TV writer Steve Harper considers the morality of watching TV with dark themes.
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After viewing the second season premiere of House of Cards, I chose to stop watching. Even though several of my friends are celebrating the show’s return and think Season 2 is excellent, I won’t go back.
Sure, the show is well written and well acted. The production values are excellent. But I can’t get behind a murderous anti-hero. I won’t cheer on a protagonist who harms people in order to indulge his paranoia—in order to get what he wants. For me, it feels too close to the spirit of Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law to rank as fun or entertaining.
In all transparency, I am a writer: a published and produced playwright and I write for television. I understand the need to draw an audience and to create a compelling story. I understand the value of conflict in storytelling and that sometimes the most interesting material involves dark subjects and bad behavior.
I’m also a black gay man and I’ve experienced some real life random acts of violence: some bullying, some threats—some scary situations.
A year after completing college I was walking to the subway after seeing a play in New York. Two white men, thinking I was the guy who stole their van, chased me down a city street, grabbed me and pinned me to the hood of a car.
My glasses went flying. A crowd gathered. I was held there until the police broke it up.
Years later, in Baltimore, two black kids threw a bottle at my partner and me, yelling a homophobic slur at us.
Neither incident is as horrible as the Trayvon Martin case or the other recent cases in Florida that resulted in murder. I walk with a sense that violent things can happen at any moment, engineered by people whose call to action is in direct proportion to their paranoia and their ego. I don’t want to watch programs that put those people front and center.
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I want TV to be as exciting as the next guy. I regard The Sopranos as one of my favorite shows. Tony was a murderous crime boss, yes, but he was also in therapy – working to be a better husband, father, and a better man. His moral struggle was built in to the premise.
House is another show I loved. He was a nasty and opinionated, and focused on solving medical ‘puzzles’ more than helping patients, but he was ultimately saving lives.
Our current TV climate is full of programs that celebrate the violent controlling protagonist; the bad guy without a conscience, who believes his enemies have it coming. Look through the TV listings and notice how many titles suggest underhanded behavior as the primary attraction. I don’t understand the trend.
Many of my black, gay and/or female friends enjoy this kind of material. Some of them claim to dislike dark programming, but they’re still drinking the Kool-Aid. No one I’ve spoken to has been able to reconcile this disparity with a compelling argument.
I want to watch TV programs that that are life-giving in some way; shows that feature people trying to make the world a better place. That’s what I want to watch because that’s the kind of man I want to be.
When writers use violent, dark moments as something for characters to move through I’m on board. But television that takes a pornographic interest in the dark side of human nature is not my bag.
To me, there’s nothing romantic or fun about characters that think nothing of homicide. I’m not interested in cheering on a bully or a killer on a weekly basis. It’s too close to real life, and for me, it’s far from entertaining.
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