| The first decade of 21 st century witnesses the prosperous development of Hollywood superhero movies, among which Watchmen(2009) distinguishes itself by virtue of its multi-layered structure, complex narrative and profound connotation. This thesis conducts a detailed textual analysis on Watchmen and examines it as an embodiment of Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction philosophy, arguing that Watchmen is a deconstructionist text which could be understood as a rereading on the whole superhero genre. It challenges the “transcendental signified†embedded in traditional superhero films by overthrowing their foundations, namely, the three pairs of hierarchical binary oppositions between superhuman/ human, savior/ the saved, and good/evil relentlessly. As a consequence, “logocentric assumptions†about the apotheosis of superhero, the doctrine of salvation and the ultimate truth of good triumphing over evil, which have been reiterated in the previous superhero genre, are shattered into pieces.Superheroes in Watchmen, in fact, are the ordinary people with frailties and foibles, some of whom even step out of the track of normal society; instead of being merciful saviors, superheroes turn out to be an indifferent type of “God†or the sinful one who needs to be saved. The reversals of superhuman/human and savior/the saved,to a certain extent, lead to the dismantling of the dualistic antithesis between good and evil. In the film, the boundaries between superhero and supervillain, good and evil are no longer crystal clear. Watchmen deconstructs the concept of superhero but neverdestroys it. With those “logocentric assumptions†written in and crossed out at the same time, the fluidity of meanings could be achieved. Greatly altering the monomyth pattern in American superhero movies, Watchmen has broadened the narrative of future superhero genre. Pulling the audiences out of the utopian world, Watchmen prompts them to reevaluate the role of superhero in the superhero movies as well as in their real life. Placed in the international context, Watchmen also serves as a self-reflection of America as a nation. During the course of deconstruction and reconstruction, the meaning of superhero has greatly been enriched. |
