On And Off The Screen: The Wicked Allure Of Self-Destruction
The talks about how pop culture - let it be cinema, books or music - should once and for all stop romanticizing self-destruction have been ongoing for years for absolutely right reasons and arguably with some success. However, the history of self-destruction in cinema, and even literature goes far beyond the modern poorly written representations of teenage-angst.
We see examples of protagonists following tragic, conflicted paths in ancient plays, world classics of literature, in black and white movies, and oftentimes in real life. The world’s immortal love stories are often those narrating about death. Romeo and Juliet can be - if wished - described as a tale of suicide. One of my favorite novels and the literature classic - Wuthering Heights by Emily Brönte depicts a relationship astonishingly toxic, and yet is praised for its deep and real depiction of feelings.
Romeo + Juliet by Baz Luhrmann
Throughout time, pain and moral suffering have been in the centre of art, often going hand in hand with other iconized feelings, such as love, passion, and loss. Inadvertently, it makes one think of whether one is can truly exist without the other. While this statement overall is most certainly false, there is a degree of truth to the fact that great things are often shown to come at large costs. Love in fiction and art has always been depicted as a feeling inseparable from a certain degree of suffering or sacrifice to it.
And if there is one thing we can moreover learn with the commercialization of art, is that the depiction of self-destruction and pain are highly consumable products. There is something morbidly appealing in observing protagonists undergoing life-crushing situations, as we are rooting for them to overcome the difficulties. However, it is often the ‘breakage point’ in the character development arc that is often most exciting to follow. People tend to be subconsciously drawn to conflict, and there is nothing more intrinsic to human nature than conflict with the Self.
So why would self-destruction be romanticized in the first place?
Tom Yorke
Similarly to how good news usually fails to make it to headlines, and healthy relationships are not featured in Taylor Swift’s albums, the stable path of unproblematic development often does not create an exciting and compelling storyline. This is not to say of course that ‘happy stories’ do not have a place in art, in fact, they probably construct the majority.
However, some of the most memorable and iconized pieces of art are often those involving moral or physical struggles, passions, let it be for a person, work, or lifestyle that are destructive. Love here, although prevalent, need not be central. To die for a cause is another narrative heavily romanticized in art and culture.
Fascinated by intense feelings, we tend to be drawn towards the extremes. Even if we are not willing to engage in them ourselves, we can still get a rush of sensation as we live through the characters on-screen or in books.
Georgina stoned at Tara’s 1995 by Corrine Day