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Is Our Storytelling Too Dystopian?

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Why are Movies so Dark? America’s video and film narratives are out of whack with the optimism that an individual needs in order to thrive.

There are obviously many cultural forces at work in shaping the movies and television series that capture our attention. But taking a long view, the national nervous system seems overwhelmed with accounts for climate catastrophes, political mean-spiritedness and personal despair brought on by a social structure that still leaves too many behind. Shooter games are a better signifier of what films have become rather than novels about relationships. And then there is an apparent and natural impulse in men and boys to master games of destruction.  Kids with every advantage are probably as enamored with games of domination and death as those who might justifiably use them as a kind of catharsis. Add in media that shows the worst of human behavior accessible on any time of the day, and we can be loaded down with dispair.

My impression is that too much of America’s video and film narratives are out of whack with the optimism that the individual needs in order to thrive. The case for this conclusion is incredibly easy to make. According to the data base, IMDb, the top grossing movies in the U.S. last year are notable for their dark subjects that range from cartoonish to vividly real. There is “Gorr the God Butcher” in Thor, versions of Dr. Strange who “threatens to wipe out millions,” Batman against a “sadistic serial killer,” and even a minion who wants to become “the world’s greatest supervillain.”  Most films with characters like these target young viewers. Their older counterparts are predictably in for even darker fair. Reading the brief summaries of top-grossing films in the U.S. is an exercise in trying to fathom a world gone mad.  Genre movies dominate. Even those produced under the Disney umbrella can be surprisingly grim. Do these films lift the spirits of those who are watching? For example should we have to look to a young actor’s script from 30 years ago to find a scene with real humans displaying pure and unalloyed joy?

A 60s band from Erie Pa. hears the first radio airplay of their only hit. (Writer: Tom Hanks, That Thing You Do!)

Narratives naturally thrive on some sort of conflict or human impasse. To be sure, no one expects the broad viewing public to demand more costume dramas inside old English manor houses.  And the kinds of rom coms that played to the mainstream in the 1960s are unlikely to return. Think of studio products that featured Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Fred Astaire, or Cary Grant. A few films still use their old Hollywood tropes. But most U.S. producers have ceded the idea of pressing for post-modern stories that could usefully explore the backstories of families or institutions, faltering or thriving. There is not enough Richard Linklaters or Wes Andersons able to find backers and willing to risk explorations into the inner lives and dense pluralities within ordinary souls. I suspect that the truth is that the hardest task for a film team is the creation of truly layered characters that can surprise us with their insights.

What seems to be missing in the mix of releases are films represented by master screenwriters like Neil Simon, David Mamet, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Aaron Sorkin, James Brooks, Larry Gelbart, William Goldman, Wes Anderson, Nora Ephron and many others. Their films are usually about the interpersonal dynamics that define their characters: words and non-verbal cues that others in a narrative must answer. Some work on the very human challenges of connecting or disconnecting with the significant others through comedy; others took a hard look at the harsh conversations that individuals must negotiate in lieu of filmic but inhuman action that typically drives a fantasy plot forward.

It is interesting to look at older films that are most frequently revisited. They include obvious choices like Citizen Kane (1941), All About Eve (1950), Casablanca (1942), Some Like it Hot (1959) and Singing in the Rain (1952). Some are dreams of a fertile imagination. But most take us to places without guns or magical powers. Some would be considered “talky” by modern standards. But all also had the virtue of relying on language written into scenes of intense feelings and heightened expression. This is in the realm of our human birthright to engage in discourse. It is what defines us as humans.

There is a curious twist here. The United States is not a routinely unruly society.  Most of its cities and towns are relatively peaceful. But many Americans seem to identify with con artists, crooks, and tax cheats. There are our standard cinematic romances with violence: from Bonnie and Clyde to Mad Max to Indiana Jones. And there is the even more obvious example of a presidential candidate whose obvious criminality is even acknowledged by his supporters. In our day, political chaos seems to be its own reward.

Would it be outrageous to suggest that Martin Scorsese’s most satisfying film is not Taxi Driver (1976), but Hugo (2011)? More than we do, we should want the latter film’s message of hope.

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A Hard Time for Universities

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Younger Americans are easily whipsawed by the changing winds of popular media, giving them less time or energy to navigate their own life course along the landmarks of the culture. 

Add to the list of American institutions in crisis our public and private universities. The pandemic may be over, but growing challenges add to strains on students and staff to live up to the promise of advanced education and research. Student loan debt is an ongoing problem. Luckily, and after years of decline, states are starting to increase their support for higher education. The trick is to make it affordable and accessible to all who want it.

But I am focusing on two other challenges: a changed social environment that produces total distraction, and a public that has soured on colleges in general.  Only about half of Americans have confidence in institutions of higher education. In a brief thumbnail sketch, let me explain, as one who has spent a lot of time in college classrooms.

The delayed adolescence we now accept has crept into the academy. The result is that fewer people attending institutions seem prepared to study or commit to being active learners. Too many still show up on campus to satisfy their parents more than themselves. One effect is more student mental health challenges. Many seem uncertain of what they want from an extended education. Most institutions have expanded on-campus access to professionals to help, focused on providing counseling and related services. Campus administrators especially encourage faculty to be alert to members of their classes that may be in crisis. Though still rare, suicides of students attending universities have dramatically increased. About 11 percent of the general student population report having thought about ending their lives.

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Those who are enrolled typically read less and surf more. There are still plenty of learners who are happy to get lost in a book for hours at a time. But getting most students to read materials in support of classwork is a challenge, even in a “selective” institution. Whatever stigma that might have attached to being unprepared has diminished. In large classes a student can hide in the crowd, but even in small seminars I was impressed if I could get half of my class to focus on an assigned reading. It is obvious that the distractions of the outside world have invaded what was once a more cloistered model of higher education. Many are part time or live at home, with many other competing responsibilities. And social media absorb more of a student’s day, leaving less time or energy to become immersed in a single source for an extended period of time. This point has been made many times here and elsewhere. Indeed, chronic distraction now disables most of us. But it is nothing less than a disaster for the human species to succumb to media that baits us into endless rounds of trivial pursuit.

Active Listening in the Classroom Heather Syrett.

Narrow-minded vocationalism is gutting schools of what were once rich offerings in the arts and humanities. Courses and programs focused on ethics, the fine art, music, language, and history have lost ground. Parents are partly to blame, concerned that studying art history, music theory or non-fiction writing is a waste of time. They have misguided metrics of short-term results after graduation to argue that their charges should get a degree in accounting rather than American history. And fewer have any sense of what it means to get a “liberal education:” a phrase that means nothing less than the education of a free person. The result is that younger Americans are easily whipsawed by the changing winds of popular media, but unable to set their own life course through the landmarks of the culture. It is a loss for American civilization if important canons of film, music or literature are alien to students. This is happening at the very moment in their growth when they should be fired by the possibilities of intriguing cognitive challenges.

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Tenure is under siege in favor of low wage faculty course contracts. Traditionally, tenure is a guarantee of freedom to those teachers and writers at the forefront of their fields. The promise of minimal interference from their home institutions guarantees that a state’s or institution’s  ideological motives will not silence the professorate. This guarantee may seem insignificant to non-academics. But they would be wrong. When an institution undermines tenure, it also shifts the power to create new knowledge from the subject-matter experts –the faculty–to campus administrators or trustees who are usually out of touch with what is going on in a specific discipline. It made a positive difference in my 40+ years under its umbrella. To cite a familiar example, a parent or dean may not like idea of Critical Race Theory, but it’s important that a dedicated student be able to hear its impressive causality arguments.

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