The Theory of Everything (trailer)
Somewhere, someone came up with the idea that cynicism and jadedness were cool. Whoever that was did a great disservice to the human race.
Kramodlog
Naked and living in a barrel
Over used and false trope, is over used and false, it is a simple fact.
Mercurius
Legend
You deserve uber-XP for this, Umbran, but evidently I must spread the love around.
What you say is almost a cultural epidemic, especially among Gen X and Yers, related to what I've called "hipster apathy." I see it ranging across cultural spheres and forms of media, where if art isn't gloomy and dark then it must be shmaltzy and saccharine.
I find this particularly irking in fantasy fiction, where the classic secondary world quest fantasy has been subsumed by the "grimdark" movement. I think this especially took hold when A Song of Ice and Fire became popular in the late 90s, but then blossomed in the 00s. Now it is hard to find a good old farmboy-to-prophecied quest fantasy that doesn't involve torture porn or sado-masochism of some kind.
Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of grim-and-gritty fantasy, such as ASoIF, Erikson's Malazan, Bakker's A Prince of Nothing, etc. But I miss the days of fantasy that wasn't so fixated on the darker side of life. There are still a bunch of authors in this vein, but they seem the minority these days.
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
I took care of it for you.
I guess the question is, are people who are positive and all hippy dippy more successful than the negative nancies?
I suspect the negative movement became cool because it was easier to single out the happy people and make fun of them as being "unrealistic" when it was more a matter of the hipsters were failing to achieve the same level.
I think the key meaning to Umbran's statement is that if we lived in a world where folks didn't think being negative was cool, and hippy dippy stuff was unattainable, our world would actually be a better place.
Kramodlog
Naked and living in a barrel
Yeah, cause cynicism is a new thing kids are into these days. Back in the day it didn't exist. Damn beatniks!
Bolded the key word. That is the problem right there. People get tired of the same old crap. Love is superdoubleplusgood is overdone.
Especially considering that Hawking divorced twice and was abusive.
It is just that there is more diversity nowadays. The audience is fragmented, so the books out there will reflect that. It is not a dichotomy between two styles.
Homicidal_Squirrel
Adventurer
What did he do? Run his wheelchair into his wives's feet?
And, before we do that, define "success".
The idea that good things are unattainable is self-fulfilling prophecy - if you don't believe it can happen, you certainly won't try to make it happen.
Similar Threads
