An excellent article! Admirably deep analysis of what comfort really means in art/entertainment and why it's valuable. I particularly appreciated your point about old TV script writers and their sense of responsibility and kindness towards their audience.
This point you made was particularly important: "Comfort emphasizes certainty, predictability as a positive, and stability as ideal."
And I think behind the notion of comfort lies something even deeper. Namely Logos. When things are in their proper place and in their proper relations, when virtue defeats vice and order prevails over chaos... Not only is it comforting, it is GOOD. It is as things should be. It is a glimpse into the Kingdom of God.
And further, there's this: "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
(1) “Girls und Panzer” has entered the chat. That series encapsulates what you’re talking about perfectly. At no point does it get dark or edgy or try to speak to the Issues of Our Time.
(2) Too many times, people show the dragon, but they don’t show the dragon being beaten. I think that is essential to creating a sense of comfort in a story with a lot of conflict and violence.
(3) The anti-comfort stance is clearest when you look at relationships between men and women in modern series. Anything where the woman shows any gratitude to the man, or where she comforts the man, is regarded as “sexist.”
An excellent article! Admirably deep analysis of what comfort really means in art/entertainment and why it's valuable. I particularly appreciated your point about old TV script writers and their sense of responsibility and kindness towards their audience.
This point you made was particularly important: "Comfort emphasizes certainty, predictability as a positive, and stability as ideal."
And I think behind the notion of comfort lies something even deeper. Namely Logos. When things are in their proper place and in their proper relations, when virtue defeats vice and order prevails over chaos... Not only is it comforting, it is GOOD. It is as things should be. It is a glimpse into the Kingdom of God.
And further, there's this: "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
“It needs to reinforce the good and reject the evil…”
Yes. This is the crux of it. You can write about evil without reveling in it. Reject evil.
(1) “Girls und Panzer” has entered the chat. That series encapsulates what you’re talking about perfectly. At no point does it get dark or edgy or try to speak to the Issues of Our Time.
(2) Too many times, people show the dragon, but they don’t show the dragon being beaten. I think that is essential to creating a sense of comfort in a story with a lot of conflict and violence.
(3) The anti-comfort stance is clearest when you look at relationships between men and women in modern series. Anything where the woman shows any gratitude to the man, or where she comforts the man, is regarded as “sexist.”