User blog comment:Corbierr/Examining Dark Stories/@comment-25576856-20141122030023/@comment-4816103-20141122031156

Oh, I completely agree that lighter stories are often cliche as hell; the issue comes when people don't try and make them interesting. They of course can't be happy all the time, but they just don't need to deal with anything as dark as abuse or murder to be interesting. People just assume that lighter means cliche, obvious happy ending and no stakes, which isn't true. My general definition of a light story is if it doesn't involve serious topics like abuse and the general tone itself is upbeat. That's pretty much it...it leaves a lot of room. I hate cliches too... you know I think the biggest problem with this is that a lot of people who make kid's shows and movies and stories don't try to be creative or engaging or intelligent, just cliche and pandering to a child without even attempting to challenge them at all. THAT'S where happy stories get a bad name from.

You bring up an excellent point about relatablility, and your reasons for liking dark stories are completely valid reasons. I understand completely what you're saying. I just feel that while dark stories can be relatable for a large portion of people, it doesn't help just to make it all depressing and dark, because while it can make them understand they aren't alone, it does nothing to make them feel better if the dark tone isn't lifted. It can even make the problem worse if it ends with there being no hope at all, because if a fictional character can't deal with it, how can they ever hope to? But I completely get your point, and yes, a lot of times dark stories are a lot more interesting and engaging- but that doesn't mean they always are. It's just a usual pattern.