Why this fascination for depressing stories lately?

[kentauros]

The two that come first to mind are "The Hunger Games" and "The Road". I haven't read either, but by the sound of it from those that have, they are supremely depressing. I don't read stories to get depressed, no matter how engaging the story. I can do that quite handily on my own, thank you very much

As I recall, I never finished reading 1984 for this very same reason. All this hopeless, dystopian future isn't all that engaging to me. If anything, it turns me off faster than a Quentin Tarantino film. I have nothing against some post-apocalyptic society. But if there's no hope to look forward to, what's the point in continuing to read it (or go see the movies)?

For example, one of my favorites is Ghost in the Shell. It's kind of inferred that there was a third World War, and the Americans came out on top. They became an empire, which does seem plausible with the way we run our own affairs. Things are in disarray, but they're getting better, too. The world recovered or is in the process of recovering. The technology is advanced and helping in that recovery. There's plenty to look forward to in that world, despite its problems. And, best of all, it's not depressing!

So, why are these kinds of stories so popular now? What are people missing in their lives that makes them "hunger" for depressing stories?

[magical thyme]

1. beats me.

I'm not interested in either of them. My understanding of Hunger Games is that it is based on books written for teens. I think The Road maybe was written as a warning about the path we're on.

I'm not interested in horror movies or books either. More than enough irl, why go looking for more?

[LWolf]

3. The books were written for teens.

In addition to the other elements, there is an important internal conflict developed.

What are we willing to become in order to survive, and is it worth it if we lose our selves along the way?

That's a weighty thing for young people to contemplate.

I don't know anything about The Road. I teach middle school, though, so I AM fairly current on stuff being written for teens. There's a bunch of tasteless, vapid, shallow junk out there. I'm always looking for material that will engage my students in meaningful thinking.

[magical thyme]

13. aaah, thank you. I knew Hunger Games was a series written for teens

and that was literally all I knew about it.

Now it sounds very interesting and very worthwhile for them to read and contemplate!

All I remember about The Road is it was written by a famous intellectual writer (I forget who) who had lived a writer's life, without a regular job, hanging out with other intellectual-types, etc. for a long time. Then became a father and for the first time felt the kind of parental love that drives you to work and do in order to care for and protect someone else. So he wrote The Road as a means to support his son, and it is about a father and son and survival in the aftermath of a major (nuclear?) apocalypse.

I saw an interview with the author on tv when it first came out, which is the only reason I've even heard of it.

[Howler]

19. YES There Is!!!!

"
." There's a bunch of tasteless, vapid, shallow junk out there. I'm always looking for material that will engage my students in meaningful thinking."

The "Twilight" series for one!!!!! Sheesh!!! There are so many Excellent writters out there in this genra and this "Vapid" series shoots straight to the top! ARGGGGGGGGGG! LOL!!!!

[LWolf]

25. The twilight series

is the perfect example.

Recently, some of my girls have become obsessed with "pretty little liars" books.

[Howler]

26. ARRRRRGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!

And the tragedy is there is so much better literature out there in this Genre that is Empowering,Entertaining, and Insightful!!!! But...... Some parents however...Well.... You know LWolf! You know!.

[LWolf]

2. We see our own reality

being played out. That's all a fictional dystopia really is; an exaggeration of the dysfunctions in our own societies.

It explores the constant yearning we have for, if not utopia, a healthy, fair, just world.

[kentauros]

4. Yeah, I don't really get that.

I understand that it's an exaggeration, but I don't understand your explanation. It doesn't really tell me why a depressing story would be at all interesting if what you really want is something happier. There are plenty of stories with happier or neutral outcomes, and those are often quite popular, too.

If I had to analyze it, I'd say far too many people are masochists. Either that, or people simply don't "lose" themselves in stories anymore. That's how I read anything, fiction or not. I'm there. I'm in that world. Why would I purposely read something that puts me in a world I really don't want to experience?

[LWolf]

17. I think that,

when you have been slogging along through a gray, troubled world, and you see the people in that world around you accepting it, acting as if it were normal, as if it were GOOD, and RIGHT, and you feel isolated and cut off, and you wonder if you should just close all your senses and join them, and maybe feel lighter if you pretended it was all good...

when you read something that indicates that you are not alone, not the only one who sees the world that you see, it actually lifts you up. You're no longer cut off. There are others you can reach out to. And...it shines a light on the world that others seem so blind to. The part of me that believes people have to wake up and acknowledge the ill health in order to address it, WANTS that light to shine on the rot.

That's just me, speaking from the places that I've been, and my own reaction to those kinds of stories.

I've been left cold by other books that people have raved about...probably because I didn't relate. It didn't touch me where I live. That doesn't mean that those weren't valuable for others, reaching out to them through the place they are, or a place they have been.

I also love to read uplifting, positive stories, where might doesn't make right, where good wins out over evil, where people grow into happy endings.

I think they both have their place.

[yellerpup]

5. Whenever I read dystopian

I go into a coma. I can't tell you what is appealing about them.

[MorningGlow]

6. I have my theories

I believe that people are choosing to experience our alternate, postapocalyptic reality--kind of like picking at a scab. You know you're going to bleed, but you just can't leave it alone.

I used to be obsessed with postapocalyptic fiction--books, movies, you name it. I HAD to read/see each and every one, from the Mad Max movies to The Handmaid's Tale. (Ironically, the only one I never saw was The Day After. Not sure why.) The genre gave me nightmares, but I absorbed it all anyway. I grew up during the nuclear threat, and maybe that was part of it, because for years I simply expected to die in a nuclear blast. I'd spend serious amounts of time deliberating what was the better option--dying instantly, or surviving.

Anyway, once I got far enough along in my spiritual studies to realize that I was helping to manifest the very future I feared, I quit the genre cold turkey, and I felt much better. Didn't miss it in the least, either.

However, I couldn't resist reading The Road--and I wish I had. OMG I was depressed for weeks. Of course, the bit with the little boy didn't help this mommy in the least. It was a very well written book, I will acknowledge, but damn. Needless to say I avoided the movie like the plague.

Now, out of curiosity, I'm reading the Hunger Games trilogy, and I'm examining my reactions objectively as I read. I noticed I tend to empathically absorb the paranoia infused in the books, which is dangerous, so I have to raise my shields before I read and "brush myself off" after I finish. But I'm very happy to report that there is a lot of optimism and hope in the story. I consider it the next generation of postapocalyptic fiction, because it's not the disaster part, and it's not the despair part. It's the fighting back part.

So maybe we'll eventually collectively outgrow the penchant for disaster porn. I hope so.

[kentauros]

7. Your mention of "disaster porn" reminds me

that there are many members of DU that are "master disasterbaters!" Their is no disaster they read or see that isn't almost literally a sign of "the end times". When the reality of this forum is enough to depress one, why even bother with fictionalized accounts?

I did make this thread partly to get your opinion on this, as I know you had read "The Road" and liked it, though you had also said how much it had depressed you. I've seen the listings for the movie, but never stopped on it. There are some dystopian or post-apocalyptic movies I will watch, usually directed by Luc Besson ("Delicatessen", "City of Lost Children&quot but those are really enjoyable movies and often quite funny. You don't have the expectation that there's anything even remotely possible in attaining such a future, so it's easy to detach.

Now, even with your better description of what The Hunger Games are about, I still don't find myself with a desire to either read the books or see the movies. I guess, as people have pointed out, it's written for a younger audience, so I'm probably not going to be attracted to the things that they are. Most violence, even the "fight for survival" kind, pretty well turns me off, too. It's fine if the violence isn't the main focus of the story, as would be the case in, say, "The Professional". That's more of a story about a friendship, than the fact that Leon's a "cleaner". What he does for a living doesn't really show up until much later in the movie. What I can surmise about "Hunger Games" though is that the violence will be a major part of the story, what with all that "fight for survival" and that "there can be only one" outcome.

I'm sure the movie will make hundreds of millions, and make a multi-millionaire out of the author, but I won't be adding to that wealth. I have a friend that has been trying to talk me into seeing it, and I'm just going to have to tell him to go see it with someone else. I won't be participating in the mass-experience

[MorningGlow]

9. I know what you mean about The Hunger Games

Usually I do NOT like YA, especially dystopian stuff, and I give it a wide berth. But I did want to see what all the fuss was about, and I'm glad I started reading them (I finished the first book and have just started on the second).

You know how harsh a critic I am about "bandwagon" popular fiction and I couldn't run far enough from the Twilight series, but I will admit that these are very well done. They're well written*, with good pacing, good "world building", and believable characters. I didn't feel it was "for kids" at all.

Best of all, the social commentary/thinly veiled critique of current times is exceptional (the few rich people in the Capitol, the many poor in the Districts; the unhealthy bread-and-circuses obsession with reality shows--hell, it even gets its digs in about dating shows like The Bachelor! )

Honestly, I would recommend The Hunger Games. And I don't say that lightly!

*with the exception of a whoopsie in the first book--they used "vice" when they meant "vise"--that's a HUGE pet peeve of mine--but I blame the editors for that!

[BlueIris]

16. The movie of The Road is *awful.*

Not even Viggo could save that thing.

I'm psyching myself up to see The Hunger Games this weekend. I like Jennifer Lawrence and have been interested in this concept since I first heard about it.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

8. I don't watch horror or violent movies either.

I thought The Dark Knight was the most pointless, violent and depressing waste of film I had ever seen. No human relationships, the two women were killed off fairly quickly, and Heath Ledger plays a meticulously violent guy. I've got absolutely no reason to see that.

Actually, I showed up to see the second x-files movie, and the shithole town theater decided to cancel the showing before we showed up, so that's how we ended up seeing that POS Dark Knight. The only shred of human dignity in it was Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, the butlers.

My daughter made me watch some Tarantino stuff. Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. I got nothing out of them. She also made me watch Dude Where's My Car? becaue "Ashton Kutcher is hot and takes his shirt off". I also watched "Beavis and Butthead Do America." I got lots more out of those two than I got out of Tarantino films, which was zero.

I don't listen to rap or hip hop or crappy pop music or stuff with too much screaming and distortion guitar.

Neither do I listen to any country music. It's whiny and negative, about drinking and cheating and such. They all sing like they have clothespins on their noses.
There are two country singers I like, and they don't whine--Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.

I much prefer classical, opera, jazz and old rock'n'roll (60s and 70s).

I don't watch hate and anger-feeding stuff like Fox News. They lie and distort and fearmonger. Ever noticed the diff in Democratic politicians and Republicans?
Republicans call Democrats horrible names. Bill and Hillary refuse to stoop to the level of mudslinging. So do the Obamas. So does Al Franken "Amtrak Baggage Handler #1" in the SNL film "Trading Places"!!

[get the red out]

24. This!!!!!

I am so much like you in this, Manifestor! I don't do the misery, and I especially don't do it if everyone else is doing it.

I was once criticized by someone for not dutifully showing up for misery "entertainment"; she said that I was "limiting myself". Sorry, the last time I read a depressing work of touted fiction I ruined my entire vacation and couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks. I have no need to do that to myself, and if I am limiting myself to not purposefully engaging my already depressive tendencies, I can live with that.

I become haunted way to easily by this sort of thing. I need more light than some people to live and be whole. It's just how I roll. Now if I read when I'm off work I get something like a David Sedaris book and laugh until my belly is sore. Making myself a wreck on purpose isn't going to change on thing in this world.

[OneGrassRoot]

10. I haven't read "The Hunger Games" yet...

but I hope to soon (or at least see the movie).

I agree with Jayne and LWolf's assessment about that title, that there are empowering messages embedded in the story. Hopefully the trilogy will wrap up in a very positive, uplifting way somehow.

Now that I think about it, I'm a big fan of "The Walking Dead." I've never been into zombies or apocalyptic stories, but that series is very well done, and it explores so many aspects of the human psyche and interpersonal relationships and really makes the viewer think.

I suppose I watch with the hope that something incredibly positive is going to take place (of course, that won't happen until the end of the series, most likely), something that gives us hope.

That's what I'm seeking: hope. If the most dire of stories would end with a positive scenario, even one which doesn't seem realistic to us at the moment, I would love it.

I've been saying of late that a new genre needs to be birthed. A hope genre. lol

[MorningGlow]

11. Ooh, I can't do zombies

They've always freaked me out too much. Even the fairly "normal" ones in the movie The Omega Man. Or maybe I saw that movie when I was too young--they TERRIFIED me. I guess it wasn't their look so much as their single-minded, driven, stop-at-nothing pack mentality. Maybe why the conservatives freak me out so much as well.

"Hope genre"--I like that, OGR. Honestly, that's why I write humorous chick lit--I don't want to put out any more negativity into the world. It's got enough as it is. I just want people to laugh for a bit.

[OneGrassRoot]

12. We desperately need more laughter and joy...

so thanks for your contribution, MG.

[BlueIris]

18. Vampires are my Achilles' Heel.

Keep me away from vampires. Grim, manipulative murderers you can't even escape from in your mind because many are psychic? Creep me the hell out. And once they bite you, you are one! Ack!

[FirstLight]

14. ...

lots of reasons, i can't bring myself to watch or read "The Road", and hadn't even heard of the hunger games till last week!
and seriously, i recently re-read 1984 a few months ago, and it was really scary to see how much of it had already come true

Did you read the book "the fifth sacred thing"...? Or even "Spiritwalker"...both are more alternative views of the future.

I dunno,though...i'm a little depressed these days just scanning the Latest Page...everything looks pretty crummy and getting worse

[kentauros]

15. I haven't read any new fiction in a long time.

The last thing I read (or am still reading) is by A.E. van Vogt, Transgalactic, from 1939. It is post-apocalyptic, but on the order of at least 5000 years removed from our present day. There's nothing of our present-day society with which to compare or cause depression. It's like reading not only an alternate future, but an alternate Earth entirely

And I've still got my own story to finish, once I sort out what gets included of what I've already written and what I still need to write.

[NuttyFluffers]

20. people process through stories.

this includes the nightmares of their modern times.

some like it, some find it therapeutic, and some don't like it. to each their own.

i find chirpy, happy, sunshine kumbaya far too often obnoxiously vile. and yet i see its value, too.

(except anne geddes and precious moments. that work needs to perish in a conflagration... no, just kidding. i see their value, too. but really, they would look prettier in a bonfire.)

[Howler]

21. HHHHHHOOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm right there with ya NuttyFluffers on the Geddes/Precious moments! I don't think there is much that is more Noxious I'll bring the Marsh mellos!!!

[kentauros]

22. The name "Anne Geddes" sounds familiar,

but I really have no idea without looking her up, so the analogy is lost on me

Perhaps you need to watch Wayne Dyer's movie "The Shift". Here's a link for downloading a torrent (with plenty of seeders):

Wayne Dyer's - The Shift

Direct torrent link (it's the link from the above page, marked "Download .torrent&quot

Now I'm going to go finish watching "Zero Hour", the film/drama that inspired Airplane!

[felix_numinous]

23. What a good question

and an interesting thread!! I 'm really late to this discussion but I was wondering if anyone read Carolyn Myss Sacred Contracts? In it she has a list of archetypes to make cards of and you divine them to superimpose on your natal chart. She lists vampires as an archetype, and I think zombies too--it's a --really-- long list of archetypes, a whole chapter. I found a site with them here:

http://www.myss.com/library/contracts/determine.asp

Years ago I--seriously--started getting into vampire movies and remember deciding to write about it directly and what came to me was that vampires were representational for certain types of people who feed off of energy, this happening in the collective and in some personal encounters...and watching these stories was a way I was facing this archetypal issue in my life (It started when Bush got into office--no mystery there). I have since lost the fascination I had with vampires, because I think I resolved some internal issues I had related to them.

My take on all of the dystopian stories--and I tend to believe that many stories are channeled from the collective--are ways people are working to deal with corrupt leaders, poverty and war, projecting into possible future timelines, as well as shifting into alternative realities with positive and negative outcomes. Art actually does reflect life in many ways!!

I just wanted to share this experience I had related to the discussion--and I love everyone's insight.