Posted in: HBO, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: opinion, Watchmen

HBO's Watchmen Warned Us of The Dangers of a "Masked" Government

With ICE raids and protests in L.A., the theme of "masks" and the government in HBO and Damon Lindelof's Watchmen is more relevant than ever.

Six years ago, Damon Lindelof's Regina King and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II-starring pseudo-sequel/"remix" of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins' comic book classic Watchmen tried to warn us. But we didn't listen. Moving forward on his pledge to begin mass deportations, President Donald Trump has been unleashing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE agents) in a lot of blue-leaning cities. Before too long, news reports of masked agents detaining individuals after entering elementary schools and in the hallways of courthouses, and with that, came the protests. Though not the first, the most recent wave of ICE raids in Los Angeles would be met with two days of protests. Earlier today, over the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, the conflict escalated when Trump ordered 2000+ members of the California National Guard into Los Angeles to combat the protests, support the ICE agents, and (based on his social media post) to stop protestors from wearing masks.

What we're seeing play out in the streets of Los Angeles is a nightmarish reflection of one of the key messages from the Emmy Award-winning series on two levels. Visually, the similarities between the yellow-masked Tulsa Police officers and what we've been seeing on our screens are too striking to ignore, as are the justifications. In both instances, the safety and security of the officers and their families are offered as justifications for the masks. But while that may score points on an emotional level, it spits in the face of the democratic principles we reportedly hold dear in this country.

Masks turn democracies into dictatorships.

HBO's Watchmen showed us that "masks" represent the resistance and those who challenge the system (sometimes for the good, sometimes not). Simply put, you can't fight the system when you are the system. You can't rage against the machine when you are the machine. When you have all of the power and are then presented with the chance to exercise that power with anonymity, the temptation is too great for abuse – something we've seen time and again throughout history. For a government to truly be "of the people, by the people, for the people," it needs to be transparent and held accountable by its constituents. Otherwise, it starts traveling down the very dark path that we're seeing play out this weekend.

If anyone should wear masks, it's the law-abiding protestors exercising their free speech. Again, you don't have to dive too deep into your U.S. history books (even the Trump-approved ones) to find a lot of examples of how governments retaliated against those who were brave enough to speak out. Of course, there will be those who will make the case that working within the system is the best way to initiate change and minimize damage – an argument that the HBO series wasn't subtle in debunking years earlier. Look no further than King's Angela Abar, aka Sister Night, and Tim Blake Nelson's Wade Tillman, aka Looking Glass – officially sanctioned masked vigilantes working directly with law enforcement that morally appropriated the meaning of the mask while making it clear how they viewed the masked heroes. While it took each of them coming close to death for the revelation, both Angela and Wade came to understand that they couldn't have it both ways.

Here's hoping that things don't have to get that bad before we find our way back.

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