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Paraphernalia + philia... heh heh.

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Vague word. It's broadest definition simply means "abnormal sexual proclivities."

So again, what is normal? Lights out under the covers in the missionary position between a man and a woman who are legally married and desire to have children?

Don't laugh. There are places where the law defines it as such. And there are those in places where it's not who would desire to legislate it as such.

Otherwise, I agree. One person's Vanilla is anothers Hot Fudge.

I think the coke bottle quote is an allusion to love. While sex and love may be intimately tied, they shouldn't be confused as being equivalent. Rorschach's soliloquy on American love was both a nostalgic desire for a past America and a musing on love from someone who's never had any. He sees the the procreative act and love as totally separate.

I would argue that trying to conclusively determine whether Rorschach is anti- or asexual could be difficult. Sex was something his mother did for money, and perhaps pleasure. Because of that, it is something he neither needs nor wants. He rejects it as his mother rejected him.

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-Juvenal

I agree with this. This makes the question of which gender Rorschach was/would be attracted to very difficult to figure out, as well.

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Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste......

The question then is, past the physical stuff, is there anyone that Rorschach could have felt 'love' for? He seems fairly sociopathic, apart from being antisexual.

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Doubt it. Besson's Léon is similar in this respect. A loner. It would weaken his act if he let anyone near him. The Natalie Portman character melts him and his fate is sealed.

At the end of Watchmen it's his "love" of humanity and justice that pushes Kovacs to the limit.

Léon does his job for money. Kovacs because his morality makes him. Neither of them are psychopathic/sociopathic.

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For my two cents worth, as far as i've been concerned during my reads of the novel lead me to beleive that sex is as much a part of rorshach as compassion is for Dr. Manhattan (forgetting about Osterman for a second).

It's interesting to me that most of the main characters seem to be missing some emotion or drive which many of us beleive to be commonplace.

Rorschach is absolutely devoid of a sex drive
Dr. Manhattan, as mentioned compassion. Even after his revelation on mars it is the thermo-dynamic miracle he wishes to save, not the lives as such.
Comedian is an odd one, and in my opinion by far the most complex character. He seems to have lost his conscience, rape, murder of a pregnant woman, murder of children in vietnam. He shows regret for these actions with his "Only once" line and his breakdown at Moloch's place but to me it's almost as if he regrets them not for the acts themselves, but the reputation that came with it.

I see it as inkeeping with Moore's deliberately flawed characters to have Rorshach as completely sex-less. He, and a lot of the cast, are all missing something, and i think it's to act as a counterpoint to the real main characters of the story. That is, Dan and Laurie. These two are absolutely the most normal people in the novel, and the decision to make others so empty really brought these two for the forefront to me.

Sorry, digressed a bit there.
My first post here, evenin', the name's Lee.

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I wouldn't say Dan and Laurie are normal. They're both devoid of motivation and excitement. Well, actually, that's pretty normal, but they aren't 'perfect' people. They have their lacking traits.

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Ah, by no means did i mean to put across that they are perfect people in the slightest, they just (and more so Dan than Laurie) don't have such a stockpile of tragedy and disaster to pick from from their childhoods resulting in some serious mental issues for certain characters. Again, i'm talking about Dan a lot more so than Laurie.

I see Dan as a total everyman, juxtaposed with the completely unique characters surrounding him for the entire novel.

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I agree with the above in essence, but Gibbon's has commented in his past that people look into Rorshach's mask too much while it's his subtle body language which really defines his feelings.
Can't remember the exact quote.

But, absolutely right, Dan is the only character in the novel who gives him the time of day (except Malcolm of course, but due to his occupation this isn't surprising), and i've noticed Rorshach act differently around him to other character. His line as he leaves Dan's place in chapter one, "You quit", to me suggest lament and regret. That he would gladly still be working with Dan to this day had he not heeded the Keene Act.

Dan and Rorshach is a fantastic relationship often overlooked.

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Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste......

Another interesting aspect of this is Rorschach's view of Laurie. Does he view her as the standard woman, as worse, or does he dislike her because she draws affection/friendship from Dan away from him?

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Rorshach's whole demeanor in the chapter after the prison spring is interesting. Particularly towards Laurie. He comes across as usual distant and broken, but i've also noticed the politeness of his character.

He comments on his distaste for Laurie's costume while also pressing that it's nothing personal to her, and later on even comments that it's a shame Laurie couldn't accompany them to visit Veidt. Now, this strikes me as interesting, because Rorshach is not one to beat around the bush. He even outright says to Malcolm Long "I don't like you", demeans Veidt in the first chapter without qualm while also holding no bars against his landlady and comments about his mother's death.

This is why Rorshach interests me greatly in that particular chapter previously mentioned. I am unsure how Rorshach feels about Laurie, but it is my beleif that if he thought of her in the same way he thinks of the majority of women he would have absolutely no problem making it known. The only thing he seems to pick fault with is her costume.

Shit, now i write it down i notice the relationship between Laurie and Rorshach is quite complex too, jesus christ this book has a lot of levels.

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That's an interesting point. Maybe he views her as 'above' the others because she fights crime, and therefore has some sense of morals.

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Well, let's take a step back here.

--Sylvia Kovacs: A whore who beat her son.
--Rorschach's landlady: Has five different kids from five different fathers, probably cheats on welfare.

Yeah, Laurie's a real saint compared to those two ladies, isn't she?

Rorschach says he doesn't like her dress, but that's not surprising. We all know that he hates womens' clothing and he has an aversion to anything overtly sexual. So it's not women themselves that set Rorschach off, it's just women who flaunt their sexuality.

I wonder if Rorschach knows that Laurie hates her outfit almost as much as Rorschach does. Maybe that's why he tolerates her; Laurie wears the outfit not because she's an exhibitionist, but because it came with the mantle forced upon her by Silk Spectre I.

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This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

I think you may have hit the nail on the head regarding Rorshach's opinion on women.
However, Rorshach is obviously not aware of Laurie's distaste for her uniform otherwise he would not feel the need to make sure she knows he meant no offence.

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I really do wonder how they would have interacted with each other on a longer-term basis. They really don't converse that much.

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Certainly, scenes from the owlship on the way to antartica had Laurie not been picked up by Jon would be extremely interesting.
Hypothetically that is.

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