I  love the old Public Service Announcements from the 70s. I remember this one in particular from when I was fourth or fifth grade; it was kind of creepy back then, but now it’s just sort of goofy:

I haven’t really followed through on this, though, so I’m not even sure if the Keene Act is still on the books. Anyone know for sure?

More thoughts behind the cut.

I’m still worried about the upcoming film adaptation of The Watchmen. Movies based on graphic novels are hit-or-miss at best, and unless the filmmakers are very loyal to the source material, it often ends up as cheesy and poorly made.

But what I’ve been worried about the most with regards to The Watchmen is the fact that the original graphic novel, classic and brilliant though it is, really is a product of its time. The Cold War was still going on even though tensions had eased quite a bit, but fear of nuclear war and paranoia in general were still widespread. In addition, with the publication of Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight, superhero comic books were coming back into vogue and even becoming mainstream; The Watchmen was essentially a deconstruction of the whole superhero mythos, using the backdrop of the almost nihilistic mood of the times.

Seeing this particular ad makes me think, though, that perhaps the producers of the film have gotten it right. I’m still worried about the film, but less so now, and perhaps I will actually go out of my way to see it in the theater rather than just putting it onto my Netflix queue.