Where is fiction headed? So many story themes today can be described as dark and depressing and disturbing, Is this what everyone wants to read? I don’t think so. But it does seem to be what many authors write and what wins critical acclaim. Take a look at the best-seller lists. It’s amazing how few books are comedies, or even cheerful.
Yes, life can be grim, with dark moments; we’ve all had more than a few. But it’s also full of joy, success, laughter, happiness and love. What’s wrong with these concepts?
Are these concepts so boring, so unrealistic, so trite that so little can be written about them? Or are a large number of our writers lacking in the ability to make these concepts interesting and meaningful?
Consider the critics and judges—There seems to be a built-in propensity among these folk to praise the dismal and denigrate the cheerful. Do those who write reviews have inborn dark preferences? Depressed personalities?
What’s wrong with feeling good after reading a story—at least some of the time? Or, at least feeling neutral—not depressed, sad, anxious, or fearful.
Yes, I hear the multitude of writers, editors and publishers laughing at me!
In fact, right now some professor of literature is saying to his wife, “How quaint! She doesn’t know that all great literature demands sorrow and pain?”
Think about the stories YOU like to read. Do you actively seek out novels with the following themes?
* A man dying of incurable cancer
I could go on and on, ad nauseum
The world seems steeped in darkness and growing darker. Is it not time to at least try to change attitudes and turn people toward the light. We all know about newspapers and the mantra, “If it bleeds, it leads.” That will never change. But fiction can be our light in the darkness…at least a small light and often.
And let’s convince publishers that beautiful stories with realistic endings (Notice: I didn’t say ‘happy.’) will sell. First, though, as writers, we must write them, and well.
Let’s let stories showing happiness, low, joy, and the rest of the positive emotions be written and show up winning prizes. More people than you know are sick of reading about hate and suicide, and unwanted babies, and drug deaths, and hell, and gore.
Happiness and joy and love, and success are not out of date!
Time to lighten up!
General
Comments are closed.
1 Likes
1218 Views
Share:
Hi Barbara!
The discussion you’ve presented here is quite interesting. I’m currently in the middle of my first literature course (American Lit II) in college, and from what I can tell so far, literary works tend to cycle (despite the name of the period) between peaks of escapism or idealism (feel-good stories, fantasy, etc. – anything to escape the real world) and embracing pain as well as the hardships of reality (a young girl with terminal illiness, loss and rejection, murder, etc.). Of course, most stories are not purely one or the other, and I use the terms “idealism” and “reality” loosely. As you mentioned, joyous stories can still evoke (invoke?) good feelings without being sappy, and darker stories can show pain, loss, current issues, etc. without sending someone spirally into a depressive mood. There’s a balance, but at this point the pendulum swings closer to darker themes. I’ve found the literary works that are “beautiful stories with realistic endings” tend to be those based on or reflecting true events – the real world has the balance of the two naturally. But then again, the debate is: Are the best literary works (or any entertainment) the ones that try and represent reality (which is impossible to do perfectly) or the ones that give people a break and let them escape for a little while?
I love this discussion you’ve opened up, and I’m curious to see what others have to say!
I love this, and I too have noticed the trend of these depressing stories, however I believe that it makes readers feel they are not alone, and they have other peers and fellow writer that have also been in that mental state and gone through something similar to their situation.
As RAR put it, the trend is not a new one, and the pendulum will eventually swing the other way. We’ll see brighter stories in a year or two, I wager.
People are always attracted to the darkness. Everyone loves a good villain, someone you love to hate. Often, villains make the show as we see on Broadway and in the movies, or they are at least, one of the best parts. Think about Disney villains– they usually get really great songs, like “Be Prepared” or “Shiny” or “GASTON!”
Your post actually reminded me of the Harry Potter series, and a theme you see as you read those books is that things get progressively darker. If you look at each WB logo across each film, you’ll notice that the shadow grows ever darker. Going through the books, we see Harry’s emergence from a pretty bad home life (living under the stairs with an aunt and uncle who don’t want him) to a wizarding world where magic is accepted and real. It’s really great fun! Sorting hat! Houses! Friends! Magic lessons! Quidditch! But magic can’t solve all our problems. There will always be evil in the world, a privation of good, and the root of it is pride. As the Dark Lord rises in power, things look bleak for the wizard hero and his friends, but they do something very important: they always keep striving on to do good, they never give up.
I can’t tell you how many people I have talked to who said something to the effect of “Harry Potter saved my life.” Seeing a parallel to fighting a very great evil in the world (literally fighting it sometimes, with magic v. magic) gave them the encouragement to push through whatever trouble they were experiencing be it at home or school or with friends and family. Some young women struggled with eating disorders or other self-harm, but as they read about Harry and co. remaining loyal to one another, to loving one another even when mistakes were made and friendships strained, to overcoming self-doubt and pride and carrying on in the face of unspeakable odds they too found the strength to fight their own demons.
So, sure, there are lots of stories that just seem nonsensically evil and violent and gross. There are other stories that have those elements but at heart have an important message for its readers, and good examples to look to when things get rough. Like Dumbledore says, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”