchmen mythology
45:10
that immediately something right back to
45:12
the feel of the comic that was so well
45:13
done yes and then what is what is all do
45:18
you think I'm trying to fucking help you
45:20
people so it's like so it's like you
45:23
really thought this white guy was cool
45:24
in the first episode he like why to get
45:26
hung even though it's like even though
45:28
you saw that Klan outfit you're like
45:29
well you try to rationalize it yes
45:35
because him and Angela had such a great
45:37
relationship right Wow maybe there's
45:39
something else but no no he really is
45:42
that guy yeah yeah which again is a very
45:46
bad legacy exactly it's a very black
45:49
fear you know because you really never
45:51
know anybody's heart right and it's I
45:52
don't think people understand I don't
45:54
think in particular white people
45:55
understand that it's not but we're not
45:58
unfriendly necessarily a lot of times
46:01
there is just a suspicion because it's
46:03
so painful to put the time and energy
46:05
into befriending somebody and inviting
46:07
them into your culture and then find
46:08
your health and your heart and then
46:10
finding out that they are secretly some
46:13
kind of racist now we're not saying
46:15
you're all secretly members of the Klan
46:16
don't get me twisted I'm just saying
46:17
that if even if you find out that
46:18
somebody has even a small racist
46:21
attitude
46:22
well don't know Mike all lives matter
46:24
yeah yeah exactly those small things can
46:26
break you I mean really gender rights
46:29
are the bigger issue racism isn't that
46:31
big of a deal anymore you know that kind
46:33
of thing that's so painful to understand
46:35
to have that kind of aspect of your your
46:38
reality and validated by someone who
46:41
you've chosen to love or care about in
46:44
any kind of way or even just associated
46:45
with casually is so painful and that was
46:47
perfectly illustrated here because again
46:50
angela is the person who you see sitting
46:53
in that chair making the decision to
46:55
make him hang himself yes she she hands
46:57
him the room exactly she hands him the
46:58
rope and you can see even though she's
47:01
playing her grandfather you can very
47:02
clearly see that this is something that
47:04
she is learning that she needs to know
47:06
now she knows what her friend was and it
47:09
wasn't a shock on her face when he cuts
47:10
back to her it was a deadpan just like
47:12
oh yeah because she was still her
47:13
grandfather at the time and that's when
47:15
I've really started to notice
47:16
oh wow she really did the work on this
47:17
this portrayal because that's Lou
47:19
Gossett's Louis Gossett jr. body
47:22
language all right Regina King and
47:24
that's really good I wrote some notes
47:27
here agent Blake and you know the
47:34
officers around we're talking about how
47:35
she could OD on this like they were they
47:37
were so worried about her safety but
47:40
could it be said that Angela was more
47:46
resilient to OD'ing because their trauma
47:49
was so similar it's very possible it
47:51
wasn't so shocking for her because she's
47:54
she's already been doing some of this
47:56
stuff yeah and then there's also the
47:58
they extract the drug from the brain of
48:01
the person they take it from and they're
48:02
genetically related so maybe that has
48:04
that's a good point
48:05
it's a great point so yeah so then you
48:12
know once he hangs himself rate you know
48:15
she's starting get pulled out and it
48:17
cuts to her grandmother mm-hmm it's what
48:20
she say I'm gonna take you home now
48:21
honey and then she pops out and who's
48:24
waiting for her lady lady true how did
48:27
she get there how did Blake let that
48:29
happen
48:30
did she just get taken away you do have
48:32
so many questions and you see that and
48:34
you can see all of those questions on
48:35
Angela's face like okay what wait
48:38
where's the grandfather all of those
48:41
questions the next episode is going to
48:42
be really interesting because they're
48:44
either going to answer all those
48:45
questions or they're just going to leave
48:47
it and move on to the next bit well it
48:49
seemed like I guess that I didn't watch
48:50
all of it I really don't like too
48:52
trailers for things that I'm gonna watch
48:54
anyway but I saw Angela as a child so
48:57
maybe hurry it should have some history
49:00
that maybe should even know about very
49:02
possible yes that's what I'm I'm looking
49:04
forward to seeing her time in Vietnam
49:07
maybe with her father
49:09
mm-hmm and maybe lady lady shoot has
49:11
some small role around maybe even what
49:15
happens to her dad who knows now I am
49:18
concerned about one thing there are nine
49:19
episodes of this show for this season
49:21
this is episode six am i right
49:23
I think so yes yes so we've got three
49:25
episodes left this is two back-to-back
49:27
episodes of straight memory is what it's
49:29
looking like it's gonna happen it's
49:30
going to happen
49:31
sorry three back-to-back episodes that
49:33
are heavily memory based because the
49:35
episode before this was looking-glasses
49:37
episode explaining his origins and
49:39
everything even though it wasn't as much
49:41
of his memories it was still very much
49:42
about his past hmm
49:45
so that's the story though it will still
49:48
advance a story but they've got a lot to
49:50
wrap up into episodes now here's what I
49:52
don't want I don't want a gigantic
49:53
season to season cliffhanger where we
49:55
still have crazy Adrian Veidt on the
49:57
moon we still have no idea what's going
50:00
on there and they did give us that great
50:02
teaser spoiler very beginning exactly
50:05
right we had they gave us that great
50:07
teaser spoiler at the very beginning of
50:09
the episode of that blue hand reaching
50:11
out of nowhere to pick something up so
50:13
how are we gonna get there in three
50:15
episodes this is my question especially
50:17
if the next one is a lot of memories
50:18
sure we'll see what happens I'm still
50:21
look lost hurt me all I am still
50:25
suspicious I'm not less suspicious than
50:27
I was I do like this a lot but they
50:29
better make the story work okay
50:31
they cannot drop another giant squid
50:33
that's not gonna happen before we wrap
50:37
up I do want to go to this article okay
50:39
this is from a Huffington Post article
50:41
it's titled watchman is a powerful
50:43
exploration of black trauma and everyone
50:46
needs to watch there was a similarly
50:50
titled article on blurred comm actually
50:53
that we should all read I just get just
50:55
came out I think earlier today and I
50:56
have a kind of time to read the whole
50:57
thing but check out the article
50:58
unblurred calm to you absolutely okay
51:03
so I want to read a couple things from
51:06
this article that I thought were really
51:07
powerful so here we go the series
51:11
reimagines the 1986 graphic novel by
51:14
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons where the
51:17
protagonist of that iteration fought
51:19
against the threat of nuclear war with
51:21
the Soviet Union showrunner Damon
51:24
Lindelof Messiah said dental before
51:25
Damon Lindelof an executive producer in
51:28
Nicole Cassel turned the focus of this
51:31
version to race that backdrop was
51:34
immediately clear in the premiere in
51:36
which Lindelof and Castlereagh staged
51:39
the Tulsa race Massacre when hundreds of
51:42
black residents were killed in 1921 and
51:45
Lindelof says on instagram to me
51:48
Watchmen is a story about America and
51:51
it's about self-proclaimed heroes
51:54
fighting an intangible enemy that is
51:57
almost impossible impossible to defeat
52:00
in the eighties that in me was the
52:04
pervasive threat of nuclear Armageddon
52:06
between the US and the Soviet Union in
52:09
2019 that enemy is the long overdue
52:12
reckoning with our country's camouflaged
52:15
history of white supremacy why that
52:20
particular quote why did that stand out
52:22
to you so hard so I read the article
52:24
there's a lot happening there there's a
52:26
lot this article's great I mean there's
52:27
they're more gyms I wouldn't I want to
52:28
dig into but yeah he talks about this
52:31
thing that's impossible to defeat and of
52:33
course we have in this episode six this
52:35
black man I thought if I can just join
52:37
the force I can work my way up through
52:39
the system and change things for at
52:41
least even just for my town maybe I
52:44
don't know if he necessarily thought it
52:46
through to that extent I think it was
52:47
part and I think that that's another
52:49
commentary on just the the idea of being
52:53
in the police I think there was
52:54
certainly an aspect of that but it was
52:56
also a very accessible outlet for his
52:59
rage in his pain so well I don't know
53:04
about that because you you saw will as a
53:06
child watch the movie I forgot I trust
53:09
in the law of the movie where he as a
53:11
black cop is getting respect and
53:14
admiration from these white people sure
53:16
and so maybe
53:17
it's possible that he was seeking not
53:20
only to protect his own people but also
53:23
get respect for himself from his
53:27
oppressors possibly but again there's
53:31
again that I think that has a lot to do
53:33
with just it being there's other ways to
53:35
do that the police is a really
53:36
particular choice sure
53:41
and especially since I mean timewise
53:44
where would this have been the 1940s
53:48
okay well 1939 because 1939 okay into
53:52
the option yeah 1938 because Superman
53:56
first I'm assuming okay yeah so 1938 I
54:01
don't know I mean I think there's a lot
54:03
there's historically displacing in a
54:05
historical context yes there is
54:08
definitely that aspect of wanting to
54:12
change the system from the inside out
54:13
but also I think there was a lot of
54:17
groundwork being laid for understanding
54:18
that those systems do not work at the
54:20
times I think he had to learn that
54:22
because he was again the one of the
54:23
first to like really join the force
54:26
slavery had happened pretty recently so
54:30
as you said groundwork for trying things
54:32
out testing the boundaries and seeing
54:34
like what you can't I can't do I mean
54:37
just coming out of the 1921 Tulsa
54:40
massacre I don't know
54:41
I'm I'm hesitant to ascribe only
54:44
positive motivations to him that's what
54:46
I'm saying I mean there's also a serious
54:49
I think there's also a serious aspect of
54:50
just needing to work out things issues
54:52
of his own pain and rage and wanting
54:54
kind of a revenge I mean there's a
54:56
reason he goes so incredibly apeshit on
54:58
the Klan when he sees them it's it's a
55:01
it's a personal motivation not just a
55:03
community motivation but I I think had
55:06
those cops really put that person away I
55:09
think he would have felt better about
55:10
but I think it was obviously seen the
55:12
Klan was it was a visual stimulant but
55:15
also you're seeing that what you worked
55:17
so hard to be a part of immediately
55:20
betrayed you right all that you've
55:22
worked so hard for
55:24
mm-hmm what inspired you on the screen
55:26
and and then you've carried that with
55:28
you it's a soundtrack to you walking the
55:30
beat
55:31
that that idea that you've held on for
55:33
so long
55:34
betrays you and it's in the form of
55:37
these specific people of course yeah I
55:40
mean you know we could yeah well I mean
55:43
this is the thing I mean these these
55:44
characters are very nuanced they have a
55:46
lot of interior already absolutely which
55:47
is the thing you don't see in black
55:49
characters a lot of time boom Green Book
55:51
worst movie in the world so you know you
55:54
don't see a lot of interior already in
55:55
black characters and the fact that there
55:56
are enough levels where we can talk
55:58
about his motivations to this extent in
55:59
a situation where usually it is just
56:01
like slave owner bad black man good kind
56:05
of motivation sir I think is great and
56:08
very groundbreaking and really well done
56:09
sure
56:11
it's article has talked about June as
56:13
kind of an avatar for Ida B Wells who
56:16
talked about black lynchings okay
56:20
interesting
56:20
there was actually a Kuwaiti wills
56:22
posters okay sure I I saw that in the
56:25
article and I thought it was an
56:27
interesting idea but I also thought it
56:29
was reaching a bit in terms of
56:31
historical context there were plenty of
56:32
other people she could have been an
56:34
avatar for but I liked the idea of
56:35
letting June be her own person and I
56:37
thought that that was very clearly
56:39
Illustrated she's very much not a an
56:42
archetype she's just just a black woman
56:44
who has a life of her own a lot but yeah
56:46
yes this is almost like get out where or
56:50
us me more at more so get out where it's
56:52
really cool to read the analysis or hear
56:54
them from from blur calm very much so
56:57
and and blurred out please do it's just
57:02
I wonder I it's such a bold decision to
57:05
make this season of Watchmen which was
57:08
very much about politics and well very
57:15
different things to make this whole
57:17
season essentially about race in a lot
57:20
of different ways I wonder if this is
57:21
something that's going to continue the
57:23
matically through other seasons of the
57:25
show
57:25
I wonder how if they're going to really
57:27
wrap this up as a theme here and then
57:29
continue I'm very curious where this is
57:33
going they could have easily Ironman did
57:36
where you know that the first Ironman
57:38
convict he was in Vietnam trying to you
57:40
know saw his tech or whatever he messed
57:42
up and then in 2008
57:44
was in Afghanistan right they could've
57:46
easily oh there's new threats of war
57:48
with Russia ghen cuz we are you know
57:50
yeah or there's problems of Middle East
57:52
that could have easily just be ested
57:54
said yeah very bold choice yeah they did
57:57
and they really decided to go in a
57:58
completely new direction that's very
58:00
true to the spirit of the original book
58:02
but is just so different and so timely
58:06
and so very socially aware and the fact
58:10
that they've got one of the original
58:11
writers on board I mean not Alan Moore
58:13
cuz he's somewhere voting for Corbin no
58:16
well yeah he is voting for Corbin you're
58:18
right but also he's you know I don't
58:19
know collecting mushrooms for his which
58:20
is brewed right but whatever he does he
58:22
does but um yeah it's just really
58:25
interesting to see how they've done this
58:27
it's a very bold choice it's a very
58:29
hopeful choice it gives me good feelings
58:31
about the future of art you we talked
58:34
earlier this year about the idea of
58:35
status quo rap and I think that if we
58:38
even if we have some more status for
58:39
rapper status quo TV is becoming less of
58:44
a thing which is interesting I kind of
58:46
thought the Golden Age of TV was coming
58:48
to a close but we're still going strong
58:50
here what a way to close out the decade
58:52
yeah I don't know I don't know what to
58:55
think and I don't know where it's going
58:56
and I'd like that feeling yeah yeah all
59:00
right sure well that wraps up our show
59:02
please let us know how you feel about
59:04
the Watchmen did you call any this stuff
59:06
out what do you think is gonna happen in
59:07
the future what do you think of our of
59:09
our analysis please follow us on
59:11
Facebook at bler duv we're also on
59:15
Twitter at brdu we are also an Instagram
59:18
at ble Rd period you pee check us out
59:21
also on blurred comm and we're also of
59:24
course on Apple podcast and Spotify is
59:27
subscribe and give us a review we got a
59:28
couple more views for NAPA podcast
59:31
everyone's still giving us
59:32
sterling reviews we appreciate that
59:34
thank you thank you so much alright so
59:36
DM me Eric I'll get Odom's that's cool
59:40
though you know whatever I'm not salty
59:43
yeah you are you just yeah alright peace
59:48
peace
59:48
[Laughter] 

Curator of the BlerdUp Podcast // Blerds out about: Comic Book Movies, Video Games, Hip-Hop, and Politics

X
My cart
Only $75.00 away from free shipping to US 🇺🇸
Your cart is empty.

Looks like you haven't made a choice yet.