A long time ago, I decided o refrain from engaging in debates on the internet, because, like I said, no one wins. Intelligent discussion is often very difficult, because you aren’t face to face, so people can just make up facts, and openly insult you with no repercussions.

However, I logged in to Facebook this weekend, and the front page always tells you when your friends join fan pages. I saw Frazer Irving was a fan of Bacon, so I became a fan too Then I saw that 5 of my friends had become fans of Watchmen. Well, OK then, I thought, what’s the harm in joining. I then realised it was a fan group for the movie, and one of the discussions was titled ‘Alan Moore’. I decided to look at it, and saw the following post:

Alan Moore’s original intentions are good for hating things. IE. He hated V for Vendetta when he read the screenplay because it altered the themes and messages of the book. Thats his artistic integrity, thats fine with me. But then he just takes it to a whole other level and just starts to bash the directors, and he just becomes an asshole. Keep in mind he is a bit cynical too, and might not know everything there is to know about film. I read an article that asked him about the watchmen adaptation, and amonst his rambling and griping about why its going to suck, he went on a rant about CGI. He said that it basically sucks and you shouldn’t make the film if you have to resort to CGI. He said that, for example, if you wanna make a liquid mirror or liquid metal in a movie, instead of using computers, just get a whole bunch of mercury and expose the actors to that. Thats just plain stupid.
But I believe, even if Watchmen is a complete success and does the novel all the on-screen justice it deserves, Alan Moore probably still won’t watch it. He’s already bashed Zack Snyder for trying to make the movie, which I think is unfair since Snyder has said one of his goals for the movie is for it to be something that Alan Moore doesn’t hate.

So, I HAD to reply:

Alan Moore said they should expose people to mercury? Written sources please?

BTW, he did not read the V screenplay, in fact, he detached himself from the adaptation entirely. I know that he later saw the film on DVD, and he said that he couldn’t understand why they changed the meaning to the reflect the current political climate in the USA. He couldn’t see why they needed to take the characters from the V comic to do that, when they could just have made an original concept to tell their own story.

Also, you just stated that Alan Moore is an Asshole. Have you had personal experiences with the man? Were you aware that he takes no money from these adaptations, and asks for all the money to be distributed amongst the other people making the films? Sound like an asshole to you?

Also, as far as I am aware he never “bashes” directors. Like I said, he dissociates himself from the movies completely. He doesn’t really care what they do, if they don’t use his name.

No more, I tell you! I’m ignoring stupid internet debates. I hate when people make up facts. The internet can really suck sometimes.

[Update]

It looks like the guy got a bit pissed with me:

I have my opinions and you have yours Edward Kaye, so how bout we keep the name calling and macho shit to a minimum and keep this civilized discussion from turning into a stupid and idiotic blog that gets off point.

Heres where I read the mercury thing. http://www.mtv.com/shared/movies/interviews/m/moore_alan_060315/
Below are portions of the article of which I based my post. You can read the article and see I wasn’t full of shit.

Moore: CGI makes me spit vitriol and bile and venom. When it comes to films, give me someone like [surrealist filmmaker] Jean Cocteau. When he wants to have somebody reaching into a mirror, he spends all of about five dollars on the special effect: He gets a tray, fills it with mercury and then turns the camera on its side. That is poetry. That is magic.
———————————————————————————————
“MTV: But couldn’t there ever be an exception? And since you haven’t seen it, couldn’t “V for Vendetta” be that exception?

Moore: I’ve read the screenplay, so I know exactly what they’re doing with it, and I’m not going to be going to see it. When I wrote “V,” politics were taking a serious turn for the worse over here. We’d had [Conservative Party Prime Minister] Margaret Thatcher in for two or three years, we’d had anti-Thatcher riots, we’d got the National Front and the right wing making serious advances. “V for Vendetta” was specifically about things like fascism and anarchy.

I used the word asshole liberally, but there are sometimes when I just don’t like Alan Moore. I know all about how he deals with films of his movies. I understand his reasoning dissociating himself with the movies, and respect that (and to this point, agree with it). And I also understand that him not taking money from them doesn’t make him an asshole. I also realize that hes one of the greatest comic writers of our time. I just feel some of his stand points on art and other things are a bit out of touch and off, and sometimes he goes a bit far with what he says.

Time to close the debate and go our seperate ways hopefully:

Macho? I wasn’t being macho. It would just be nice when people spout off on the net if they could cite their sources first. I said you are full of shit, I was just stating an opinion, that is not name calling in any way, shape, or form.

I agree, I don’t want to argue, and am asking my self why I’m even posting here.

I hadn’t read that mercury comment before, but it isn’t insensible at all. I am an analytical chemist, and can tell you that I have been exposed to liquid mercury many, many times. As long as you don’t touch it with your fingers, you are OK. A mirror effect done like that could be perfectly safe if done properly. I quite agree with him though on CGI. I find it disgusting the sheer amount of money thrown away on movies nowadays, when people are starving and dying of disease all over the world.

OK, he says there that he did read the screenplay, so you can have that. I read somewhere else that he didn’t. I think he is just messing with our minds I know he gave no feedback on it to those involved though. There was an argument though because the Wachowski’s and WB made a statement that he loved it, when of course, he had said nothing to that effect.

OK, end of debate/argument I am out. I can’t be arsed with another internet argument.

You see kids, this is why you don’t argue on the net. Reminds me of the scuffle I had about Chuck Palahniuk‘s use of vulgarity and extreme sexuality in his novels. That reminds me, I really have to get around to reading his new one Snuff. It is about a woman partaking in the world’s biggest gangbang, and one of the people waiting to fuck her is her long lost son, who just wants to reunite with her. Gotta love a bit of Chuck!!!

Related posts:

1. Well, the Watchmen Trailer Is Out, Not That I Really Care
2. Anarchy! But keep it nice and orderly…
3. Attention to Detail: On the Mindscape of a Madman, and Turning a Materpiece into Merchandising
4. I’m not afraid to admit it: I read comics!
5. Dead Men Tell No Tales + LITG + My Body is Full of Pain!