Stephen King calls today’s streaming shows on Threads too “dark”

There’s no denying this acclaimed horror author Stephen King watches a lot of TV shows and movies. Before making the leap to social media platform Threads, he regularly shared his opinions on some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters and hidden gems on Elon Musk’s X. Even though the platform is different, King remains the same person he always was. I recently pointed out a major problem that many of us have with many modern productions.

King took to his Threads account and asked the question: “Are a lot of streaming shows dark as hell, or is it just me?” His question sparked a variety of responses, mostly because people weren’t sure at first whether he meant “dark” or “dark” as in “someone should turn on the lights.” After clarifying that he meant “visually dark” and adding “even the funny ones”, it became clear to everyone that King has the same problem we all have with newer shows like HBO House of the Dragonwhere everything is shrouded in darkness and candlelight, This makes it hard to see what the hell is going on.

No, Mr. King, it’s not just you, as evidenced by the variety of responses, including one from user Rick Urban, who hilariously replied: “Yeah, the new Amazon show, Cross…did you forget to pay the light bill?” Threads user Ellis Newport “thought it was her TV” before King asked his question, and other accounts also chimed in, complaining about everything from unbalanced audio (we’re looking at you, Hulu) to things being so quiet They had to watch the subtitles.

So what’s the real reason why movies and TV shows are so dark?

While there are many reasons why much of today’s entertainment is so visually bleak that you either have to squint or turn up the brightness of the TV to understand what’s happening, the main fault lies with the filmmakers. “I think that a lot of cinematographers, when they do certain things like this, they try to make it feel extremely truthful.” Nicholas Kay, a digital imaging technician, told Variety in 2022.

That’s all well and good, but man, it’s entertainment, and yes, sticking to the truth is admirable, but think about the 1989s Batman? A lot of it was shot at night, and when you compare it to Matt Reeve’s 2022 version of The Dark Knight, the difference is, well, night and day. Apparently, It’s a conscious decision by filmmakers to keep us in the dark these daysbut they should know that while they’re busy telling the “truth,” we’re all here figuring out whether it’s Batman’s cowl or a rogue cat’s ears that have wandered into the picture.

Related

10 Horror TV Shows Recommended by Stephen King

When Stephen King says a show will keep you up at night, you can bet it will.

So please, for the love of cinema – filmmakers, just lighten things up a bit. It’s not that big of a ask, and you’ll earn a lot of goodwill and maybe even a few extra dollars at the box office. At least They will keep Mr. King off your backand that’s really half the battle.

Batman is forced to investigate the city’s hidden corruption and question his family’s involvement when the Riddler begins killing important political figures. Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz and Paul Dano star.

Release date

March 4, 2022

Pour

Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, Paul Dano, John Turturro, Andy Serkis, Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Keoghan, Jayme Lawson, Gil Perez-Abraham, Peter McDonald, Con O’Neill, Alex Ferns, Rupert Penry-Jones , Kosha Engler, Archie Barnes, Janine Harouni, Hana Hrzic, Joseph Walker, Luke Roberts, Oscar Novak, Stella Stocker, Sandra Dickinson, Jack Bennett, Andre Nightingale, Richard James-Neale, Lorraine Tai, Joseph Balderrama, James Eeles

Duration

176 minutes

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