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Comment by xg15 | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, that was basically the Disney/Spielberg formula, which got overdone.

> There are good and bad and good must always win and if bad thing happening is always punishment for moral failure forced formula got overfed.

I mean, maybe there are different moral horizons behind this. I would expect some basic "doing good is in the end more successful than doing evil" morality in shows.

The alternate message seems to be an uncaring universe where it plays absolutely no role if you're an asshole or try to help people, because deaths happen randomly anyway.

Which would be an omen of how our world developed in the following years for real...

(GoT never went completely nihilist though, which I appreciate. Even the most random deaths had at least long-term consequences for the rest of the story, and a lot of characters kept their morality through all the carnage)

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> I would expect some basic "doing good is in the end more successful than doing evil" morality in shows.

I dont and find it annoying when it is there all the time. It removes the tension too. Good people end up poor or die of cancer, attempts to save climate or prevent wars failed, those who fight fascism find themselves maligned and out of power.

> The alternate message seems to be an uncaring universe where it plays absolutely no role if you're an asshole or try to help people, because deaths happen randomly anyway.

That is how the real universe works, why should we insist on repetitive message that is not true?

On the positive side, real people dont help people just to get something in exchange. Real people dont avoid being asshole only for transactional reasons. They do that, because of who you want to be and because of being able to resist the temptation.

And the danger is that when people believe the above, they make the opposite implication - if you had success you must have been good. That is not true. In fact, being willing to lie or take advantage of people makes you more likely to be successful - you have more options at your disposal then honest people.

> It is not about message.

I do not really think shows were that influential. But, large part of harm is from people simply assuming that once someone is a winner and billionaire, they must have been good and moral and right the whole time. I dont believe in prosperity gospel.

I don't need art that reminds me of how shit the real world can be. I see that every day. Why would I need to have my face rubbed in it? No, there are people who can aspire to greater things and people who think nothing can ever get better, and their art reflects it.

Nihilists who call themselves "sophisticated."

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