The Lure of the Dark

When I was about 15, I was hugely into Stephen King. After writing a couple of strongly horror-themed short stories for English class, my teacher kept me behind after a lesson. Frowning, she told me that my writing was very good... remarkable, given my age... but she was worried that so much of what I was writing was quite dark and disturbing. She put it tactfully. She was, she told me, just concerned that I seemed to be dwelling on the negative too much. "There's a lot of goodness in the world too," she said... or something to that effect anyway.

Considering I was an introverted angsty teenaged boy who was lonely and depressed much of the time, I think she put it quite mildly. I don't recall that her words had much impact at the time, but I remembered them. (Plus ca change and all that).

So this article here is all about how Hollywood films are getting darker... it points to things like the recent revamps of Batman and Superman, and even the new Spiderman film with the Black Costume. Apparently Emo is the new goth, and Emo is in... even in the film industry.

This other article takes it a bit further... (SPOILER ALERT - the article unfortunately spoils most of Grindhouse, as well as giving away significant plot details of Hostel )

It's talking about the new wave of horror films, from indie fare like Hostel and Wolf Creek to mainstream stuff like the Grindhouse film(s) aka Planet Terror/Death Proof. And it's claiming that these films are bringing with them something rather unpleasant... what I've heard referred to as "torture porn".

( More dark thoughts... contains mild spoilers for Hostel and Wolf Creek )

And because that was all very heavy, it's Poll Time! Which superhero would you be?