Who is Watching the Watchers?: A Watchmen Review
- Madalyn McKnight
- Dec 31, 2019
- 2 min read
First of all, Regina King.
Secondly, Yayha Abdul-Mateen II.
Third, LOUIS GOSSETT JR (LEGEND).
I recently finished the latest hit from HBO, ‘Watchmen’ a tale that was created in the same realm as the graphic novel of the same name. Regina King plays police officer, wife, and mom Angela Abar, who is opening a Vietnamese restaurant as a cover to her full-time position as a cop named Sister Night who SLAYS in every sense of the word. From the opening scene to the season-ending cliffhanger, a story of resilience, trauma, reparations, and mystery come storming through your television (or computer screen) in the form of a well-written and well-directed black girl magic (and Yahya). Although sci-fi in nature, the show centers around how important history is and how trauma can, directly and indirectly, shape our futures.
Louis Gossett Jr./ HBO
The opening scene is a graphic reimagining of the Tulsa, Oklahoma (Attack on Greenwood) massacre in 1921 which both cost and affected an estimated 1000 souls. This killed the thriving Black Wall Street which saw prosperity for many African Americans in this area. In this particular reality, the United States created a system of reparations for survivors and their descendants as an apology for the tragic events, but the same deep-seeded racism still runs deep in this area and across the country. The insistence that trauma can be trapped in DNA is seemingly true the more the audience watches Angela’s story unfold. This show also addresses culture, bias, sexuality, love, and hate in a way that keeps you tuned in for every episode of this season. There is action, cleverness, plenty of easter eggs, and electrifying chemistry and magic.
Outside of a phenomenal performance by the actresses and actors who worked on this project, the writers of this show did an awesome job being sensitive to race relations in this surreally fictional story. It also addresses a culture of policing in a way that was very painful to watch. The idea of good/bad not being mutually exclusive concepts is a conversation the world is not ready to have. All the men and women in uniforms are not good and everyone in a mask is not bad. One should also recognize that healing from the bad that life deals with us can make us harden over like a callus or soften as tissue that cannot be repaired; either way, it changes who we are. Getting to the core of our being is imperative to understanding our place in the world. At the end of the season, three generations in one room come to grips with that notion.
The show also made Obama’s list of must-see’s for 2019. Spend your new year’s day binging and I encourage you to check back in with your thoughts. It is sure to take you on a ride you won’t expect!
Happy New Year Blackbirds
*featured photo courtesy of HBO
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