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Adrian Veidt: Hero or Villain?
Hero 25%  25%  [ 2 ]
Villain 63%  63%  [ 5 ]
Oh look, sheep... I mean DEATHCLAWS! AHHHRRRRGGGGHHH! My RIBCAGE!! !! ! 13%  13%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 8

Tensu
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03 Feb 2011, 4:20 am

Quatermass wrote:
Tensu wrote:
Oh yes, certainly. But something like a :wink: or a :D to indicate you're being funny as opposed to being a smart-*** is helpful. It's hard to tell the difference when looking at text :wink:


I can be both a smart-arse and harmlessly facetious simultaneously. There's a difference between being a smart-arse who deliberately sets out to belittle people, and one who just wants to be humourous in a cut above usual forum fare. It's not immediately apparent, but it's there.


Oh I'm well aware of the difference. I'm just more use to the type who like to belittle people for inane things, so letting me know that you're not that type is helpful.

and I saw that a long time ago. :lmao:



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03 Feb 2011, 5:45 am

Tensu wrote:
Quatermass wrote:
Tensu wrote:
Oh yes, certainly. But something like a :wink: or a :D to indicate you're being funny as opposed to being a smart-*** is helpful. It's hard to tell the difference when looking at text :wink:


I can be both a smart-arse and harmlessly facetious simultaneously. There's a difference between being a smart-arse who deliberately sets out to belittle people, and one who just wants to be humourous in a cut above usual forum fare. It's not immediately apparent, but it's there.


Oh I'm well aware of the difference. I'm just more use to the type who like to belittle people for inane things, so letting me know that you're not that type is helpful.

and I saw that a long time ago. :lmao:


Oh, I can be the other type. Just not often. :)

Ridiculous, innit? The Saturday Morning Watchmen thing. Hilarious, but absolutely ridiculous. :roll: One can only imagine what would happen if they did something like that for V for Vendetta.


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GoonSquad
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03 Feb 2011, 11:14 am

Quatermass wrote:

Legitimate authority is irrelevant to most superheroes and vigilantes in any case. There really aren't that many superheroes, in either DC or Marvel continuity who actually operate with legitimate authority and government backing, especially in the DC universe (discounting the Green Lanterns, of course). There seem to be more government-sponsored or allowed superheroes in the Marvel universe.


See, I think the question of legitimate authority is all-important here. Sure, most superheroes aren’t legitimate in that they aren’t official law enforcement officers, but they do operate under a certain type of legitimacy because most people would agree that it’s okay to stop a crime if it is within your power to do so. Many would even say that you have a moral obligation to stop a crime if you have the power to do so… Stan Lee illustrated this concept beautifully in his Spider-man origin (with great power comes great responsibility).

HOWEVER, fighting crime and using mass murder to impose your will on the entire world are two completely different kettles of fish… It’s a question of degrees—it’s why Batman does not kill. It’s why Superman (or Doc Manhattan for that matter) doesn’t just confiscate all military weapons in the first place. It’s the difference between the Justice League and the Justice Lords… It’s because exercising that much power DOES require another level of legitimacy. The kind that can only be conferred upon an individual by society itself. This is why Ozy is a villain and Truman is not.

Having said all that, I do think Ozy saved mankind. It’s interesting that the end of the cold war has validated the psychology behind this story, written at its height.

A common enemy does have a powerful unifying effect. During the cold war when the west was afraid that the Red Army might actually swarm across Europe someday, everyone loved America. Now, that there’s no perceived threat, it’s become fashionable to dislike, if not outright hate America. Yes, douche bags like George Bush haven’t helped, but even before Dubya, America bashing and revisionist histories minimizing America’s contributions to the world were becoming more and more popular…


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skafather84
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03 Feb 2011, 1:10 pm

He believed he was doing well but he didn't see the long view of it. Maybe he prevented a great disaster in the short term but there's no way he could in the long term and he still killed a few million people and psychologically scarred a few million more for life.


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Kraichgauer
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03 Feb 2011, 11:43 pm

Just because he believes what he's doing in the end is for the greater good doesn't make it so. For Ozymandias, the loss of millions of lives doesn't really mean anything, just as long as he can play the hero who knows what's best for everyone else.
I voted villain.

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