For most of my life I’ve loved escaping into the movies solely to watch something that really moved my soul and hopefully uplifted me. On some level, I have used films ever since I was a young kid for an anti-depressant of sorts, and it worked, for a long time, until only in recent years where it seems as if movie studios keep pumping out films that are becoming darker and darker and darker, doing the exact opposite of what I hope to get from them.
The most glaring example of this came just over a week ago, prior to the evening of the Academy Awards. I had gone to a local theater to see the five Live Action Shorts that were nominated this year in that category. Each of those are typically around 30 minutes or so, yet still tell an entire story in that brief amount of time. I have watched some pretty amazing submissions over the years in this category, even writing about one of them last year that moved me incredibly. This year though, every single one of them was sad, dark, and depressing.
The first was about a husband who was about to unplug his wife from life support and how he was coping with that. The second was about a young guy in the future who’s wrongly imprisoned and held without trial, in the worst of conditions, all because of our world being run by technology. The third was about a dwarf female who had never been with anyone and just wanted to be loved, who meets a truck driver who she thought liked her, and then ends with him raping her. The fourth was about a South Asian family in the UK who is just living out a happy day together when a far-right, all-white march singles them out and executes the majority of their family. And the final one deals with a woman from the Kyrgyz Republic who just wants to live out her happy dream of going away to school and becoming something more when she’s kidnapped one afternoon and forced into a marriage.
As you can see, none of those sound uplifting and they weren’t, not on any level. Of course, one would argue that film is art and art tells a story no matter how tragic it may be. My argument though is that the reason why superhero films continue to rake in at the box office and why art films like these and others continue to fail is solely because people are looking to be uplifted.
We live in a world now where people are afraid of deadly viruses, the threat of war, violent crimes, blatant racism, police brutality, and so much more. Why would anyone want to go to the theater and watch something right now that’s so bleak and depressing? The theater I was in had only a few others and I could tell we all left in a very morose condition. Personally, I left the theater angry and frustrated that I had spent my evening doing something that only brought me more down than up. Thankfully, I went to the Cold Stone Creamery nearby and treated myself to an ice cream to uplift my inner child, who really needed that at that point.
I’m not sure why film studious continue to think what the world needs right now are films that are far from uplifting. Sadly, television seems to be following in the same trait, with many shows focusing in on all of what’s wrong in our society. And any uplifting show seems to be cancelled after one season.
I’m often told that what we focus on becomes even greater, so if we continue to focus on all the dark and depressing things in this world, especially in our visual entertainment, it’s only going to make our world feel even darker and more depressing, which I’m sure is something none of us want. Film and TV directors keep questioning and putting down the success of superhero films and television shows. What they don’t realize is that it’s the only genre out there right now that’s lifting anyone up.
I sincerely long for films and television shows that get back to what much of the stuff from decades ago did, which was to inspire and uplift, to bring joy and peace, and raise camaraderie. I miss those days of leaving the theater talking to total strangers about how good some film was that we all just clapped to at the end. I miss those days of talking about television shows that did the same, that connected us more than disconnected us.
I fear we are headed in the wrong direction, moving farther and farther away from becoming a brighter society. I hope for our world’s sake, I’m wrong, and the entertainment industry will wake up and start focusing on bringing greater light in than darkness. As until then, I’m probably going to start avoiding watching what’s considered “art” in the movie and television sector, because sadly, it’s no longer a healthy escape for me and most definitely not an anti-depressant of any sort…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
