# Okay, it's time to get this straight (Watchmen) \[Open Spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924 "2008-08-14T01:20:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/1 "2008-08-14T01:20:20Z")
…after reading for the zillionth time on some godforsaken blog off on the fringes of cyberspace (and even here, once or twice) that Ozymandias is oh-so-great because he caught a bullet in his bare hands, I AM READY TO SCREAM. It was a fake. It was a fake, people. FAKE FAKE FAKE. It was sleight-of-hand. It was fool-the-eye. It was a setup, a hoax, a phoney deal, stage magic. A FAKE. Thank you. (slinks off into lurkerdom) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/2 "2008-08-14T01:30:33Z")
I can’t see how it was a fake. Laurie shot him with a gun she’d taken off a dead police detective and he’d had no time to rig it. If you can explain why some people think Osterman transported Rorschach somewhere instead of disintegrating him, let me know. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/3 "2008-08-14T01:37:41Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] If you can explain why some people think Osterman transported Rorschach somewhere instead of disintegrating him, let me know. [/QUOTE] Of course he disintegrated him. That’s the _point_. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/4 "2008-08-14T02:14:04Z")
Bryan- It’s because some people cannot accept ambiguity in a comic book character. Dr. Manhatten is a _Good Guy_, and a \*Good Guy \* would never disintegrate another _Good Guy_. Jeez… That is sorta the whole point of the story. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/5 "2008-08-14T02:46:18Z")
Never considered it, but it’s entirely possible and in character that Ozymandias faked catching the bullet. On the other hand, most people using guns in stage magic have a confederate doing the shooting and don’t use live ammo. If he was shot at seeming point blank range by a real assailant shooting in an attempt to kill and either dodged the bullet while looking as though it struck him, or jumped in the bullet’s path in just such a way as to allow it to strike some sort of bulletproof material (presumably of his own design) in his costume, _then_ revealed a second bullet and some fake blood he’d had the foresight to conceal on his person just in case sombody shot him _and_ palmed it right at the right moment…hell, I’m almost as impressed as if he’d just plain caught a bullet. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/6 "2008-08-14T03:21:24Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] On the other hand, most people using guns in stage magic have a confederate doing the shooting and don’t use live ammo. If he was shot at seeming point blank range by a real assailant shooting in an attempt to kill and either dodged the bullet while looking as though it struck him, or jumped in the bullet’s path in just such a way as to allow it to strike some sort of bulletproof material (presumably of his own design) in his costume, _then_ revealed a second bullet and some fake blood he’d had the foresight to conceal on his person just in case sombody shot him _and_ palmed it right at the right moment…hell, I’m almost as impressed as if he’d just plain caught a bullet. [/QUOTE] Compared to the character that can take day-trips to Mars, it’s downright plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/7 "2008-08-14T04:03:03Z")
Laurie would have had to be in on the fake shooting. Why would she be? She didn’t even plan it, she just lost her temper after she thought Adrian disintegrated Jon. I don’t see anything implausible in Adrian catching the bullet. He’s a comic book superhero for heaven’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/8 "2008-08-14T04:10:34Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] I don’t see anything implausible in Adrian catching the bullet. He’s a comic book superhero for heaven’s sake. [/QUOTE] Except for the fact that he had no Super powers at all. He was just smart, rich and good at marketing. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/9 "2008-08-14T04:11:42Z")
Yup, ol’ Ozy caught it. No doubt in my mind. But the Comedian _faked his own death_. Whoa. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/10 "2008-08-14T04:14:27Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] But the Comedian _faked his own death_. Whoa. [/QUOTE] That’s ridiculous. But Laurie’s real father? _Silhouette!_ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/11 "2008-08-14T04:14:40Z")
[QUOTE=Omniscient] Except for the fact that he had no Super powers at all. He was just smart, rich and good at marketing. [/QUOTE] No one had powers except for Dr. Manhattan. But Adrian was depicted as having near superhuman agility and reflexes. In reality he would have been shot. But in reality all of the superheroes would have been shot and killed by criminals long before the events of the comic. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanTigerTamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@SuntanTigerTamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanTigerTamer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/12 "2008-08-14T04:43:17Z")
I’m interested to know why anyone would think Ozzy DIDNT catch that bullet… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/13 "2008-08-14T04:46:42Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] No one had powers except for Dr. Manhattan. [/QUOTE] Well, there was also the dead psychic whose brain was used to create Veidt’s “alien” and could apparently create enough of a psychic shockwave to kill three million people and cause hallucinations, nightmares and insanity worldwide. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/14 "2008-08-14T04:54:29Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Well, there was also the dead psychic whose brain was used to create Veidt’s “alien” and could apparently create enough of a psychic shockwave to kill three million people and cause hallucinations, nightmares and insanity worldwide. [/QUOTE] There apparently are a lot of psychics in the Watchmen universe, as the explosion will cause “sensitives to have bad dreams for years to come.” But they don’t dress up and fight crime. From reading some interviews I think Moore believes in magic and psychic powers. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/15 "2008-08-14T11:24:07Z")
[QUOTE=SuntanTigerTamer] I’m interested to know why anyone would think Ozzy DIDNT catch that bullet… [/QUOTE] Yeah, the art makes it **very** clear that he caught the bullet. Issue #12, page 15, panel 3: Gibbons uses motion lines for the only time not involving a bullet in the series as he does a Carmine Infantino strobe effect of Veidt’s hand moving into position to catch the bullet. Panel 4: We see the path of the bullet illustrated up to the point where it reaches his left hand which is closed into a fist instead of open like in the previous panel. Over to page 16, panel 2: There’s a bullet in the hand that’s bloody. His hands are apparently bleeding but there’s no wound. Panel 3: Laurie clearly was expecting him to be shot. So, yes, he caught a bullet. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/16 "2008-08-14T12:45:19Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] In reality he would have been shot. But in reality all of the superheroes would have been shot and killed by criminals long before the events of the comic. [/QUOTE] More likely, they’d never find any criminals in the act, get bored patrolling, and give up. (How often do cops in real life stumble upon crimes in progress?). ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/17 "2008-08-14T13:19:18Z")
Don’t forget the foreshadowing when Ozy beat up the gunman earlier in the series. “What would you have done if he shot you?” “I guess I would have had to catch the bullet.” He caught the bullet, and quite frankly, I’m floored that people think otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/18 "2008-08-14T13:22:54Z")
I do not have a copy handy, but I seem to recall that Adrian actually looked a bit “Whoa! I really did it!” after catching the bullet. Almost as if he surprised himself that he was able to match his reputation. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/19 "2008-08-14T13:39:35Z")
I’m sure he was at least a little surprised. The actual quote was something like “I guess it works after all.” It was like something he had worked out but never tried in real life, for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924/20 "2008-08-14T13:41:54Z")
[QUOTE=DrFidelius] . . . I seem to recall that Adrian actually looked a bit “Whoa! I really did it!” after catching the bullet. [/QUOTE] Remembering from a couple of days ago, I’m pretty sure he actually _says_ “I really wasn’t sure that would work”. He caught the bullet. Meanwhile, what was the deal with the big cat thing, was there some point to that? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-its-time-to-get-this-straight-watchmen-open-spoilers/459924.md?page=2)