We’ve talked in class about the gritty, hyper-realism of both The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen but something I enjoy about Watchmen is that it doesn’t just exist in its own world, but in an alternate reality to our own. On page 4, one of the cops mentions the “Keene Act”, passed in ’77 that limited the activities of the vigilantes. On page 17, Ozymandias and Rorschach talk about the possibility of the Soviets killing the comedian. This places the conflict of the characters directly in the Cold War which added legitimacy when Watchmen was first published and historical legitimacy for today’s readers. Directly following the conversation about the possibility of the “Reds” killed the Comedian, Ozymandias says the Comedian was “practically a Nazi”, adding layers of historical legitimacy for original and current readers. Additionally, characters mention real places like Maine and Poland. The characters of Watchmen are brooding and flawed and this adds an incredible sense of realism, but the narrow deviation from our own reality adds legitimacy to their world.
I completely agree with you about the existence of an alternate reality in Watchmen. I think it adds yet another contrast to the narrative — alternate reality that contrasts pretty real-life problems.
The way you described how the alternate reality of Watchman parallels our own reality is similar to the basis of science-fiction as a genre. The nods to reality and what the audience knows or has experienced helps to immerse themselves further into the world created by the author. The fact that at least some portion of the world is grounded in our own reality makes filling in the holes in the alternate reality easier and allows the reader to believe that the alternate reality could be real. I feel that Moore did a great job recreating the feel of a post Vietnam War America while subtly describing the difference between the real world and the world of the Watchmen.