The experts have spoken! The greatest stories ever written are only ones full of
cynicism, suffering, injustice,
tragedy, and hopelessness. Yes, only the grimmest of tales can effectively
explore the horrid realities of life itself; like the
fragility of human existence, the crushing agony of
love and regret,
hopes and dreams never coming to fruition, the
utter futility of happiness, and other life-defining themes, such as
why mommy never really loved you. Therefore, any other story with an unambiguously
Happy Ending is just a piece of cheap boring commercial tripe, or even
propaganda. As for
comedy shows, they're all just bourgeois garbage.
In these types of stories,
nobody is really the good guy.
Not even the hero. If there are otherwise any nice characters present, you can expect them to get
killed off sooner or later, or alternatively, suffer a
Fate Worse than Death. If there are
characters with sympathetic viewpoints, don't expect their suffering to be the prelude to an
ultimate triumph (
especially when they work so hard to achieve it). No, they have to
ultimately fail in the end. Not only that, they've got to be
traumatized for life, lose everything they hold dear,
give in to despair,
or even be killed off, along with their friends and loved ones. Heck, if there are villains around
(especially hatable ones), why not
let them win the day and have them
get away with their crimes scot-free? Maybe even have them prosper over all the good guys while we're at it? Yeah! That ought to drive home
the message that
LIFE IS SUFFERING!
(...and unfair.)
But in all seriousness, True Art Is Angsty is an
Audience Reaction when a particular work is being praised for its dark and/or cynical tone. It's also a mindset that is adopted by both cynical writers and audiences who believe that adding plenty of
angst in a work can make for compelling storytelling. However, it also has a tendency to
drive away the more sensitive and idealistic members of the audience, and can
make a story worse when its darkness is too intense to stomach,
too unadulterated to bear, and/or isn't
handled with the proper grace. Expect accusations of
Wangst,
pandering to the critics, or
intentionally exploiting hot-button topics to pop up in discussions about media and creators who adhere to this trope, whether deserved or not.