This has been puzzling me for years and I never could find an answer.
Today we live in uncertain times, we have all this stuff going on in the world with terrorism, mass shootings, extremism, economic weirdness, etc.
Now, this is bound to make folks bummed.
Now, one would assume that in times as these, people would seek out happy, optimistic, joyful entertainment, stories of good triumphing over evil & good ol' fashioned escapism, right?
No! Instead, shows that are grim are what become big. You have shows that are one big bummer after the other. They may be movies like No Country For Old Men or TV shows like The Walking Dead.
It was the same way in the 70's. When that feeling of bummtitude was big, people didn't suddenly clamor for happy movies, they wanted gritty nihilism, hopelessness & cynicism. I don't doubt that some great movies came out of this era but still.....
The question I'm asking is: When times are good, people watch positive, hopeful movies, ones that say "We can overcome". When times are bad, we like stuff that says "Everything sucks and we are crap".
Wouldn't the opposite make more sense? Does seeing all that celluloid hopelessness actually make real-life people happy & optimistic? Does seeing a movie about a dystopia that just gets worse and end tragically actually cheer people up? Why watch something that only reenforces the feeling of pure "suck" that one's feeling?
When the room is dark and you hate the darkness, you turn on the light switch, you don't close the blinds!
Sure, some may say that the dark nihilistic shows have shades of grey & great story telling but personally, you can still have darkness, grit & antiheroes and still have a tale with some triumph and a fortunate ending or a bit of hope.
I never understood it. I don't get it. It makes no sense to me.
When I'm sad & uncertain, I watch something happy and fun. I listen to fun music that makes my spirit soar.
What's the psychology? Why do people like stories that are super-grim in grim times when more hopeful stories would make better sense as fun, entertainment and escapism?
Is it about resignation? Is it about "facing one's demons"? Preparing for the worst? Seeing characters worse off than you? Misanthropy?
Maybe it's simply the superficial stuff like seeing morbid thrills like zombies & general edginess?
I don't get it.
Can anyone give me some theories.
Now, if you like these grimdark shows, that's fine. Nothing against that. In fact, you might even give me some insight "straight from the horses mouth".