Watchmen has been one of the great winners of the 2020 Emmy Awards, held on Sunday, September 20. The series won the award for best miniseries, becoming the first adaptation of a comic in history to win one of the main awards.
The HBO production broke the record for nominations with a total of 26 nominations. The series ultimately won 11 awards, including best actress in a miniseries for Regina King; Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Best Screenplay in a Miniseries for Cord Jefferson and Damon Lindelof.
The success of Watchmen comes in the middle of a wave of protests against racist police violence in the United States, demonstrations channeled through the Black Lives Matter movement, which has been present for months in various spheres beyond politics, as well as sports and, how no, the culture. The series begins by portraying the Tulsa racial massacre, a real event that took place in 1921 and that establishes a parallel between fiction and current affairs.
“The story is a mystery, it is divided into a million puzzle pieces and many of them are missing. We know where those pieces are, but we do not look for them because we know that finding them hurts,” Lindelof said. “Sometimes we cause that pain, maybe we even benefit, but we have to name it before we can fix it,” he said.
“We dedicate this award to the victims and survivors of the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. The fires that destroyed Black Wall Street are still burning today, the only way to put them out is if we all fight them together,” said the screenwriter, who wore a T-shirt that it read “Remember Tulsa 1921” (Remember Tulsa 1921).
Regina King also gave a vindictive speech after winning his award. “You have to vote. It would be a mistake not to mention that being part of such a prophetic series as Watchmen,” said the actress. “Be a good human being. Rest in peace, Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” she said, referring to the recent death of the American judge.
Like Lindelof, the interpreter also wore a T-shirt with a message. In her case she wore a garment
