If there was any popular storytelling notion that I could blow up, it would be the belief that funny things can't be serious and serious things can't be funny.
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Okay, want to know where the belief comes from? Insecurity. I've talked about it before but the belief that serious movies can't have moments of levity is largely about the the juvenile desires to feel empowered or be seen a certain kind of way.
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You’ve seen it in a lot of teenage art before, but it’s that ethos of: “I need my story DARK and GRITTY so I can seem ADULT and be taken SERIOUSLY.” They see levity or silliness as a crack in the armor, a symbol of childish things they are so desperately trying to put away.
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And adults often are much more comfortable letting that stuff back in. Or at least they should be. Because there's still a lot of that in "intellectual" dramas where they want to be seen as brilliant / adult / genius and SERIOUS filmmakers.
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But it's the same juvenile instinct, just with fancier armor.
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Apparently some think this thread is an attempt to justify only consuming childish things. Good granola is it not and I hope that's obvious. But trying to respond to that critique with a declaration like..
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"This list of serious adult dark existentially terrifying films are my favorites of the year!" only helps reinforce the false notion and back up the notion that the other movies ARE childish or somehow lesser, and ultimately just proves my point so *insert shrug ascii*
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Replying to @FilmCritHULK
But... I LIKE adult, existentially terrifying films.
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I honestly don't understand why this keeps getting confused. I'm talking about the notion of an exclusion. An adult existentially terrifying film doesn't have to have humor. But having humor doesn't prevent it from being existentially terrifying.
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Replying to @FilmCritHULK
I agree with you wholeheartedly; this is a gong I've been banging for years, likely starting with debates about 1966's BATMAN. An adolescent's craving for angst is as old as the hills. Letting go of that angst is a step toward maturity.
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