by Author Name Withheld 161

Created on: April 20, 2009

God, the Universe, and Dr. Manhattan:

Before the movie, The Watchmen, first came out, I had no inclination to see it. Of course, I saw it anyway, and I am very glad that I did. The Watchmen is a perfect example of how people look to God (or Dr. Manhattan, in this case) in desperate times.

In the Watchmen, Jon is involved in a terrible lab accident. As a result, his physical form is completely destroyed; yet, his mind still exists. It is said that the body and mind are a symbiotic relationship, they need eachother to survive on Earth. After the accident, John finally manages to put himself back together utilizing free atoms. His new physical form is

blue, the masculine color of wisdom, truth, and tranquility. Just as blue is the color of heaven, it is the color of Earth when viewed from space. It connects Dr. Manhattan to our planet and an other-worldly existence.

The name, Jon, itself has religious connotation. In Hebrew, it can mean merciful or gracious God, or gift of God. One could even say that the lab accident acts as an analogy of resurrection. Even Jon's last name, Osterman, is phoenetically similar to the celebration of Easter - the resurrection of Jesus. Throughout most of the movie, Jon is nude. A fundamental concept of God is that He is beyond human needs and desires, such as clothing.

The symbol on Jon's forehead is significant in what it represents. In the language of science, it is the chemical symbol of hydrogen. Hydrogen is the most abundant of the chemical elements. As the lightest weighing element, it is also free from the pull of gravity. It is a key component of water and in the lifecycle of stars. On Earth, it is very rare to find hydrogen in its elemental form due to its strong tendency to combine with other elements. Hydrogen is a neutral element, containing just one proton and one electron. In John's case, he was able to form his translucent blue body utilizing free hydrogen atoms. This symbol could also represent eternity, being simultaneously in all directions of time and space.

For those that have studied religion and/or philosophy, it could be said that the Watchmen supports an a posteriori cosmological argument, that empirical knowledge of the universe is the very proof of God's existence. It may even be teleological, in the significant use of the watchmaker analogy. Whether or not empirical knowledge proves or disproves God, it is the explanation of Jon's inherent superpowers. The character of Jon symbolizes God and the relationship to the laws of science. In Western theology, it is believed that God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omnibelevolent. Theodicy attempts to explain why, if God retains all of these qualities, hardship and evil still exist. As it is, many will argue that the solutions are fallacious in that each explanation results in a loss of at least one of God's attributes. In the Watchmen, Dr. Manhattan, while omniscient and choosingly omnipresent, adheres to the Karmic system. His omnipotence and omnibenevolence are limited to the universal truth of Karma. Jon's superpowers supercede typical human routine life; and, while they are God-like qualities, they are also the result of science. Dr. Manhattan is the human-like form of the Unification Theory of Science (The Theory of Everything, String Theory that attempts to unite the forces of nature under the same set of scientific laws.

As it is, Jon's mind has control over the basic particles of science, resulting in a Godly nature that reigns over the universe. While he is not an ultimate creator or destroyer of the elements, he has the power to alter the elements and form new life out of what already exists in the universe.

Learn more about this author, Author Name Withheld 161.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.