Retrospective: The Mindscape of Alan Moore (2003)

[Eric Walker]

Alan Moore sits in front of the camera, talks about mysticism, magic,
and information overload, and predicts the end of the world in the
year 2015.

I could mention Alan Moore's remarkable contributions to the field,
art, and popularity of comic books (and so-called "graphic novels"),
but why bother - anyone who wants to sit down and watch a documentary
called "The Mindscape of Alan Moore" already knows who Alan Moore is.
You know about "Watchmen", "Swamp Thing", "V for Vendetta", "From
Hell", "Lost Girls", "Top 10," "The Killing Joke," "Miracleman," and
maybe even "Abelard Snazz" and "The Ballad of Halo Jones." For many
rabid comic book fans, Alan Moore is a God. He can do any damn thing
he wants in comics, and the fans who are convinced of this are the
ones who will be sitting down to watch "The Mindscape of Alan Moore".
And many of those fans will be sorely disappointed.

If you hope to hear him going on at length about Rorschach, John
Constantine, Smax, Supreme, or Tom Strong, stop reading now because he
doesn't mention them at all. On the other hand, if you know about the
Alan Moore who enjoys delving into philosophical explorations of art,
mysticism, magic, his concept of "the Ideaverse," and those esoteric
concepts he revealed with The Birth Caul and "Promethea", then you'll
be fascinated and entertained; and you'll come away doing something
that hardcore scientific skeptics are horrified at: you'll be thinking
magically.

Some of the audience watching this won't be drooling fanboys with
"Watchmen" T-shirts and "V for Vendetta" masks. These are the ones
who'll enjoy "The Mindscape of Alan Moore" for what it is: Moore
preaching to his audience, rambling about any subject that comes to
his mind. He doesn't interact with anyone, not even the film's
director, DeZ Vylenz (the "Z" is capitalized, suggesting a filmmaker
with ambitions of being the next "McG" or "The Wachowski Brothers");
Moore simply sits in front of the camera, against a background of
images chosen to support the subject he's talking about at the moment,
with a soundtrack of minimalist electronic music and sounds; and he
talks about subjects near and dear to him. He's a character himself,
as anyone who's seen him before knows: wild, unkempt hair and beard, a
long, thin face with staring eyes, and a deep, droll, monotone voice
in a thick Cockney accent. American listeners will have trouble
understanding his words at first, until they become used to him after
a few minutes. Despite the (deliberately) ominous and mysterious look
he gives when staring at the camera, Moore's attitude is actually
quite friendly: while he's lecturing to the audience, we don't get the
impression that he's talking down to us or treating us with disdain.
He's talking about something that interests him, and he wants us to be
interested in what he has to say. Once we get used to his style of
speaking, we find that, in the same manner as his comic books, he
speaks in a very literate, rather poetic style that is still very easy
to understand and digest. And that's especially pleasing, considering
that the subject Moore tackles here is very intellectual and
philosophical.

Moore covers each subject in vignettes lasting about five minutes or
so, before moving on to the next stage of his piece. After giving a
brief synopsis of his employment history before he began writing comic
books, Moore delves into the philosophy he developed, and here he
gives us a treatise on his belief in "magic" and how it relates to art
and creativity. To Moore, making magic has less to do with standing at
an altar or bonfire chanting old incantations, than it does with being
creative. The point he puts across here is that "magic" - at least the
kind that he practices - covers the inexplicable, mystical force that
governs our lives, makes us conscious, allows us to experience the
physical world, and makes us creative. To him, making magic has a lot
to do with writing and creating art: even to the point where an artist
is the closest thing the modern era has to what used to be called a
"shaman" in the past. In Moore's mind, you're making magic when you're
creating something personal, something that you are putting your very
soul into creating. His bias is obvious, since he's a talented writer
and that's where he pours most of his creative energies; by extending
this philosophy, one could say that a computer programmer's magic is
in the programs he writes, and a car mechanic is making magic when he
takes an old antique wreck and brings it back to working life. (Isn't
that what the Church of the SubGenius calls "Slack?")

Moore ties a number of his major works into this thesis, by bringing
up the now-legendary "sex issue" of "Swamp Thing" (#34, for those of
you who want to rush out and buy it), and saying how it was his first
foray into eroticism in comics. This led to the creation of "Lost
Girls", his epic work of pornography that he states is a solution to
the "problem" of erotica: that the only form of literature (or so he
says) that deals with sex in a frank manner is a dirty, disrespected,
under-the-counter literature that literate folks refuse to treat in a
serious manner...and that doesn't aspire to literary heights, either.
(Presumably he considers "Lolita" to be an obvious exception to the
rule; though it's doubtful there will ever be a graphically
illustrated comic book adaptation of "Lolita.") He also talks about
"Brought to Light," the conspiracy-laden history of the CIA that he
worked on in the 1980s (and here he makes a point about conspiracy
theorists that I can certainly agree with: "Conspiracy theorists love
their conspiracies because they are comforted by the idea that a vast
conspiracy controls everything. The truth is far more sinister - the
truth is that *no one* is in charge and the world is rudderless"), and
also touches on "Watchmen" and "From Hell". These works are
interspersed with his theories of magic, all leading up to his
underlying idea that ideas themselves, information, and consciousness
exist in a realm of existence outside the laws of science - a place
that he calls "The Ideaverse."

For justification of his theory, Moore looks to quantum physics,
noting how this advanced field of science also postulates that the
entire physical universe is nothing more than the by-product of
information. Or, as Moore quotes from religion, "...in the Beginning
there was the Word." He notes the way that ideas, seemingly non-
existent for the course of history until they come into existence,
appear to occur in multiple instances at roughly the same time, and
the way that the use of language is essentially "magic" - even to the
point where it's immersed in our culture, as a "grimoire" (book) is
simply another spelling of "grammar;" and the idea of "casting a
spell" is little more than "spelling" a word. In an amusing (though
depressing) anecdote, he notes that the most active "magicians"
working today are TV commercial writers and producers - they're not
making their magic to help people, but rather to seduce them and make
them buy material things.

Considering how closely this discussion of magic, information, and the
"Ideaverse" ties in with the Immateria of Moore's "Promethea" comic
book series (which he had just begun, along with the other ABC titles,
at the time this documentary was recorded), it's surprising that he
doesn't give a single mention of that series here. However, if you
want an idea of what Moore's conception of the end of the world is
like, read the final issues of "Promethea". According to Moore, the
rate of information produced and gathered by mankind is accelerating
at an exponential rate, and he theorizes (without offering any
specifics) that it is likely to come to a head around the year 2015.
At that time, he says, our society's oversaturation of information
will reach the point where the "fluid" state of human intellect will
boil over and turn into "steam." This matches the Apocalypse that
Moore gives us at the end of ""Promethea"" - the world doesn't end
with a bang, but with a whisper, as a new kind of information,
imagination, knowledge, and "magic" is introduced to place
civilization onto an entirely new level of existence. While it's
certainly unlikely that this transformation will take place on a
literal, physical level (and Moore certainly doesn't suggest this), it
is rather suggested that some apotheosis will come when human
knowledge and information reaches the saturation point. "The Mindscape
of Alan Moore" concludes with this statement by Moore, and he seems
pessimistic as he states this - or maybe it's just the image he
presents, with his shaggy mane of hair and truly British voice.

I can see "The Mindscape of Alan Moore" being screened at pagan
gatherings and festivals like Starwood and Winterstar, because the
audience there will appreciate it far more than comic book or science
fiction conventions. But don't worry, comic book fans - this is a two-
disc set, and the entire second disc contains interviews with artists
who've worked with Moore, including Melinda Gebbie ("Lost Girls"),
David Lloyd ("V for Vendetta"), Dave Gibbons ("Watchmen"), and Jose
Villarrubia ("Promethea"). There's a lot there for you to enjoy, and
even something to appreciate. But this documentary is so arcane and
focused to appeal to a narrow audience, I doubt you'll ever get a
chance to see this unless you're willing to go out and spend $25 on
the two-disc DVD set. If you're a hardcore Alan Moore fan and are
already familiar with his delvings into magic, then you'll find this
to be worth every penny. If you're looking forward to the "Watchmen"
movie just because you want to see Rorschach kicking ass, then you'll
simply fall asleep, spin your head in delirium, or just turn it off.
Then again, there were complaints about "Promethea" as well, from both
fans and publishers, suggesting that it was pushing Moore's
"religious" ideas rather than giving slam-bang superhero battles.
Moore's reply was: "...there are 1000 comic books on the shelves that
don't contain a philosophy lecture and one that does. Isn't there room
for that one?" ("Alan Moore Interviewed by Eddie Campbell," Egomania
#2, December 2002: pp1-32). This documentary made me feel as though I
know one of my favorite authors on a more personal level, and I like
that. Whether or not you believe in magic, that's a good enough reason
to watch this.

--
                        The High Weirdness Project
                          http://www.modemac.com