Way back in the 80's when I was a senior in high school, I was reading a magazine and I came across an image of two skeletons kissing in front of a mushroom cloud. Their skin had been burned off by the blast. I was so struck by this image that I cut it out and put it in a scrab book I kept of different evocative images I stumbled across. Little did I know it was from the graphic novel "The Watchmen." 20-some years later, I watched the film "The Watchmen" based on that graphic novel. I was kind of blown away by the movie scene of the nuclear kiss. I don't know if the movie is based on a storyline from the graphic novel or if it's just the characters, but the plot of this movie was rather interesting. I am still reserving my opinion of the overall movie, but the storyline did intrigue me.
(****SPOILER ALERT*****)
Basically, a former super hero devises a plan to set off a huge explosion in downtown NYC in 1985 as the USA and Russia are at a nuclear stand off. Immediately following the explosion the two countries find out that it was not a nuclear strike from either country, but an explosion set off by a former and jaded super hero. The two countries immediately call a truce. Within minutes the Earth is one planet and one population. One. United. Holding hands and singing songs. Little beknownst to the citizens of earth, this plot was hatched by a former super hero who used it as a way to save the majority of the planet. Had he not intervened, we would have surely gone to war with Russia and most of the earth's population would have been wiped out. It would change the very climate and nature of our planet. It would reshape the land and the oceans and almost every living thing on this planet would eventually die. So, he killed a few million people in downtown NYC which in turn prevented a nuclear war, saved billions of lives and the world came together as one in it's wake. Unknowingly saving itself. And these heroes believe this will save the world.
I don't think the characters in the movie realize that their plan will only be a temporary fix. Sure, we will all join hands and sing our songs. The rest of the world will reach out to us in kindness and genuine sorrow. People will cry with each other in the streets in the smallest corners of the world. It will make us feel small and weak yet empowered to no end. It will makes us become strong in spirit and form a united front. We will not let this event shake the foundation of our world. We will stand strong. And then it will become yesterday's news. Tsunamis will hit, earth quakes will bury cities, hurricanes will ravage the south. And with each new disaster, we grow more ambivalent to it all. The loss of life that broke our very hearts that one day will no longer even affect us. As a matter of fact, we will be more affected by the death of any one celebrity than we will be by the tens of thousands of people who die from AIDS in Africa in a single week.
This movie intrigued me. This movie would have scared me as much as the movie"The Day After" if I it had come out in the 80's. Back then, I was terrified that we'd all die in a nuclear war. If this is based on a storyline from the graphic novel in the 80's, then it was beyond prophetic. If it was a story created just for this film, than it's a pretty amazing comment on society. As one of the main characters says, "I can change many things, but one thing I cannot change is human nature." Can we? I guess there's only one way to find out.
Once again, I'm taking to my blog to encourage everyone to make one change in your life that will help you be a better person. I will do the same. Make an effort to put good energy out into the universe. Wouldn't it be nice if collective acts of goodwill woke us up and united us as one rather than some big random disaster that kills thousands of people? Think about it.
