Underneath the Mask
Image Credit: Watchmen Art of the Film by Peter Aperlo
Chapter 3 in Who Watches the Watchmen?
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Villains can hide behind the façade of heroes. In Watchmen by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, Sally Jupiter is a crime fighting hero who feels empowered by her attractive looks and uses her sex appeal to her advantage. She does not see herself as a victim even when her one of fellow teammates attempts to rape her. What follows throughout the comic is a complicated relationship with her would be rapist and how the world sees her as a masked vigilante. Her story relates to what many women are facing today. All around there are everyday women, like Sally Jupiter, who are overpowered or taken advantage of by men who wear masks, pretending to be charming heroes, kind friends, and trustworthy coworkers.
Sally Jupiter is a symbol of strength and female empowerment, but is also a sex symbol to the public and her fellow heroes. She felt in charge and proud of her own sexuality which, for the time period she lived in, was very seen forward in a woman. She was seen as strong and brave, but also as trashy and somehow desperate for male attention. In the Minute Men she was outnumbered, being one of two female adventurers in the crime fighting squad. Similar to the fashion and film industry today, where the more prominent positions are often occupied by men. Women have become mere accessories to add sex appeal in ad campaigns, just like Sally eventually became an accessory as the girlfriend of a fellow crime fighter, Hooded justice to hide his own secrets from the public eye. In a particular Dolce & Gabbana advertisement a woman is surrounded by men while one pins her down. Her hips are up, and she seems to be struggling to push the male model away (Duncan). Much like the model in the ad, Sally was seen as just a pretty thing to gain popularity within the group and to hide one of its members true sexuality. When the Comedian attempted to rape her, Hooded Justice stopped him, and scolded Sally, saying, “Get up… And for God’s sake, cover yourself” (Moore II. vii. 1). Instead of defending his fellow teammate completely, he put some of the fault on her. Nowadays some may similarly blame or criticize the model in the ad or an actress for her career choice or for wearing the clothes her job required. Victim blaming, stacked up with many other experiences women go through are exactly what inspired the #metoo movement in social media.
When the Comedian, Blake, attempted to rape Sally, all of the Minute Men, including Sally herself kept silent in order to not tarnish the Comedian reputation or that of the Minute Men’s. This is very similar to former soldiers who are told or forced to keep silent in order to not harm their rapists’ position and reputation within the military. Some service members are also scolded or blamed for the assault. In the film the Invisible War, Staff Sergeant Stace Nelson says, "I remember bringing in a young service member that had been brutally raped and bringing her in to see her command and trying to make sure this young girl was taken care of properly and this idiot, this idiot chewed her out for crying and told her to stop crying over spilled milk" (Dick). This also happens in the film industry where models and actresses were forced and threatened to keep quiet about Harvey Weinstein. In the article that exposed just how far the harassment went, actor, Lucia Evans says, “Everything was designed to make me feel comfortable before it happened. And then the shame in what happened was also designed to keep me quiet.” (Farrow). Women are often forced to keep quiet or silenced in order to not tarnish a man’s reputation, as with Sally, no one really cared about how she was feeling or how her own reputation was. The men involved were supposed to be heroes, and they still all preferred to cover up the true story until Hollis Mason released his book.
Often with sexual harassment many women keep quiet. Either they are threatened by their harasser or feel ashamed and at fault. Many later are ignored when the assault is not reported immediately. They are criticized for not speaking up sooner and now it is seen as too late or suspicious. As Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl, writes in his book about the Comedian, Under the Hood, “He left the group shortly thereafter by mutual consent and with a minimum of publicity. Schexnayder has persuaded Sally not to press charges against the Comedian for the good of the group’s image, and she complied” (Moore III). Sally not only saved some of the group’s image but prevented her own from being twisted. Although her daughter Laurie was angry about the assault in the present of the book, no one else seemed to care anymore. As an anonymous woman explained about Weinstein, “He drags your name through the mud, and he’ll come after you hard with his legal team” (Farrow). By the time most sexual assault victims admit what was happened to them, many people see it as too late.
The #metoo movement is proving that it is never too late to report a sexual assault. Everywhere women and men are telling their stories, many do not seek any retribution, only wanting to be heard and hopefully to prevent assault like this from happening again. Many of the victims especially recount how their sexual assault was a violent act of power, a former soldier said this about his rapists, “The rapists are not gay, they are heterosexual. It’s not about sexual preference. It’s about power and violence” (Dick). In the superhero, military, film and fashion world it is about much more than just sex, it is about control, with control the victims feel trapped and helpless, but not anymore. Now people are speaking up like when Laurie confronted her father and mother’s attacker when she threw a drink at him and said, “Damn straight; damn straight I do! I mean, what kind of a man are you, you have to take some woman, you have to force her into having sex against her will…” (Moore IX. xxi. 2). Another popular social media trend along with #metoo is #timesup and it’s encouraging women and men everywhere to talk about their experiences to make sure attacks and abuses of power like these never happen again.
Sally Jupiter’s story is still very important and relevant today. The modern world is still filled with people who will take advantage and abuse the power given to them, but the time of these attackers are running out. Women and men are speaking up and confronting the past with a growing movement on social media and this just proves that these attacks can happen to anyone, anywhere. Women like Sally Jupiter and Laurie are standing up to these villains and becoming the true heroes of their own stories.
Works Cited
Duncan, Amy. “Dolce & Gabbana in hot water again after ‘gang rape’ advert resurfaces just days after IVF furor.” Metro, 18 Mar 2015. Associated Newspapers Limited. www.metro.co.uk/2015/03/18/dolce-gabbana-in-hot-water-again-after-gang-rape-ad-campaign-resurfaces-just-days-after-ivf-furore-5108624
Farrow, Ronan. “From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein’s Accusers Tell Their Stories.” The New Yorker, 23 Oct 2017. Condé Nast. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-storie
Moore, Alan and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen, New York: DC Comics, 2005.
Dick, Kirby. The Invisible War. Sausalito. Roco Films Educational, 2012. http://www.documentarytube.com/videos/the-invisible-wa
Waldman, Katy. "One Year of #MeToo: “He Said, She Said” Is a Literary Problem, Too." The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2018
