I see him being as unthinkingly racist - particularly in 1975, when a lot of people were still racist without thinking/feeling too deeply about it. It wasn't borne out of hate so much as a general sort of bone-headed ignorance, and an unwillingness to change the status quo.
Ah-ha! See! It wasn't your fault at all -- I'm just a poor history student. :))) It's not that I think the racism is unrealistic, simply because Rorschach is so thickheaded; I just never really saw any concrete proof of it in the GN, which is why it jarred me here.
Granted, Rorschach probably saw most people as equally hateful ... but I wouldn't be surprised if he saw Nice White Ladies People as slightly less hateful than everyone else.
LOL! I thought about the story all day today, and came to the conclusion that while Walter was unthinkingly racist, Rorschach Despised Everyone Equally (except Dan, but he's a separate matter).
So, hrrrrrm, with 20/20 hindsight: if I was going to write this fic again, I'd probably provide more of a historical context for it.
Again, not your fault. Watchmen is a product of its time; it's hard to connect with attitudes that existed nearly thirty-forty years ago, now. I can hardly imagine 1985, much less 1975, but that would be easily remedied if I did even minor skimming about the period. So the disconnect is due to my not paying attention in American History. :D
I don't think I'm very well qualified to comment on American social mores in the 60s and 70s, given that I'm a) British and b) wasn't around back then, but whenever I pick up fiction from around that period, I'm often reminded of how much more openly racist, sexist and homophobic a lot of people were. I guess that the closest trope for it would be Unfortunate Implications or Values Dissonance.
And yeah, I agree: while Walter probably has as much baggage regarding race, sexuality, gender and social class as the rest of us, Rorschach is probably, um, non-discriminatory when it comes to beating the shit out of people. You're either Evil And Must Be Punished, or you're... not. (Or you're Daniel, in which case you're a Good Friend who gets a manly handshake.)
Ah-ha! See! It wasn't your fault at all -- I'm just a poor history student. :))) It's not that I think the racism is unrealistic, simply because Rorschach is so thickheaded; I just never really saw any concrete proof of it in the GN, which is why it jarred me here.
Granted, Rorschach probably saw most people as equally hateful ... but I wouldn't be surprised if he saw Nice White Ladies People as slightly less hateful than everyone else.
LOL! I thought about the story all day today, and came to the conclusion that while Walter was unthinkingly racist, Rorschach Despised Everyone Equally (except Dan, but he's a separate matter).
So, hrrrrrm, with 20/20 hindsight: if I was going to write this fic again, I'd probably provide more of a historical context for it.
Again, not your fault. Watchmen is a product of its time; it's hard to connect with attitudes that existed nearly thirty-forty years ago, now. I can hardly imagine 1985, much less 1975, but that would be easily remedied if I did even minor skimming about the period. So the disconnect is due to my not paying attention in American History. :D
Quote-heavy post is quote-heavy; my apologies.
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I don't think I'm very well qualified to comment on American social mores in the 60s and 70s, given that I'm a) British and b) wasn't around back then, but whenever I pick up fiction from around that period, I'm often reminded of how much more openly racist, sexist and homophobic a lot of people were. I guess that the closest trope for it would be Unfortunate Implications or Values Dissonance.
And yeah, I agree: while Walter probably has as much baggage regarding race, sexuality, gender and social class as the rest of us, Rorschach is probably, um, non-discriminatory when it comes to beating the shit out of people. You're either Evil And Must Be Punished, or you're... not. (Or you're Daniel, in which case you're a Good Friend who gets a manly handshake.)
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