Why do people want dark movies ?

People want dark movies in order to parallel the real world typically but the issue is trying to find that right balance between fantasy and reality.

 

Because of Nolan.

 

Actually it's started with Kubrick in Space Oddysey and then cemented with Keaton in '89...Nolan just built on it and within our society...well, we defined it back then
.

 

hardly. Nolan's movies are "dark" but only because Gotham is rotten. really, they are full of hope, actually.
Nolan has made some dark films, but they are ultimately about the good things in the human condition.

look at the recent BvS garbage. that's dark gloomy depressing bleh.
blame it on directors like tarantino and snyder ~ the nihilists. : o p

 

My friends say they like it because it's more realistic (to them). But I usually watch movies to escape from reality...sooo...even if we agreed on what reality really is, I still wouldn't watch them.

And I scare too easily.

 

Good question.
I think for three reasons.
1, Because of Nolan's Dark Knight. For some inexplicable reason ever since TDK people think dark automatically means better, just because TDK was good. Although people seem to overlook the fact that TDK was good because it was a well written, well directed, well acted movie, and not because it was dark.

2, Some people think dark means more realistic, which is not necessarily true in many cases. Lots of movies use dark themes for overdramatisation only (for example BvS was so over the top with the crazy filters and tried way too hard to have a dark/sad tone).

3, Some people (mostly edgy teenagers) think a lighter tone means a childish movie. Which is some major bullcrap.

To me a movie dosent necessarily have to be dark and realistic to be good. The dark tone should only be used where it is necessarily by the storytelling perspective and not because dark movies are ,,in" nowadays. The original Star Wars is the prefect example. One of the greatest movies ever made, which balanced perfectly the darker themes and the lighter ones. It was a happyend and made people happy when leaving the theatre.

 

I don't think this is a new phenomenon, dark movies have been around since cinema started. Take Nosferatu in the 20s, and all the film noir of '40s and 50's for example.

People have always had a fascination for the darker undercurrants of the human psyche and human existence, since humans have been humans.

The only thing that's changed is that there are many more tools available to portray the stories in increasingly more sophisticated ways. That, and the stories and they ways in which they are told have evolved to reflect current social norms and perceptions, in addition to tapping into modern fears.

People always want to understand themselves and darkness more, and such films are a way to do this. That said, people also need the lighthearted, joyful film counterpoints to lift them up from the heaviness that is the darkness in literature and life. All such movies have their place and serve a purpose.

 

While all of the above are pretty much valid,in the end it comes down to how much fun or thrill you get when watching a certain type of movie.
So,simply,many people have a taste for dark/light movies without overthinking or getting philosophical about it.

 

Agreed, people seem to forget just how much hope for the triumph of the human will that we see in Nolan's Batman trilogy. The darkness in those films serves the purpose of giving the heroes seemingly insurmountable odds to be tested by and to ultimately triumph over. When the heroes do eventually prevail, their victory is that much sweeter for the audience. In that sense, the initial darkness serves to contrast the eventual brightness of the victory.

When darkness is used in that sense, it generally strengthens the impact of a story. Sadly, we also have directors like Hack Snyder who just like grim/dark crap for the sake of it being grim/dark. Attitudes like that lead to optimistic characters who work better in lighter stories(or at least keep a positive attitude in darker stories) being forced into molds that don't fit them. This often arises from the erroneous belief that darkness equals maturity, a viewpoint that, as @General_Tarkin pointed out already, is generally espoused by immature/edgy viewers.

Simply put, dark stories can be good and light stories can be good. The reason for their quality always rests with the strength of their story though, not what kind of tone they have.

As for the assertion that we get enough darkness in the news, dark movies with a triumphant outcome can actually be quite cathartic in that respect, as they show characters going through things just as dark(if not darker) than what we face in real life, and emerging triumphant on the other side.

 

I love dark films but as long as there is balance....that's all that matters

 

Dark movies add so much weight to the content. It's not right for every story, but if the story is supposed to be serious and gritty then making it dark can aid that goal.

 

Sith: Stonehenge

I've been thinking a lot about this question, lately. I like writing horror-comics fan-fiction, combining characters from multiple genres (e.g., Batman v Leatherface), and one thing I noticed about writing and receiving comments on these stories is that Americans like suspense and feeling like they're smart enough to anticipate the worst, which is why there are star-studded American films such as Cliffhanger, Doubt, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Ninth Gate (films about mystery, shock, surprise, and/or anticipating strangeness).

If you think about the Star Wars saga, it's really America's version of the Illiad (Homer's war-epic from Ancient Greece).

Star Wars focuses on the experience of a provocative Jedi knight named Anakin Skywalker whose forays into darkness lead him to the possibility of unbelievable heroism. All around him is the threat of the dark side of the force --- the Sith. Anakin even becomes the Sith lord Darth Vader before being challenged in values by his valiant Jedi son Luke Skywalker.

Americans love Star Wars, and Star Wars is about overcoming darkness. At the end of the events of the Return of the Jedi, Darth Sidious is destroyed and the Sith are scattered, but we follow the events of the future (e.g., The Force Awakens) in which the children of Luke and Han and others of the new generation (e.g., Rey, Kylo-Ren, etc.) are involved in the inspection of a lingering Sith presence defying the democratic dreams of the restored (and redeemed) Jedi.

So if you think about how much Americans are fascinated by the Sith as a philosophical entertainment podium, you realize that film audiences crave stories about danger, and danger is always lurking in the shadows of darkness...

The Sith is like America's rendition of Stonehenge. Americans make the best films, and maybe there's something about the medium of cinema that is conducive to the discussion of 'darkness as experience.'

 

I love dark movies, seeing that experience play out is interesting.

 

Have to agree with this. I don't like movies that are SUPER dark or have sad endings... and that's one of the explanations I always give. "If I wanted to be depressed, I'd turn on the news!"

 

That's a bold statement. A whole bunch of my favourite films do not originate in America.

 

Definitely agree with this. Depends on what you like, I guess?

Also, I feel like I'm just following you around at this point.