Esquire 201911

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the Big Bite

TV

A WATCHMEN FOR
OUR TIMES

Damon Lindelof’s HBO adaptation of Watchmen might be
the truest to the spirit of the original groundbreaking comic, and the

most relevant show on TV right now By Matt Miller

VIGILANTE JUSTICE Damon Lindelof was 13 years old when, in 1986, his dad
gave him the first two issues of a new comic book called
Regina King as Angela Watchmen. It was, Lindelof says now, like nothing he’d ever
Abar, a lead detective on a experienced. Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons,
shattered all expectations of comic books. It proved that the
murder case. superhero genre could be as political, controversial, challeng-
ing, thought-provoking, and deeply human as any work of
46 November 2019_Esquire dramatic literature. The flawed, flesh-and-blood characters
dealwithethicalconundrums(whowatchestheWatchmen?)
and anxieties (the threat of nuclear war). “What separates
Watchmen from Superman or Batman or even Spider-
Man is there’s a depth of psychological pain,” says Lindelof,
a TV showrunner withLost and The Leftovers on his résumé
who’s adapting a version of Watchmen for HBO. In setting

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the Big Bite

out to make his own series, he knew he had to do some- Watchmen proved In his adaptation—which is not a strict sequel but
thing entirely new—to evoke the feeling he experienced that the superhero genre more of an expansion of the Watchmen universe almost
at 13. And that meant not worrying about whether he four decades later—Robert Redford has been president
angered people. could be as political, for about 20 years and the Supreme Court is stacked
controversial, challeng- with Left-leaning judges. And yet, even in a liberal-
Make no mistake, people will be angry. With its equal controlledcountry,bigotryremains:Awhite-supremacist
critiques of liberals and conservatives, Watchmen is shap- ing, thought- group known as the 7th Kalvary has co-opted the idea of
ing up to be the most controversial TV debut of the fall— provoking, and deeply Rorschach. Whereas nuclear war was the root of all evil in
and one of the most polarizing superhero stories ever the comic, the HBO series positions racism as the great-
told.That’sinkeepingwiththespiritof theoriginaltext, human as any work est evil—one that
according to Lindelof. “It’s essentially saying we have dis- of dramatic literature. reaches back many
dain for people at the center, because they’re not choos- generations be-
ing a side, but we also have disdain for people who are in fore the invention
the extremes, because you can’t live in the extremes. And of atomic weapons.
so let’s just take the piss out of everyone and ourselves in
the process,” he says. “In order for this
to be Watchmen,
Fornearly35years,scholarsandfansalikehavedebated we have to start
the political and social nuances of Watchmen, which with an unsolvable
partly follows a sociopath with an inkblot mask named problem, a prob-
Rorschach, who is investigating the murder of a fellow lem that the most
vigilante in a time after masked heroes have been made well-intentioned
illegal. Back when Lindelof first read the comic, he con- superheroes and
sidered Rorschach the good guy, but now he believes
“good guys and bad guys are not really even part of the cannot solve,”
vernacular here.” Lindelof says. “And
now we’re in 2019 instead of the ’80s, where it feels like
He mentions how in recent months Ted Cruz and you can’t tell a story about America in any kind of real,
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have each referenced historical context that doesn’t talk about race.”
Rorschach to defend points on opposite sides of the po-
litical spectrum. “There is a sliver of the Venn diagram Like the original Watchmen, Lindelof’s interpretation
where Ted Cruz and AOC basically both have their arms operates with a subversive attitude that says no side is
linked in excitement, and that sliver is called Rorschach,” right and there are no simple answers—which isn’t an
Lindelof says. “You look at him, and you describe what easy balance to achieve in an era when bothsiderism is
you see in the inkblots. But that’s a reflection of your own a bad word. Lindelof says he does this “very carefully
personality, or your own psychological profile, or, more and wildly irresponsibly at the same time. You can’t be
specifically, your own trauma.”

Complex sci-fi and fantasy stories are exactly
what Lindelof does best. Along with J. J. Abrams
and Jeffrey Lieber, he cocreated the ground-
breaking ABC drama Lost, which took massive
risks for a network television show, with fearless
narrative twists. More recently, his three-season
HBO drama The Leftovers was a masterpiece of
fantastical surrealism—a twisting journey into

“I don’t want to be an imitator,” he says, referring

BUILDING
CHARACTER

Lindelof and King on the
set of “Watchmen.”

Above right: Rorschach in
the original comic.

48 November 2019_Esquire

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the Big Bite

BOOKS

GARRY SHANDLING’S ADVICE TO
HIS 16-YEAR-OLD SELF

JuddApatow’sbookonhislatementor,It’s Garry Shandling’s Book, featuresanewly
discoveredletterbrimming withShandling’s signature wit and generosityof

spirit. In it, the comedian breaks down the dos and don’ts he’ll need for his own future.

1) Acne goes away. ON THE ROAD 10) One day you

It’s perhaps the biggest Shandling onstage. will not have to wear
advantage to growing Left: With his mother, glasses, there is a
older. But then your surgery that can fix
hair thins, but don’t Santa Barbara, 1975. your eyes. I know how
think about that now. bad yours are. The
Excerpted from “It’s Garry Shandling’s Book,” edited and doctor may have
2) Time doesn’t actu- with an introduction by Judd Apatow. On sale November 12, 2019. to go in thru the back.
Copyright © 2019 by Judd Apatow. Used by permission of Random House,
ally exist. However, 11) Be just
in this impermanent an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. who you are
world, the illusion that
time is passing is a 12) Know the world
sign that points to what
some physicists call is impermanent, and
this relative world. is in constant move-
You do not exist in as ment. Nothing, by
I write this. Nor do I, nature, is ever exactly
at this age, in your the same the next time
world. But, on another
plane we are one, hap- 13) Punch a couple
pening simultaneously.
of kids at school. I can’t
[Letter skips #3 recall their names
and #4.] now, but you know who
I’m talking about.
5) Grow-up
14) Please don’t
6) I want to
assure you wait till you’re 22 to
that you move out of the house
are enough. away from home.
Don’t doubt I’m still choking suffo-
this. You are cated by it
just as God
intended. 15) iPod, DVD,

7) Learn to meditate HD, Bluetooth. No
these aren’t diseases.
8) I will always be Or are they?

there to guide and give 16) You think your
you advice.
ham radio set is fancy
9) Stop technology. Just wait.
masturbating

50 November 2019_Esquire

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