I don’t know how I feel about authors who write constant unhappiness for their characters.
It doesn’t have to be happiness and rainbows all the time, because obviously there will be no conflict if constant happiness. But, Jesus, there needs to be some hope.
I hope you don’t mind if I jump in and say: I can’t stand it.
The problem, in my opinion, is that these kind of stories – the ones where the heroes never seem to catch a break –now fall under the blanket term of “gritty realism”.
In the past couple of years “gritty realism” has become a really popular theme, not just in books, but across all media. At first it was great and refreshing, especially when it was done well. But now, it’s so overdone that it’s become its own cliché. It has somehow evolved from stories that reflected the true dark side of humanity and how sometimes there are no happy endings, to stories that literally put characters through hell only to put them in even worse hell after they climb out of it, with absolutely no hope, no future, nothing going for them. That is not the same thing and the fact that we are sold these super depressing stories sold under the terms of “gritty realism” is kind of bullshit.
It’s one thing when things look bleak and it seems like there’s no way out, that is fantastic in terms of suspense and heart-string pulling. But if that’s all the book is then what the hell are they fighting for? What is the point of all their pain? I know that life isn’t all sunshine and butterflies, but let’s be honest it’s not all hell-fire and pain either. I as a reader want to know that there’s hope for these characters however little. I want a fucking payoff for their pain. Even if they don’t get their happy ending, I want their pain to mean something. I don’t want to ride a roller-coaster that only goes down. I have quit books, movies, and shows because as a very empathetic person the situations and the hopelessness of their lives have made me feel depressed.
So I’d like these creators selling their sadomasochism as “gritty realism” to fucking stop.
#literary tragedy porn#I hate this trend so much#fuck your gritty realism#my wish for happiness is not unrealistic at all#thank you very much
(via dubiousculturalartifact)
