Who watches the Watchmen?

We went to see The Watchmen last Saturday afternoon with some friends. (note: this post might have a spoiler or two). I had not read the graphic novel, but since Jonathan was really into it, I decided to join the boys. For those of you who saw me Saturday evening, it took me a good two or three hours to recover from the movie. It is very intense, both visually and emotionally, for almost three hours. For those of you who wonder if it matches the book, I am reading it right now, and the dialogue and camera shots are nearly a carbon copy of the graphic novel (at least through chapter 3).

The reason it took me so long to recover is that, in all honesty, it's a pretty depressing story. The whole world is in a downward spiral morally and politically, we won the Vietnam War but all that the victory brought us was 12 more years of the Nixon administration, WMDs are poised to destroy the earth, and the superheros don't even know what to do about it. Even the ending leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth. As we left the theater, I told Jonathan it would take me a while to get back into reality, i.e. a reality different from the one we left in the movie. He asked how our reality is all that much different from the one in the movie. Hmmm. As I read the headlines this morning, it begs the question again. People in Memphis are killing each other over how close their cars are parked. Children are being beaten to death. A man in Alabama goes on a killing spree with both planned and unplanned victims. A pastor is shot through the heart while preaching on a Sunday morning. One may ask where our superheros are. But as we learned in the Watchmen, the superheros are just as vulnerable as we are.

So, where is our hope? How do we keep on living?

Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.

In vain you rise early and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat -
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
-Psalm 127:1-2.

If we try to solve these problems on our own, they will not be solved. We will toil in frustration. I need to place my faith in God, that he works all things for the good of those who love him. That all of the sin and scum and filth in this world shows us how perfect, compassionate and pure Jesus is, and that by trusting in him, our sins can be forgiven and our hope can be in a world beyond this fallen one. We do not stop fighting for justice, but we fight knowing that while these battles rage on, the war - the ultimate war of good and evil - was won a long time ago.

So, I went to a movie that I thought would have the depth of Spiderman, and I ended up with a renewed faith in my savior. I don't think the Watchmen will answer any questions for you, but it will hopefully get you asking some.