Why do Good Books (and Films) go “Bad?” #amwriting #ethics

On By Alethea KehasIn A Better World of Books, Dreams, Reflections, the labyrinth, Warriors of Light
Image by Peter H from Pixabay

We are, here in the USA, residing in the aftermath of another horrific mass shooting at a school. It has become a normalized discomfort. A discomfort that does not have to exist, but yet, here we are, again.

I’m not going to blog about the need for gun control and legislation, because it’s a fact that we keep repeating without doing anything about. I keep voting and signing petitions, I keep practicing and teaching yoga. I keep trying to do my part to change what feels like the unchangeable. But, it’s never enough. There is always more to be done. The simple and obvious start is to enact those laws we refuse to enact as a nation. I do not hold a position of public office, I’m merely a voter, but I’m also a citizen who engages with and creates entertainment in the form of books (which, one day, I’d love to see recreated on screen).

Last night, I wrapped up my engagement with the Blood & Bones series on Netflix by watching the final two episodes. And, just as I did after seeing the series You through to its latest episode, I found myself wondering why I had allowed myself to endure it. I am a sucker for seeing things through. I rarely put a book aside, no matter how much it pains me to finish it, and I often do the same with films. But, I’m done with You and I’m done with Blood & Bones. Why? Because even though the writing and creative execution is, at times, beautiful and even brilliant, I have decided not to torture myself any longer waiting for the good to prevail over the bad. And, let’s be clear, there’s a whole lot of bad in both of these series.

We wonder why we are obsessed with violence in this country, but we cannot seem to break the cycle. Rarely do we see fantasy series created without an over-abundance of violence and we keep churning out thrillers filled with murder and horror that push the edges of extreme in the name of entertainment.

When will we decide we’ve had enough? When will we decide that maybe, just maybe, we benefit more by spreading the good we are capable of, over the bad?

After waking up at 2am this morning from dreams laced with the violence from the last two episodes of Blood and Bones, I renewed my vow to do my part as a creative to spread the good over the bad. Violence is not a prerequisite for fantasy, nor is it for drama. We do not need blood and gore to keep the page turning, or the viewers locked to a screen. We need a good story. And, dare I say, a story about good. Conflict need not turn to violence, and when it does, it behooves us to ask why? Why are we writing it? Why are we reading it? Why are we watching it?

I know when I engage with it on the screen or in a book, I am always waiting for the bad to turn back to the good. But, as we see in the series mentioned above, it never stays good for long these days. We have normalized violence, and we can’t be too surprised that we are seeing it normalized in our schools. If we want change, we must be the change.

And so, I’ve decided to put aside those two series and focus on creative that brings me hope and joy, which is also how I engage with writing. If it doesn’t educate me through historic violence, I see little need for engagement. I know through personal experience with writing fantasy and adventure books, that violence need not dominate the prose. It need not be a means to keep the viewer locked to a page or a screen with a rush of destructive adrenaline. Why torture ourselves with the bad when we always have the choice to bring forth the good?

37 thoughts on “Why do Good Books (and Films) go “Bad?” #amwriting #ethics”

  1. Hi Alethea, Why was I not surprised to see your name on this plea…I felt your heart-ache so strongly! I am ancient enough to recall many films where nearly everyone was not butchered (usually with a gun…) and most of the terrain/area decimated before the end…What is happening to humanity? Are the young fated to believe that this is the way of the world?! There are swathes of intelligent people on our planet, but where is their common sense? Let Sanity reign. Sincerely.

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    1. Dear Joy, thank you for this. I am heartened you also see the insanity of this glorified violence. I’d like to believe we humans are better than this. And, I’d like to believe violence and sex are not the only things that sell books and films. I’d like to believe we can return to the concept of a good story being enough.

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  2. Violence in fantasy is an interesting topic. Most fantasy is based on old legends, which are often violent (King Author, Icelandic/Norse sagas, etc.). And classic fantasy is often battles and such. Think of The Lord of the Rings – a lot of otherwise peaceful people going to war. But then there are books like Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea books, which has another type of violence, but quite like TLotR.
    I did write a non-violent fantasy book, but it might be un-publishable (yes, I would self-publish, but who would read it?) The rough draft was based on Sue’s writephoto prompts.
    I just wrote a YA fantasy (my first try at YA) that does have violence, but it is downplayed. For instance, the main character does not carry a weapon and proves his strength by refraining from violence when some might see it justified. It is still rough draft.
    I do want to read your book some day to see what your take on non-violent fantasy is. Perhaps later this year.

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    1. You raise a lot of good points, Trent. There’s a definite historical element to a lot of fantasy, but we’ve taken it to an extreme and can’t seem to get out of the violence sells loop. Instead we’re numbing ourselves against it, which is not healthy. I’d love to see you publish your books, even if it is through self-publishing, which I know can be a frustrating and lonely process with seemingly few rewards. I’ve had a few young readers tell me that my books (including beta readers, since I have yet to publish book 2 of the Warriors of Light series) are in their list of favorites, so that makes it worthwhile for me. They seem to “get” their messages. We need more consciously nonviolent reads. I’d encourage you to put yours out there, you never know who you’ll impact.

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      1. There is a lot of fantasy out there that I have no desire to read – I think you are right that it is almost a race to see who can be the most violent. And not just fantasy, but many genre.
        I will eventually self-publish the YA book, but not sure about the other…

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  3. I completely agree with everything you said in this post and have felt this way for years. I refuse to watch and read anything with overt violence. A good American friend of mine has been hoping for grandchildren in her life. Today she said she hopes now not to have any because she would worry about them every day as they attended school in the US. That is very sad indeed.

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  4. I never watch films (or TV) any more. I never articulated a reason to myself, but I’m sure my discomfort with violence is part of it. There is something very wrong with our culture, where a principal can get fired for having an art class where people study classical art that includes the naked human body, where books are banned for talking about race or gender, but guns and violence are celebrated, even encouraged, and thus normalized. I’m not sure how we begin to stem the tide, but not giving them our money or attention is certainly a start. (K)

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  5. I find that many books, TV shows and movies are too violent for me. The camera will pause for an extended time on images of blood dripping down someone’s face or some terrible battle scene but quickly scan across images of beautiful landscapes, art and harmonious situations.
    I think that this endless depiction of violence is desensitizing people to it. What is rarely explained is that violence hurts people and destroys lives.
    I like what Trent had to say about violence in fiction. I’ve only written one novel but I found that I needed to include an act of violence to move the story along. Thinking about it now, I’m hard to put to imagine how I could got the characters from point A to B without that violent scene. I hadn’t thought about that until now. It’s a very interesting poing. How can we write stories that don’t include in violence or is that even necessary? It’s a sad fact of life that violent acts are part of our reality. Maybe we still need to write about it (and depict it in movies etc) but maybe we need to critique those violent acts within the story itself. Maybe if characters in a movie had discussions about the horror of the violence we might begin to shift this societal fascination with it. Basically, we need a reality check here.
    I like that you have opened up this discussion. It really needs to be said. Not just in America but globally.

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    1. Hi Suzanne, Thank you for all of these observations. I agree, it can be difficult not to use violence to move the story along. But, I think creatives have come to rely upon it too much, just like graphic sex scenes. It seems to be a competition of how extreme they can make it, pushing our limits of intake, and hence, as you point out, causing a desensitization to it. And, I believe, an acceptance for some that violence is somehow a normal act and okay. I think when some impressionable minds keep seeing it over and over again on screen they forget there’s a human being or some other life form that is being harmed or killed and how devastating that is. Yes, we need to bring the humanizing factor back in and stop glorifying it. There’s also the important fact that we’re just repeating the past over and over again by continuing to perpetuate the use of violence as a driving force for our narratives and normalizing it as our way of existence. It doesn’t have to be this way…

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      1. Yes, yes, yes! You have expressed so much wisdom here. We are stuck in repeating the past. Finding new ways to write to new stories is something we need to grow as creatives I think. Great discussion!

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      2. And we need to change the publisher/producer mindset that only graphic violence, graphic sex, and base humor sell. It’s akin to the news outlets assuming we’ll only be hooked on fear-based news. In the news vein, though, I am encouraged by all the “Nice News” outlets popping up.

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  6. I couldn’t have put this better myself Alethea and violence certainly is the norm now but has been for centuries even the classics spew forth violence and Tom and Jerry when you really look are quite violent but I agree it seems to be on the increase in many ways and in other areas many things dumbed down but something that is not quite right touches every aspect of our lives now…
    I think many cannot determine the difference between fantasy and real life the edges have become blurred we have become more accepting of things and are made to think that we are wrong to not be accepting…Scary times…

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    1. Thank you, Carol. Yes, I agree with you, and Suzanne and I have been commenting on this idea as well of how violence has always been a part of history, but we’ve taken it to extremes and removed the empathy from what violence really does. There’s also the idea that if we keep violence as part of our human narrative, we’ll never break its cycle of needless destruction.

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  7. Pingback: Thursday Thoughts…30th March 2023…History of the Tree Huggers, Another senseless shooting in Nashville and “The Prayer” | Retired? No one told me!

  8. Carol Naomi Goff

    Alethea, I agree wholeheartedly with your concerns and other commenters. I have one thing to add; recently I found a tv program that deals with violence in a different way, not by focusing on telling stories without violence (also very important), but by addressing it head on and the need for change—and without gratuitous displays of violence. It is Alaska Daily, a story that takes a look through journalism at the MMIW crisis (missing and murdered indigenous women). Sometimes storytelling can be a vehicle for change by grappling directly with these issues—most effectively if it can be done without being preachy, and this show is an example of this I think. Worth checking out.

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    1. Thank you, Carol. You raise a very good point. I agree, particularly when it concerns nonfictional accounts. Alaska Daily sounds like it is very well done and covers a very important issue.

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  9. I agree with you completely Alethea and there are several series, films and television dramas that we don’t watch now because they rely on the shock factor to entertain. When we were growing up we only had access to movies in the cinema and television was very straitlaced. You were restricted by the age limitations that were adhered to. These days with films, tv, video games, music and news streamed into homes 24/7 it is very difficult to limit viewing in the same way. We were only commenting the other day watching a police drama on television how anyone who wanted to learn how to break into a house or a car had just received a masterclass. I know that the majority of children are brought up to have better values, but as we have seen with these school shootings and other violent events, it only takes one child with a gun and a grievance to end the lives of many. xx

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    1. Hi Sally, thank you for stopping by my blog and sharing your thoughts on the topic of violence in entertainment. Your example of the police drama reinforces how dangerous this can be. I felt the same way while watching the very disturbing series You, which not only glorifies and desensitizes murder, but is basically instructing someone how to commit it and get away with it. I find myself turning to cooking shows and soothing series like Moving Art. I’m grateful there are alternatives out there, but as you mention, what values are children learning with the mainstream media and entertainment? xo, Alethea

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  10. I struggle with the dearth of good content on the streaming services. So, when some series shows up that’s not unbearable, I watch it, regardless of its cruelty or malevolence levels.
    My point is it might not be a preponderance of violent/evil content, but the lack of good non-violent/non-evil content to balance it out.

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  12. Thanks for reinforcing something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Being a fan of scifi and fantasy, I have sometimes been drawn to films and books that contain violence, and I’m trying to make better choices. One example is that I love The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies which end with good triumphing over evil, so figured I’d also love the prequel, Rings of Power, on Amazon. It had some interesting elements, but, after a few episodes, I decided that the darkness was too toxic and gave it up. When overwhelmed or tired, I go for one of the romantic comedies I can watch over and over.

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    1. Thank you, JoAnna. I had the same issue with the prequel, Rings of Power. That said, I also had a difficult time with the violent scenes in Lord of the Rings, but the triumph of good over evil redeems that, plus the beautiful side stories and cinematography. I just started the series with Rob Lowe on Netflix. I think it’s called Unstable. I’m enjoying it. It’s light and humorous. Romcoms are a nice go-to as well, I agree.

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