​

Introduction

Morticia: Wednesday's at that very special age when a girl has only one thing on her mind.

Ellen Buckman: Boys?

Wednesday: Homicide.

Growing up, I remember loving the "Addams Family" and all things dark, especially Wednesday Adams. The Addams Family somehow made dark and torturous behavior seem "loveable" and "light." According to Wikipedia, "The family has had a profound influence on American comics, cinema and television,[1][2][3] and has been seen as an inspiration for the goth subculture and its fashion.[4][5]"

Sure, it is fiction, but when you think about much of the modern family values promoted by society, the message seems to be that "a real family enjoys darkness" or "a happy family is not a real family." Take a look at the Flanders family on the Simpsons. This family is viewed as unrealistic, absurd, and just "too corny." These messages leak into our real lives.

Today, the concept of "good" in our society seems to be viewed as unattainable. As someone who grew up in a truly dysfunctional and abusive home, things that often felt happy or nice often made me feel extremely uncomfortable, and they even still do. Anything that felt happy, corny, or nice seemed superficial to me. However, now that I examine things a little deeper, I am realizing that it is possible that "they" are programming this love of darkness into us - all you have to do is look at what is promoted in our society on a daily basis.

Relationships

“I found the Joker’s psyche disturbing, his dementia alarming — and his charm irresistible! What can I tell ya? The guy just did it for me.” - Harley Quinn

Today, I often see couples talk about how their relationship is so full of chaos and drama, but they happy because they are like "Harley Quinn and the Joker." Their relationship is defined by gaslighting and "a bushel of roses...filled with TNT."

https://screenrant.com/comic-book-moments-best-joker-harley-quinn-relationship/

Today, there seems to be a love of toxicity in relationships, and this goes for family, friends, and professional relationships. Stability is boring now - people want adventure and chaos, like it the movies.

This article is actually about how creating drama is good for relationships:

http://www.fox26houston.com/good-day/morning-news/relationship-drama-keeps-the-chase-alive

However, I feel that when people have something good, they are drawn to exploiting that goodness. People crave that rush that drama and chaos will provide, so they break any monontony or stability with whatever they can do to fuel drama. I mean, I bet most of us can name many couples that fall into a cyclical pattern of a love/hate drama filled relationship.

Today, stability in relationships is viewed as "dull" and "boring", and true love is about some type of rollercoaster ride through drama to prove true love. People seem to enjoy finding darkness in the purest of things, which is love. Even if you are not religious, the following view of love is starkly different, isn't it?

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 New International Version (NIV)

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away

Music

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” ― Victor Hugo

Clearly, music has a tremendous impact on its audience, which is why it is important to examine its impact. Have you heard of the 440 Hz music conspiracy?

"In 1953, a worldwide agreement was signed. Signatories declared that middle “A” on the piano be forevermore tuned to exactly 440 Hz. This frequency became the standard ISO-16 reference for tuning all musical instruments based on the chromatic scale, the one most often used for music in the West. All the other notes are tuned in standard mathematical ratios leading to and from 440 Hz.

This tone standard is now universally accepted, which is why a piano in Toronto sounds exactly the same as a piano in China.

Weirdly, no one can say for sure why this frequency was chosen in the first place. In fact, there those among us who vehemently disagree with this standard. In fact, they consider the 440 Hz middle “A” to be an abomination against nature."

https://globalnews.ca/news/4194106/440-hz-conspiracy-music/

The article also notes, "Furthermore, 432 Hz resonates with 8 Hz (the Schumann Resonance), the documented fundamental electromagnetic “beat” of Earth. It just feels better.

Research says that music tuned from this frequency is easier to listen to, brighter, clearer, and contains more inherent dynamic range. As a result, music with this tuning need not be played at higher volumes and thus reduces the risk of hearing damage."

Even if you think this conspiracy theory is ridiculous, is it possible that we have been "trained" to enjoy darker, more dissonant music? Or, in other words, it seems that people are drawn to music that emphasizes anything but pureness and innocence. Here is a breakdown of a top 40 song "I'm a Mess", and this person addressed the powerful use of "hater" and the dissonance of the song:

https://www.top40theory.com/blog/category/song-analysis

That may be a little too analytical, but it is important to note 92% of all top Billboard songs are about sex:

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/09/92-top-ten-billboard-songs-are-about-sex/337242/

Now, I could write a whole other post on darkness in music today (and I have), but the point I am trying to make is that if the music we listen to (especially music geared toward teens) has constant messages of heart break, dirty sex, and depression, what do you think teens, and people in general, will enjoy in real life?

In 6th grade, I was listening to Eminem's "Kim" song, which is all about him murdering his former wife Kim. What are kids listening to today? Music today rarely uplifts or empowers. It is music that brings down or degrades, which leads me to my next point.

Comedy

The moral nihilism of celebrity culture is played out on reality television shows, most of which encourage a dark voyeurism into other people's humiliation, pain, weakness, and betrayal. - Chris Hedges

Today, comedy is all about humiliation, degradation, and chaos. What is wholesome humor? Are we even capable of laughing about anything wholesome anymore?

In this article about Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elainr from Seinfeld) and the art of "self-mortification", the author writes,

"But let’s put aside all her real-life happiness, and focus on what makes us feel good: Watching some hilariously horrible things happen to other people… from the safety of our couches."

https://www.damemagazine.com/2012/04/20/julia-louis-dreyfus-and-comedy-humiliation/

If you look at popular comedies today like Family Guy, Rick and Morty, The Office, the Eric Andre Show, and more, they are all about absurdity and chaos. There seems to be no such thing as a "wholesome laugh."

Much of our time is spent laughing at the expense of others in humiliating scenarios. Comedy seems to be more of a coping mechanism for a dark reality than anything else.

Self-Esteem

"You cannot love others until you love yourself."

I firmly believe, at the core of all of this, is the hatred of our actual selves. Today, the message to people around the world is "you will never be good enough."

We begin to love our own self-deprication. Today, self-deprication is taking over the internet:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/may/25/antisocial-network-how-self-deprecation-is-taking-over-the-internet

From the article, "That very sort of self-deprecation, however, is becoming a thing. A popular internet trope is now the antisocial individual, the homebody, the push back from scenesters. It’s now all about revelling in singledom, jokes about therapy sessions, the terror of being an adult or putting it out there that hitting a club can actually be pretty hellish. And slumming it on the couch? Heaven."

Further, "There’s the sense that, and perhaps it’s even stronger among millennials, we’re all somewhat inadequate as adults." Today, "Keeping up with the Joneses" should now be called the "Keeping up with the Kardashians" effect because that sort of reality is simply unattainable.

So, we enjoy our own self-deprication, and we pretend we love feeling "less than" the world around us. But is it true, or just another coping mechanism?

Today, people relish in their own hellish worlds, and I do not blame them. But, don't you feel that tinge of darkness?

And guess who is looking at us? The children.

Loss of Innocence

“When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” - Patrick Rofuss

Imagine being a child growing up in today's world. You literally have instant access to any information at any time, anywhere. There is nothing hidden from a child's view anymore.

While children have to be exposed to real life, the problem is, it may simply just be happening too fast. I grew up in a home with no boundaries. I could watch whatever I wanted, when I wanted. This was devastating for me in a lot of ways.

While we cannot shield children from everything (and we should not), I feel we should be more careful about allowing children to have that time to just be...kids - to delight in the light.

This Jimmy Kimmel "Baby Bachelor" clip really disturbed me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oavg_YqE7w8

Sure, maybe it is cute, but this "comedy" is propagating the idea that kids can actually think like adults.

Look at this "Dancing with the Stars Junior" clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pxaMxshX4w

This is just simply children posing as adults and letting you believe that children "enjoy" this.

Maybe adults enjoy the darkness because we understand the world as it is, but I still think we should allow children to have time to see the light and beauty in the world before they grow up.

Going back to the quote in this section, childhood seems to be characterized by freedom from anxiety. Today, children in elementary school are worried about relationships and wearing sexy clothes - things that adults worry about. Doesn't every person deserve one moment of their lives not characterized by worrying about the future?

Conclusion

“The real satanist is not quite so easily recognized as such.” - Anton LaVey

Look, I am not saying you are a Satanist if you enjoy some darker aspects of life, but I am wondering if there is a larger force making us all hate what is good.

The conspiracy theory is that "they" hate purity and goodness, which is ultimately why they are corrupting children. For example, this article is all about how thinking of children and their innocence is ridiculous:

https://merovee.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/the-satanic-temple-baphomet-and-think-of-the-children/

Remember, too, the Baphomet is often pictured with children admiring him:

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33682878

The point is that if they start with the children loving this darkness, they grow into adults who love darkness. Today, I even believe they make shows like "Family Guy" into cartoons so they appeal to children. The earlier children are exposed to these dark concepts, the darker they become as adults.

I was a dark child, and part of it was because I had a dark home life. Today, it seems we have forgotten that the light can feel good, too. Even when I get a compliment, I often feel uncomfortable. Anything good...feels "wrong" at times.

I challenge you to look at what you enjoy. How much of what you enjoy is dark? Why? I challenge you to reflect.

To end with a quote,

"“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​