The other day, I was reading a synopsis of a book. The book was very demented and wasn’t something I would ever want to read. It had some interesting themes and questions, but they are also explored in other stories such as “Robin Hood,” which is safe for families but explores its questions and themes as deeply as this dark, disturbing story does.
The synopsis got me thinking a lot about stories that people enjoy. I have a lot of friends that enjoy true crime shows, and I don’t see the appeal. They sound like anxiety-inducing nonsense that doesn’t have a point to it.
There are also plenty of very dark films and books that don’t have a reason for it. There are a lot of demented, twisted stories that are only dark to be edgy, even if that tone doesn’t add to the story in any meaningful way.
Tone
To understand what I am talking about, I must first clarify what tone is. Tone is the way the author approaches a topic. It can mean the words the author uses, how those words are presented or the mood they convey. For this article, I will discuss the moods that authors use for their stories.
Authors can use different tones for a variety of uses. They can use an uplifting tone to inspire audiences and give them hope. They can use a comedic tone for pure joy and entertainment. Authors use dark tones to show a character struggling with their problems, making them seem even stronger or braver than they would seem without the dark tone.
Tone should be used to aid the story the author or filmmaker is trying to tell. Unfortunately, there are a lot of storytellers who use many different tones in their projects, which makes their stories feel like weak mashes of different moods. If you try to please everyone, you please no one. However, tone is a very helpful storytelling tool that can be utilized to significant effect, sometimes making the tone of a story the most memorable part.
A Dark World
We live in a fallen world. There’s no doubt about that. We have many problems, and many dark things happen in real life. However, there isn’t a need to depict the most perverse parts of our world in fiction. Fiction is supposed to be entertaining, and I do not find looking into the eyes of the worst of humanity entertaining. I find it sad and void of hope. There isn’t anything entertaining about that. However, many stories about horrible, terrifying things exist that people do even when it doesn’t serve the story.
I’m not saying dark stories are all bad. Most of my favorite movies and books all have darker tones. “Ender’s Game” ends with a kid getting tricked into committing xenocide. “The Invisible Man” is about someone who begins to go insane and uses his newfound power to murder and take what he wants. These stories are amazing. I love them, and they are very dark. But they aren’t dark because they’re perverted and gruesome. They use darkness to create exciting characters and to push them to their limits. They are dark to make a point, not dark to be edgy and cool.
Outro
I’ve never understood why people enjoy the gruesome, disgusting darkness with things like psychos finding the most gruesome ways to torture their victims. It isn’t fun to watch, and the brutality of it doesn’t add anything interesting to the stories. It’s simply there to be gruesome. There is no other point to it.
If you write a dark story, don’t make it dark to be cool. Make it dark to challenge your characters to their absolute limits. Don’t hold back. Make it as challenging for them as possible for them to reach their goal. That is the only kind of dark that there should be in stories. No perverted murders. No psychotic, demented death traps. Simply great characters at their lowest points.
Thanks for reading! Have a great day.
(Side note: I don’t think the Joker is a dark character to be dark. I think he serves the story of “The Dark Knight” perfectly. He’s just a dark character that I could use for the photo for this blog to get my point across.)