system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Watchmen] What is the public perception of the heroes throughout Watchmen?

I must post a disclaimer here saying I haven't had a chance to read the graphic novel so there may well be clearer answers there I missed in the film.

In Watchmen the heroes are shown to not be the pinnacle of humanity and do a heck of a lot of shitty things but given the period when the film takes place I didn't get a great idea of how people perceived them. I believe Nite Owl I said that superheroes were a national passtime in the 40's and Silk Spectre I's status as a sex icon and Ozymandias' merchandising empire suggests they managed to keep their reputations but Comedian was a part of a lot of sketchy political acts, assassinations, excessive force and behind closed doors he was even a rapist and cold blooded killer, so what was his image in the public eye? Likewise what about someone like Rorschach who even his friends seem to think is kinda nuts?
gpt
Really poor. Most people don't trust the idea of a crazy person in a mask running around.

Because masked heroes became a thing they fell out of vogue in comic books; Pirates are what's popular now. 

Masked Vigilant's became a hot button issue after people like Rorschach ended up using extreme methods to 'fight crime'. This came to a head in 1977 when The Keene Act was passed, banning all Masked Vigilantism except for The Comedian and Dr Manhattan.