Ummm Actually Judd was a bad guy. Full stop.

Published December 11, 2019 · Updated July 6, 2022

Yo gents, big fan of the pod. I’ve been listening since Game of thrones and I was very excited to see that you were doing a podcast for Watchmen. Your insight has been extremely helpful and has totally enhanced my viewing experience of an already spectacular show. I have a tremendous amount of respect for your work and think you cat’s are just about the smartest guys out there regarding all things Watchmen. That being said I do have have a particularly poignant “Umm actually” I need to call out. I honestly have to say that as an African American man hearing you guys debate whether or not Jud was a “bad guy” or not makes me cringe. Jud was a bad guy. Full stop.

Now I am NOT accusing you guys of being a racist sympathizer or anything like that. You all have prove to be extremely thoughtful empathetic and generally on the right side of history when it comes to these types of things. And you haven’t shied away from the difficult subject matters when it comes to the issue race that this show poses. I would imagine that this is more to do with our own American tendency to not fully realize the gravity of our own history and how it impacts and influences everything around us. Not to mention Don Johnson did a stellar job in this show. Arguably one of his best performances in decades. Compounded by the fact that you guys both fully admit to being a fan and dressing up like him as a kid. I get it. I loved him too. But this is almost a direct metaphor for how we treat acts of racism, sexism and homophobia that our relatives or ancestors carried out. We sometimes try to make excuses, or downplay it, or shy away from the true horrors of the reality of the situation. Nobody wants to think that they’re grandfather, uncle or aunt was a monster. But when the light is shown on the facts, like a spotlight on a KKK costume in a closet, you can’t turn away or make excuses for it.

Jud says that that KKK uniform is apart of his “heritage”. An expression i’ve heard used for the confederate flag debate. But Heritage is not a good or bad thing, it’s just a different word for history. And sometimes History is Bad. I have a heritage of murderers, gang bangers, rapist, homophobes and monsters in my family tree. It doesn’t mean that i should create shrines to them. You guys have also speculated about whether or not his wife was the real “bad guy” and Jud was just a patsy. But how would Jud Not know that there was a KKK shrine in his personal closet? If she was the master mind wouldn’t it be in her closet? Is it possible that Jud DIDN’T know there was a trap door underneath his couch? in addition to that Senator Keene implicate’s Jud directly not his wife. Also the KKK uniform wasn’t just in a cardboard box collecting dust in the attic, it was on display almost like a religious shrine in his personal space.

My question is, would we still be having this conversation if that was a Nazi uniform not a KKK uniform in Jud’s closet? The German people have come to grips with their own national shame and have put it in the proper context. We as Americans have often have a harder time doing this. And if you don’t think that the KKK was as bad as the Nazi, then you don’t really have a full understanding of history. The only reason why the KKK wasn’t able to enact as much carnage as the Nazi’s was because they were an underground group, not world power. Do we really think that if the KKK had the power of the third Reich or a charismatic leader like Hitler that they wouldn’t find a way to expel or subdue those groups that they didn’t like?

At the end of the day I think it’s important for you guys to realize this reality Jud was in fact a bad guy, not because it’s just a more accurate character description, but because we need to take the hard looks at our history in what ever form it comes. You’re already doing this so well in this podcast, but it’d be good if you looked past your love for the Don and realize what his character truly was, a very bad guy.

Thanks for letting me rant. Still a super fan of the show. Can’t wait for your take on the Final Episode!

Raymond from Atlanta

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