Rorschach In The Watchmen

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Allen More once said "There is something about the quality of comics that makes things possible that you couldn't do in any other medium," (Rose, 2009). He was correct, The graphic novel of Watchmen is superior to the film. The graphic novel is more effective at presenting the theme of identity to the audience, because the characters personality, behavior and, appearance are more detailed. One character who is portrayed differently in the film is Rorschach, the protagonist of The Watchmen. In the movie Rorschach is presented as a right-wing conspiracy theorist who wears a mask and fights crime. The novel shows that Rorschach suffered from childhood abuse by his mother, who was a prostitute, and her clients while growing up (Moore & Gibbons, 1986). As a result this psychological trauma, Rorschach’s behavior is erratic and very violent. He is a sociopath and does not want to be associated with his real name. He belives that Rorschach is his primary identity (Moore & Gibbons, 1986). He also believes that his mask is his true face (Moore & Gibbons, 1986). The movie does not tell the viewer the events that caused Walter to become Rorschach (Snyder, 2009). By leaving this out a lot of depth is lost from the character. The film also shows some of Rorschach’s violent acts as over the top and excessively graphic (Snyder, 2009). One example of this is seen when Rorschach kills his first man.…show more content…
While in the movie Rorschach hits him in the head with a cleaver repeatedly. The film did not show Rorschach’s warped sense of justice like the novel did. Another character who is presented differently in the film is Ozymandis. In the novel he is dressed in bright purples and yellows and appears non-threating. In the movie he is shorter and thinner and his clothes are dark purple and black. This combined with the dark background makes him seem sinister from the start of the
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