Why did movies/TV become dark and gritty in the 90's?

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Winston
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Why did movies/TV become dark and gritty in the 90's?

Post by Winston »

I was wondering, why is it that TV shows and movies before the mid 80's were more campy and fun, with good family values, and had characters that were charming and full of goodness?

But after the mid 80's, the shows and characters started to become dark and gritty? An example of this is the old Battlestar Galactica vs. the new one. Dirk Benedict (the original Starbuck) pointed out the same comparisons as me, and noticed how the producers were trying to get you to forget the old Battlestar Galactica.

http://www.dirkbenedictcentral.com/home ... .php?nid=5

People who don't believe in conspiracies will say that it was simply because that's what the public wanted. But I don't buy that. I don't believe that all of a sudden people in the 80's suddenly wanted shows that were dark and gritty and bleak, with cold mean characters in them, and got sick of shows with charm and goodness and family values. No way.

Obviously, things were engineered that way for some purpose. But why? To turn Americans cold and gritty? For what purpose? Why can't Americans be turned into happy wholesome people? Happy people also consume and buy things too, so why not have a happy populace instead? Wouldn't that be better for the economy?

I have a feeling that the reasons behind this are probably very dark and disturbing and most of you would be in disbelief if you knew what it was.

If you research the term "Hollywood" you'll find that it means "Druid Magic" or something. There is a lot of occult symbolism used in it too.
Last edited by Winston on August 2nd, 2010, 9:06 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Why did movies/TV become dark and gritty after mid 80's?

Post by momopi »

Winston wrote:I was wondering, why is it that TV shows and movies before the mid 80's were more campy and fun, with good family values, and had characters that were charming and full of goodness?

But after the mid 80's, the shows and characters started to become dark and gritty? An example of this is the old Battlestar Galactica vs. the new one. Dirk Benedict (the original Starbuck) pointed out the same comparisons as me, and noticed how the producers were trying to get you to forget the old Battlestar Galactica.
BSG re-imaged is sponsered by Sci-Fi channel and not mainstream network. One of my favorite sci-fi TV series is Firefly, and the FOX network execs forced the creator to make the show more "jolly" because they thought it was "too dark":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series)

"One of the struggles that Whedon had with Fox was the tone of the show, especially with the main character Malcolm Reynolds. Fox pressured Whedon to make Mal more "jolly", as they feared he was too dark in the original pilot. In addition, Fox was not happy that the show involved the "nobodies" who "get squished by policy" instead of the actual policy makers."

Hardcore sci-fi fans like Space Opera themes that leans toward "dark". i.e. Babylon 5, Space Cruiser Yamato, Galaxy Express 999, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Gundam series, etc. In Japan when the author decides to create something more light-hearted, he'd do a "light novel" to indicate it as such, i.e. Yoshiki Tanaka's "Tytania" is far lighter than his earlier works. Anyways, there's enough TV series (even on American TV) that you can pick and choose "light" or "dark". Try these TV series made after mid 1980s for "light":


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Last edited by momopi on July 23rd, 2010, 2:49 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by momopi »

And these if you want "dark":

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Post by momopi »

p.s. These are also good:


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momopi
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Post by momopi »

A few Space Opera anime recommendations:

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(NOT Star Blazers!)

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Post by Winston »

Gee I didn't know you were a big science fiction fan.

The ones you mentioned as light hearted are all COMEDY shows though. I was referring to science fiction and action films in general. They are made to be dark and gritty now.

You forget that Hollywood is controlled too, and part of social engineering.
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Post by momopi »

Winston wrote:Gee I didn't know you were a big science fiction fan.
The ones you mentioned as light hearted are all COMEDY shows though. I was referring to science fiction and action films in general. They are made to be dark and gritty now.
You forget that Hollywood is controlled too, and part of social engineering.

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Ever consider that "dark" is what Sci-Fi fans like?


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Post by Enishi »

LEXX was an awesome show. :) I have fond memories of riding my bike home from the supermarket I used to work at and watching it.
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Post by momopi »

Enishi wrote:LEXX was an awesome show. :) I have fond memories of riding my bike home from the supermarket I used to work at and watching it.
:D LEXX FAN!

Pssst! An unnamed individual here has some silly ideas about me worshiping "the authority" and acting like Leonard Nimoy. He doesn't know that I secretly idolize Kai!

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Post by Winston »

Question:

Why do sci fi movies ALWAYS show a bleak future in which either:

1) Humans have been wiped out in a nuclear holocaust, and only a few have survived and struggling for life.

and/or

2) Humans have become slaves to an evil government and turned into robots and zombies?

Why do they never show an optimistic happy future for mankind?

Is there an agenda?

Could it be that subconsciously, we all know about conspiracies, and so they have to control what's in our subconscious by putting it in movies to make our conscious minds think it is all fiction?
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Post by gsjackson »

Winston wrote:Question:

Why do sci fi movies ALWAYS show a bleak future in which either:

1) Humans have been wiped out in a nuclear holocaust, and only a few have survived and struggling for life.

and/or

2) Humans have become slaves to an evil government and turned into robots and zombies?

Why do they never show an optimistic happy future for mankind?

Is there an agenda?


Could it be that subconsciously, we all know about conspiracies, and so they have to control what's in our subconscious by putting it in movies to make our conscious minds think it is all fiction?

The genre has traditionally been dystopian accounts of the potential malevolence of technology, going back at least to Frankenstein. Ray Bradbury once said: "I'm not trying to predict the future, just prevent it."
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Post by momopi »

gsjackson wrote: The genre has traditionally been dystopian accounts of the potential malevolence of technology, going back at least to Frankenstein. Ray Bradbury once said: "I'm not trying to predict the future, just prevent it."
I like Robert A. Heinlein and S.M. Stirling myself, but I think Winston would probably freak out reading the Draka series. ;)
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