{"id":22230,"date":"2021-04-14T16:01:48","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T12:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/?p=22230"},"modified":"2026-09-04T16:53:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:53:24","slug":"the-psychology-of-binge-watching-dark-movies-dubai-psychologist-dr-alfred-in-khaleej-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/the-psychology-of-binge-watching-dark-movies-dubai-psychologist-dr-alfred-in-khaleej-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Binge-Watch Dark Movies: Psychology Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

Murky, unsettling landscapes. Damaged minds. Ghosts that need to be exorcised. AND Crimes that have no formulaic black-and-white answers. Why are we bingeing on a web of moral ambiguity being spun on our screens?<\/em><\/p>\n

It was Netflix\u2019s House of Cards that set the trend for me. Bingeing on way too much evil, too many twisted back alleys. I remember a friend telling me how he and his wife had got up, on reflex, from their sofa \u2014 in front of their TV set \u2014 and screamed and pleaded with (an unhearing) Peter Russo to not fall for the trap laid out for him by Frank Underwood. \u201cYou will die, he\u2019s planning to kill you, don\u2019t leave the house!\u201d [\u2026]\n

\u2018Crime shows are making us relate to moral ambiguity\u2019<\/h2>\n

As human beings, we don\u2019t only have good thoughts \u2014 we have secret dark thoughts: the much-debated phenomenon of schadenfreude. And even though we may feel guilty about harbouring such thoughts, we can easily connect to an ambience of moral ambivalence, which is what dark crime shows encapsulate. \u201cThey somehow make things seem more real \u2014 let\u2019s face it, modern life is like that: complex,\u201d says Mayank Tewari, a former journalist, and scriptwriter of Newton \u2014 that was selected as the Indian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards \u2014 and the upcoming Season 2 of the critically-acclaimed Delhi Crime.<\/p>\n

We live in strange times, and by that Mayank is not referring to Covid times per se. \u201cThis is the age of the Internet and social media, the cap is coming off everything, and we are witnessing a loss of innocence.\u201d He gives an example. \u201cWhen I was growing up in 1980s\u2019 and 1990s\u2019 India, I just believed \u2014 in good faith \u2014 that the government wants to do good things. These days, youngsters don\u2019t think like that because they know everyone has their own motives, their own design.\u201d<\/p>\n

Popular culture reflects that. \u201cTake \u2018true love\u2019: earlier, it would be portrayed as a romantic ideal, but these days you get to see that in real relationships there has to be constant engagement \u2014 not entanglement \u2014 and yet you have to give your partner space.\u201d Space as a construct between a couple used to be an alien concept \u2014 on screen. \u201cNot anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consequently, we relate to moral ambivalence. \u201cWe root for the villainous protagonist in Breaking Bad. We cannot relate to the likes of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew \u2014 we need ambiguity to put characters in context.\u201d When a crime show has a \u2018damaged\u2019 detective with dark secrets, it humanises him (or her). \u201cThe character has flaws, failings, problems\u2026 in fact, the \u2018villain\u2019 could, at some point, turn around and tell him\/her, \u2018Hey, you are just like me\u2019, and we wouldn\u2019t bat an eyelid.\u201d He says he\u2019s been watching the new series on serial killer Charles Sobhraj, and it\u2019s incredible how his character \u2014 which is supposed to be ridden with moral turpitude \u2014 \u201cis humanised and you end up relating to him\u201d.<\/p>\n

During lockdown, people \u2014 the consumers \u2014 stayed indoors for the most part, watching a lot of television. Obviously, they gravitated towards shows with equivocacy. Advocates of \u201cwholesome viewing\u201d could well ask why \u201cdark matter\u201d is finding its way onto \u201centertainment\u201d platforms. \u201cWith streaming, there has been a democratisation of content in the real world,\u201d points out Mayank. \u201cVideo-on-demand networks are open to experimentation, even if it\u2019s for a small target group.\u201d Conventional feel-food is making way for edginess because there are takers.<\/p>\n

Women have a lot of agency in these shows, he adds, since myriad feminist themes are being brought out: they may be violent in format, but they get conversations going in areas that were always glossed over earlier. \u201cI\u2019d say it\u2019s been an era of empowerment for viewers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018This train wreck will never personally affect us\u2019<\/h2>\n

\u201cWe are generally intrigued by crime that is convoluted,\u201d says Maria Waqar, US-based scholar of gender and politics. She recently started rewatching Breaking Bad, and admits she\u2019s \u201chooked\u201d all over again. But for a very different reason than Mayank\u2019s. According to Maria, there\u2019s a certain comfort in watching complex crime stories unfold behind the screen, from the safety of your home. \u201cGiven that the pandemic, with its apocalyptic overtones, made people feel insecure and unsafe, they binged on thrillers showcasing deviant crimes. Amid so much uncertainty and distress, it may be psychologically comforting to know that this \u2018trainwreck\u2019 will never personally affect them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a way, she echoes a snatch from Kathryn VanArendonk\u2019s vulture.com gripping exposition: \u201cTurning crime on and off feels powerful and soothing. It is a way to see the darkest parts of humanity while also being assured of your own safety. Because when you watch crime on TV, you\u2019re not out there being murdered or robbed or violated by some terrifying, unknowable evil. You\u2019re at home, on your sofa, sitting in front of your television.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, here too, there are nuances \u2014 at times, complex, gritty ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the genre of noir, right and wrong are unclearly defined and protagonists are often self-destructive and morally questionable,\u201d notes Alfred Gull, clinical psychologist at German Neuroscience Center, Dubai. He compares the \u201clandscape\u201d to that of the pandemic. Despite precautionary measures, we often do not know what will happen next or even what is right or wrong. \u201cAs in the movies, unexpected changes\/shifts like mutant viruses happen and the world needs to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some theories that try to explain the fascinating phenomenon of the dark genre. One of them says that these kind of stories with unexpected shifts and seriously flawed protagonists teach viewers resilience and how to live with fear. Further, they illustrate that life isn\u2019t always easy, and it\u2019s okay to be scared.\u201d [\u2026]\n

The full and original article was published in Khaleej Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Murky, unsettling landscapes. Damaged minds. Ghosts that need to be exorcised. AND Crimes that have no formulaic black-and-white answers. Why are we bingeing on a web of moral ambiguity being spun on our screens? It was Netflix\u2019s House of Cards that set the trend for me. Bingeing on way too much evil, too many twisted<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy We Binge-Watch Dark Movies: Psychology Explained | GNC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why do we binge-watch dark and disturbing content? 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