Watchmen / Special

Watchmen is a superhero story that focuses on the type of normal human beings who want to become superheroes so badly that they actually do. Special is the story of a normal guy who is deluded into thinking he has special powers, so he becomes a superhero.

Watchmen Quicktime trailer

Both movies are about people who see in themselves, or want to see in themselves, a closer personal connection to the myths that inspire them.

Special Quicktime trailer

Historians like to say that the early Egyptian pharoahs were “open behind,” meaning that they were both god and man at once. The god was a sort of magic shell that could be inhabited by many people over time. It wasn’t seen as a trick or a deception; that’s just how it worked. Unfortunately, being a god/man meant that you could only reign for a short period of time; after that, your subjects would ritualistically kill you in order to demonstrate reverence for the natural rhythms of nature. Eventually, the pharoahs changed that ritual to keep themselves alive, but they were no longer open behind; they were simply men claiming to be gods.

The point is: Everyone wants to connect with the supernatural. Everyone wants to be the supernatural. If you don’t have a myth that breaks the fourth wall and invites us inside, then we are going to find a way into it ourselves.