The Burr in the Burbs

Yesterday I posted an explanation of my appreciation for certain contemporary books and movies that deal with dark and depressing subject matter. And while a lot of current media do come from a particularly nihilistic mindset, dark and depressing have characterized great works of art for centuries.

• Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Man sleeps with mother and murders father. Has his eyes gouged out. Lesson: don’t defy the gods.
• Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare. Perhaps the bloodiest and cruelest play ever written.
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Murder, guilt, sorcery, divination, treason.
• Othello by William Shakespeare. Deception, distrust, murder.
  
• Anna Karenina by Lev Tolstoy. Adultery, greed, selfishness, gruesome suicide
• Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoevsky. Axe murderer redeemed by a prostitute with a heart of gold.
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Adultery, hypocrisy.
• The Tell-tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. Murder, guilt.
• Jude, the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. Adultery, depression, suicide.
• Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, Farewell to Arms, and so forth.

Great art always deals with the truth, even from a non-Christian perspective. Sometimes great art strives for the truth, but misses and embraces falsehood. Even this is important for many are deeply impacted by the lies of great art.

Certain modern films, such as Fargo, Magnolia, and Match Point to name a few, treat the frailties of man in honest, interesting and even helpful ways.

What are your thoughts about classic and modern literature (and serious film) which deal with violence, sin, and the gruesomeness of life on earth? Any good examples I’ve missed?

Next, I’m thinking I’ll write about why horror films are sometimes the most Christian movies made.