RE: OZYMANDIAS 1
Jul. 9th, 2012 01:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soltianReposted from the Watchdom community because I literally can't contain my own rage. Spoilers for BW: Ozymandias 1 under the cut.
Okay so...art is beautiful, no question there, actually a perfect choice for Adrian, Jae is not so much big on very expressive faces as he is quiet, thoughtful ones, which, okay, good fit!
I realize now that everything story-wise I really enjoyed was already written into the original book, and was just a really expensive glorified recap. Good job on "writing" that part, Len. /sarcasm.
Everything fell apart as soon as he got back to New York and started making "new friends". I feel like the handling of Miranda's character was punching as many stomachs as possible. Not only was she the cliche personality-free gorgeous-therefore-interesting (Adrian's feelings for her are even described as "attraction", not "love", because DC can't lie to themselves THAT much) empty shell of a female character we've all come to know and love, she gets iced (because of a poor decision on her part, of course! it's always better if we can blame her death on her own stupid female brain am I right?), and then used somehow as the motivation for Adrian to become the KNIGHT OF JUSTICE that is Ozymandias.
...WHAT?
Okay first thing wrong with this picture - Miranda is a woman. I'm fine with bisexual Adrian in fanfic because I trust fanfic writers to know what the hell they're doing. (I trust fanfic writers in general way more than the ones DC hires.) But the fact that Adrian gets one (albeit beautifully illustrated) panel with a male fling before being hurled into a life-changing romance with a more acceptable partner is an insult. It sends the message clearly that they were not comfortable writing him as completely gay and felt the need to apologize for implying he even had same-sex relations earlier in the story. In pre-emptive response to one of the most commonly used arguments for this situation - "she just happened to be a woman" - why couldn't she have just happened to be a man instead? The answer is most likely that DC was too scared. I can smell the fear on you, DC, and it stinks.
Past that, fucking wow. The woman in the refrigerator thing has already been called out but wow. And still, I was ready to keep on keeping on, since dead stupid girlfriend was dead and Adrian was being Adrian and calming down in a matter of minutes (that did get a little smile out of me) and deciding not to call the cops - but then..."I WILL BECOME A FIGURE OF JUSTICE WITH THIS HALLOWEEN COSTUME I WAS TOTALLY GOING TO WEAR LATER!" He looks so goofy on the last page that I had to do a double-take and make sure I wasn't looking at Captain Marvel, because I swear that's how a 10 year old looks IN an adult's body, not Adrian fucking Veidt who in all likelihood looked like an adult possessing a child when he was actually 10. I was honestly expecting him to incinerate her body and wipe her quietly out of public record or do something you know, generally more in line with poisoning his entire staff at the north pole or slipping a fake assassin he hired himself some cyanide. And then joining the Watchmen to see how he could use them later for his plans. Yes, Justice is, in a way, Adrian's MO. But he doesn't think of it the way Hollis or Daniel or Walter does, he doesn't think of saving individuals, and he certainly doesn't go parading out in his purple and gold tights waving Dead Girlfriend's Naked Body (tm) over his head sobbing about how brave he is for taking on this mantle in her honor. He examines the earth through a magnifying glass and says "Ah! This is how to fix the problem. Might kill about a million people. I should get to work on memorizing their names."
DC WHY DO YOU KEEP FORGETTING THESE CHARACTERS ARE EVIL SONS OF BITCHES AND THAT IS WHY THEY'RE BEAUTIFUL.
Okay so...art is beautiful, no question there, actually a perfect choice for Adrian, Jae is not so much big on very expressive faces as he is quiet, thoughtful ones, which, okay, good fit!
I realize now that everything story-wise I really enjoyed was already written into the original book, and was just a really expensive glorified recap. Good job on "writing" that part, Len. /sarcasm.
Everything fell apart as soon as he got back to New York and started making "new friends". I feel like the handling of Miranda's character was punching as many stomachs as possible. Not only was she the cliche personality-free gorgeous-therefore-interesting (Adrian's feelings for her are even described as "attraction", not "love", because DC can't lie to themselves THAT much) empty shell of a female character we've all come to know and love, she gets iced (because of a poor decision on her part, of course! it's always better if we can blame her death on her own stupid female brain am I right?), and then used somehow as the motivation for Adrian to become the KNIGHT OF JUSTICE that is Ozymandias.
...WHAT?
Okay first thing wrong with this picture - Miranda is a woman. I'm fine with bisexual Adrian in fanfic because I trust fanfic writers to know what the hell they're doing. (I trust fanfic writers in general way more than the ones DC hires.) But the fact that Adrian gets one (albeit beautifully illustrated) panel with a male fling before being hurled into a life-changing romance with a more acceptable partner is an insult. It sends the message clearly that they were not comfortable writing him as completely gay and felt the need to apologize for implying he even had same-sex relations earlier in the story. In pre-emptive response to one of the most commonly used arguments for this situation - "she just happened to be a woman" - why couldn't she have just happened to be a man instead? The answer is most likely that DC was too scared. I can smell the fear on you, DC, and it stinks.
Past that, fucking wow. The woman in the refrigerator thing has already been called out but wow. And still, I was ready to keep on keeping on, since dead stupid girlfriend was dead and Adrian was being Adrian and calming down in a matter of minutes (that did get a little smile out of me) and deciding not to call the cops - but then..."I WILL BECOME A FIGURE OF JUSTICE WITH THIS HALLOWEEN COSTUME I WAS TOTALLY GOING TO WEAR LATER!" He looks so goofy on the last page that I had to do a double-take and make sure I wasn't looking at Captain Marvel, because I swear that's how a 10 year old looks IN an adult's body, not Adrian fucking Veidt who in all likelihood looked like an adult possessing a child when he was actually 10. I was honestly expecting him to incinerate her body and wipe her quietly out of public record or do something you know, generally more in line with poisoning his entire staff at the north pole or slipping a fake assassin he hired himself some cyanide. And then joining the Watchmen to see how he could use them later for his plans. Yes, Justice is, in a way, Adrian's MO. But he doesn't think of it the way Hollis or Daniel or Walter does, he doesn't think of saving individuals, and he certainly doesn't go parading out in his purple and gold tights waving Dead Girlfriend's Naked Body (tm) over his head sobbing about how brave he is for taking on this mantle in her honor. He examines the earth through a magnifying glass and says "Ah! This is how to fix the problem. Might kill about a million people. I should get to work on memorizing their names."
DC WHY DO YOU KEEP FORGETTING THESE CHARACTERS ARE EVIL SONS OF BITCHES AND THAT IS WHY THEY'RE BEAUTIFUL.