WATCHMEN‘S RORSCHACH: BORN OF TERRIBLE METAL
Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 4:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
So. Unless you live under a rock, chances are you’re aware that the movie adaptation of Watchmen opens tomorrow. The reviews are decidedly mixed and I’m still not convinced it won’t suck, but it’s already apparently making a ton of bank in ticket pre-sales, so, uh, yeah, people wanna see this bitch I guess.
Anyways, this week iTunes had some members of the cast do their celebrity playlist thing. A few actors chose a few metal songs – Patrick Wilson (who plays “Nite Owl II”) has some Van Halen and Extreme songs, Malin Akerman (”Silk Spectre II”) has some Nine Inch Nails, Jeffery Dean Morgan (”The Comedian”) was apparently pals with Layne Staley and included “Rooster” in his mix, etc.
But Jackie Earle Haley – the Oscar nominated actor playing the ultimate right wing sociopathic fascistic badass, Rorschach – created a list that is almost entirely comprised of metal.
Terrible metal.
Here’s Haley’s list… along with his explanations of why he chose the song – all of which are just quotes from Watchmen:
- Static-X, “Black and White” – “The Abyss Gazes Also.”
- Disturbed, “Down with the Sickness” – “Some nice flowers.”
- Green Day, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” – “You quit.”
- Incubus, “Out from Under” – “Never!”
- Linkin Park, “No More Sorrow” – “…whores and politicians…”
- Metallica, “All Nightmare Long” – “I believe I shall take my exercise.”
- Foo Fighters, “My Hero” – “…like my father, or President Truman.”
- Loscil, “Rorschach” – “…October 12, 1985.”
At the risk of sounding like a total fanboy, I’d like to take this opportunity to suggest that Rorschach would hate this list. Why? Well, for one thing, it’s all pussy music. For another thing, I think Rorschach’s personal politics would probably rule out listening to metal altogether, even if he is a complete head case (and prone to incredible violence). And, finally, Rorschach’s dialogue in the comics suggests he doesn’t like homosexuals, so obviously he’d never tolerate Chester Bennington.
ANYWAY, I’m guessing Haley didn’t actually listen to any of this music to get himself “in character,” since “All Nightmare Long” had not yet been released when Watchmen was filmed. Still, this list suggests that Haley does listen to metal, even if it is truly heinous shit.
-AR
i saw the flick this morning at a screening in NYC and it was amazing!
is Incubus metal?? I mean Green Shit and Linkin Whores is obvious (they´re NOT!) but…. incubus??
I wonder which of the 3 is going to suck the most: that playlist, the Watchmen movie, or the Watchmen XBOX360 game.
Androgynous Little Leaguers in the Bad News Bears and a pedophile in Little Children? Fgures he would listen to gay music.
Um Axl, you’re the one who labeled the list as “metal”.
And as someone who is never prone to use the word “gay” as an insult (because I’m not 12 and it’s not 1976), isn’t admitting you still read comic books (”fanboy”, to quote Axl) when you’re on this back side of 30, well, gay?
I am not ashamed in the least to admit that I have absolutely no idea what this “Watchmen” moving pictures show is supposed to be about. Can one of you comic b- err… *graphic novel* enthusiasts fill me in, please? Why all the hype?
In related news, i’d let Malin Akerman shit on my mouth. She’s lovely.
Extremely brief synopsis – Takes place in alternate 1985 where the US has won the Vietnam War thanks to accidental creation of godlike scientist Dr. Manhattan, who is the only person with “powers”. US and Russia on brink of WWIII. Murder of a hero (albeit a war criminal and rapist) investigated by washed up Batman-like character, and seriously psychologically damaged hardass in an inkblot mask. What they find is worse than they ever could imagine, and the heroes find that they need to fail in order to save humanity and avert armageddon. It’s a challenging, dense, dark, and violent book. If you never thought of comics as a serious medium of storytelling, the book is a mindblower.
Unashamed comic book reader, writer, and artist here.
Incubus’ S.C.I.E.N.C.E. was a great album… too bad everything thereafter was complete shit.
Disturbed and Static-X are merely okay… I liked them a lot more when I was young and impressionable.
I will defend the choice of ‘All Nightmare Long’, though… that song is badass.
to bucketochicken, watchmen is the highest selling comic, and untill now people thought it would be too hard to make the sacred comic into a movie. well im gonna see it tonight at 12, we’ll see if it should have stayed an unmade movie.
the comic is amazing, everyone should read it if your comic reader or now, its realy good.
Unashamed comic book reader here too
Well all right then. Sounds pretty cool. Thanks guys.
Slow news day..
It’s not shit, it’s just bands you don’t like…
yeah the list is really bad, but All Nightmare Long is a good song. Definately my favorite on Death Magnetic.
But boulevard of broken dreams? Ugh….I have spent the last 3-4 years trying to mentally wipe that song from my mind. Now I’ve just been reminded of how much I hate it. Grrrrr!
dammit cougar party now its in my head to. everybodys right though axl why did you call all of this metal ?
This article is useless. Only reason I’m commenting is to say you guys need to learn high school grammar.
“Anyways, this week…”
srsly d00ds wtf
“created a list that is almost entirely comprised of metal”…..umm what? I count MAYBE 4 “metal” songs…Also, you should talk. Are you not a fan of ‘protest the hero’?..talk about terrible metal……
Rorschach may listen to terrible metal but for those of you here who have read the comic and like great metal. Drag that book back out and throw on Whitechapel’s This Is Exile. It fits so perfectly.
i can’t believe Rorschach doesn’t listen to Rorschach. damn him.
Is it sad if I think the only two worthwhile songs on that list are the ones by Incubus and Foo Fighters?
Nah, ‘cus they’re both great rock bands.
Seems most of the list is pop-punk or nu metal.
Rorschach doesn’t have to listen to good metal, because if you tell him he listens to bad metal, he’ll probably melt your face off with hot grease.
saw the movie yesterday and I love it. It seems like a porn somewhere in the middle but meh.
@dave texas. I was thinking the exact same thing.
@ tim
no, play some pink floyd’s dark side of the moon and it will totally sink up man!
ya saw the movie at 12 last night, it was good for a 2.5 hour long movie, but wasnt enough time to capture all of the important stuff that makes the comic soo good. it still gets the point across but much less powerful. read the comic
btw other then the metallica, that is a balltarded metal list
I am truly disappointed. I always thought Kelly Leak would be more into some good ol’ thrash metal. Thanks for submarining my childhood notions of what it means to be a badass.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned this, but don’t you think it is odd that 7 out of the ten bands on this list are signed by Warner Bros/Reprise? Isn’t Watchmen released by Warner Bros? Coincidence, probably not. I bet they gave each actor a list of songs that they had to put on their playlist.
The album “Unclean” by the band Rorschach Test actually seems like something Rorschach the character would be into, lyrically anyway.
Too many “Seth’s” posting on here.
For the record, I was the first. I digress….
Out From Under is the best song on “Make Yourself” and one of the most overlooked. I give props for this guy choosing that song and not “the warmth” or “drive” or some bullshit.
I have to respect the Foo. Saw their DVD live from Wembley Stadium and they killed it. Dave Groehl gets much props.
I’ll leave the rest for all of you to discuss cuz i just don’t care enough about any of those bands to comment…
I’m going to see this movie early next week, I am busy with my 7 month old son this weekend. I cannot wait to see this movie and play the video game.
Damn!
You think the MOST FUCKED UP MEMBER OF THE BAD NEWS BEARS would’ve had better taste in metal….
Ink blot is hot. *boing*
Static-Ecs is geigh.
“And, finally, Rorschach’s dialogue in the comics suggests he doesn’t like homosexuals, so obviously he’d never tolerate Chester Bennington.”
Check and MATE. LOL.
Incidentally, I re-read the graphic novel a couple of days before the movie came out while listening to the new Buried Inside album.
Now THAT was a great experience.