I have "darkness" fatigue...

     

    When I mention the genre of "drama" with regards to television shows, what are some of the newest that come to your mind? Perhaps you think of something like The Boys, or Euphoria. Perhaps Your Friends and Neighbors is up next on your watchlist, or any one of the hundred shows that Taylor Sheridan spins up each year (Yellowstone, Tulsa King, Marshals, Dutton Ranch, Landman, etc...). Maybe you think back to the latest "water-cooler" show, whether it be Severance or Succession or Game of Thrones (again, not to mention the many spin-offs there too).

    The common thread amongst most if not all of these top dramas is that their main characters are anti-heroes. In some cases, the main characters are even villains. You are expected to root for a show's protagonist, and sympathize with them to some extent, because if a show's main characters are completely deplorable with no redeeming qualities, why are you interested in spending time with them? Characters of that level of depravity would be treated purely with disgust, but an anti-hero that is emotionally intriguing and sketched out with enough sympathetic qualities can be a compelling cornerstone of a show. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, shows like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and Mad Men practically wrote the book on creating interesting anti-heroes. Their main characters were flawed, at times objectively villainous, but sympathetic in the fact that they were family men, and at times tried to do the right thing. These shows, however, did an excellent job portraying the emptiness that the sins of their protagonists brought about. The men at the center of these shows were unhappy, frustrated, always chasing shadows and never reaching the fulfillment that they sought in things like drink, sex, power, and fame.

    To watch expertly scripted anti-hero dramas is to understand that it wouldn't make sense to hang glamorized portraits of these men on your wall. They are unenviable in the end. They are "crime doesn't pay" stories, and they are, purely, cautionary. They are compelling because the underworlds they present have some allure, and there is some goodness inside these deeply flawed individuals, yet the cycle of violence and evil that is often perpetuated by villains in movies is, to some extent, brought about by these very same protagonists that we are rooting for. And, if the evil is presented as such, Truth is being communicated and the art can be uplifting in the same way the reading Dante's Inferno is. That is to say, a well executed anti-hero story makes you sympathize with the parts of you that are within this protagonist, but also shows you how NOT to act, and does so with crystal clarity.

    Looking at the current landscape of shows, I cannot see this same moral clarity on display, and rather feel that the anti-hero (or even, villains) is being misused by today's screenwriters as something to cheer for at all times. I have mentioned in prior blogs the Catholic transcendentals of claritas, consanatia, and integritas (sometimes translated as "clarity, brilliance, integrity"). Essentially these artistic metrics communicate that a piece of art should be clear and truthful, poignant and radiant. Evil must be treated as such, and goodness must be portrayed as such. To blur these lines, in effect, makes the art incoherent, or even irresponsible.

    A perfect example of the cloudy moral lines on display in the modern shows mentioned can be seen in their merchandising. For most of the Taylor Sheridan shows, the extremely flawed main characters are shown in t-shirts and posters looking very powerful, put-together, and stoic. Yet these characters are often erratic psychopaths who act similarly to villains. Perhaps honest posters of them would show them wreaking devastation, coming home in fits of rage, or gazing mournfully into the distance.

    But we know this is never the case. In trailers and thumbnails, these anti-heroes are almost always glorified. I am reminded of something a police friend of mine mentioned. He works in an extremely dangerous territory, often undercover, and busts violent criminals often involved in drug trafficking. He mentioned, "One thing many of these criminals have in common... Tony Montana posters". He explained that the Scarface main character was framed sitting behind his mountain of cocaine, alone in his giant office and adorned with gold chains and a beautiful navy suit. Of course, to frame this image would be to miss the obvious context of this scene: Tony is stoned out of his mind, with a sister that hates him, gunmen right outside his door, and a miserable existence despite having all riches imaginable. His death comes immediately after the image the criminals were framing- and it is a violent and shameful end.

    The current landscape I am noticing is one that pursues darkness for darkness' sake. Almost every drama conjured up these days aims to be maximally dark and maximally brooding. And increasingly it seems, the darkness of the main characters is embraced, rather than placed as part of a cautionary tale. Wouldn't an honest poster of Tony Soprano be one that shows him crying to his psychiatrist, or cursing at a member of his family? Wouldn't an honest poster of Don Draper be one that shows him drinking his sorrows away alone? Of course- but because violence and sex sells, the way that many streaming services want to sell the average anti-hero is in a morally hazy light, one that highlights their negative qualities and endeavors instead as excitement and prestige. This is confusing. This is bad art. This is morally irresponsible.

    Good art does not confuse its viewer, but rather brings life into clearer focus (unless of course, the viewer is intensely distracted or not mature enough to interpret the subject matter). It is clear that anti-hero stories are the most popular types in the drama genre currently, and as they become increasingly more fashionable, they are more often created by writers who lack the skill to properly handle the thorny themes and moral quandaries. Any glance through a streaming app, literally any of them, at this moment will illuminate one undeniable fact: darkness is selling, and perhaps unlike ever before.

    My proposed prescription for this is not to eliminate complex characters, violence etc. from new stories. I understand that shows and movies are meant to be escapes from the doldrums of the every day- it makes sense that we want to see action, we want to see foes be battled by heroes, or at least characters with some heroic qualities. As much as I love Frank Capra movies, I understand that not every story can have the same tenor as his movies. And I despise overly preachy corniness just as much as the next fella. However, can we not have some new original stories that glorify goodness with consistency, and denounce badness in the same way, while remaining interesting? Can we have some new heroes to root for, rather than just re-treads of Batman and Spiderman and Luke Skywalker and Sherlock Holmes?

    It is exhausting to scroll for new material and find almost exclusively dark dramas. I am no puritan either- it is just that this is almost all there is for consumption these days. At some point, one tires of only letting deadbeats, violent sociopaths, and deviants into his/her living room. It's bad for the soul. We need some morally clear screenwriting, and some beauty to return to the screen. There can be no doubt about the moral rot that is brought about in a society when villains are cheered on. Expect people to more easily defend criminals, bad rulers, bullies, vigilantes, and violent revolutionaries. One glance on social media can show you that this is already happening. Will the real heroes please stand up?

-Michael Momper