Is it true that there's a tendency for more mature people to like darker and edgier entertainment material?

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GermanX

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Poll Is it true that there's a tendency for more mature people to like darker and edgier entertainment material? (36 votes)

Yes, there's a tendency for more mature people to like darker and edgier entertainment material 17%
No 83%

I am not sure regarding some internet discussions regarding whether there's a correlation between maturity of the target audience/fans and darker, edgier films

Some say yes, since by definition darker and edgier entertainment material means that topics covered may often go above the less mature people's heads, or are not appreciated well enough.

Others say no, since by definition darker and edgier entertainment material is only an aesthetic part of entertainment making and is a totally different area compared to making material targeting a particular maturity of a target audience.

What do you think?

Discuss.

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Quinlan58

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There's a tendency among mature people to stop fixating on "darker and edgier" works. That's mostly a teenager thing.

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TheInsufferable

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#3  Edited By TheInsufferable

Well, I don't know about entertainment in general, but in comics, after some mature works like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns were released, it turned into a fad where everyone wanted to imitate the darker theme, which resulted in the 90's.

In general, I think it's the mature storytelling, and subject matter that's important, which is what makes the darker aesthetics fit those stories. Many works just imitate the atmosphere without having the same maturity in the story itself.

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fabricolage

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One can be immature and like dark and edgy things.

Plus, one might notice that the themes are a bit too try-hard, like the creator placing too much emotional value into their work and not on the story and development itself.

There can be dark themes that are present in lore and background descriptions, like in Pokemon games or kirby boss descriptions and battles, or humor that people wouldn't get until they are older or are told about what the characters meant in a cartoon or show, or even mysteries that might be truthful and form theories due to the lack of full information or symbolism, such as Harry Potter's tale of the three brothers or some other mysteries.

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brucerogers

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People basically dislike anything that is overdone.

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Outside_85

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I would say yes for the same reason the OP does. A younger mind wont appreciate stuff like Watchmen, DKR or Killing Joke because they have more stuff going on in them than what's just on the surface. A younger mind would likely find Watchmen boring and probably confusing if they go into it with the idea it being just like the Avengers or Justice League, not to mention the power of a panel will likely go over their heads when the book says stuff like how Dr. Manhattan won the Vietnam war for the US after a week.

That said, all of it boils down to what a person wants from a medium. Like if you look at the ongoing debate over where DC's younger characters should be going in the animated world: Some are just fine with TTG, some want it to go away and it doesn't appear that the age of the opinionated is whats the deciding factor.

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MarvelandDCfan24

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For example the MCU is very family oriented and geared more towards kids and teenagers

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Stahlflamme

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#8  Edited By Stahlflamme

Oh, please mature stuff is the most imature shit in the world. Sex and violence get you an r-rating but the reality is the people that need it the most are auper imature people who need to watch that stuff to convince themselves their mature. Its like those kids back in school who would permanently talk about sex and think it made them total adults. It's the same with this dark edgy shit. The people who are all over it are especially imature people who want to feel mature so badly by watching dark and violent shit, but in reality this stuff caters to just those kinds of minds.

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Richubs

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Not even close to being true.

In fact it's stupid to think that.

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mega6382

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@outside_85: Whilst your arguments are correct, but your reason is incorrect. I would say a mature person would like Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns and Killing Joke, more than a teenager, but it won't be primarily because of the darker or edgy theme, it would be mostly due ton its correlation with the real world and its mature way of story telling. So, if you take away the communism, war, doomsday clock etc out of the Watchmen, and just leave the violence and crime, no mature person would like it, teenagers might, but grownups won't care for it.

Same for DKR, because if you take away the reason of why Batman and Superman are fighting, and take away the communism and war, and just leave the crime and the violence, then mature audience will not be attracted towards it, but teenagers might still enjoy it.

So, I will reiterate @theinsufferable's point, that it has more to do with mature storytelling than it is about the story just being dark and edgy.

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legacy6364

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Being mature is irrelevant to ones taste in entertainment.

Only a child would believe otherwise.

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kyrees

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Being mature is irrelevant to ones taste in entertainment.

Only a child would believe otherwise.

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Rubear

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There is a tendency for immature people to act all dark and edgy.

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rogueshadow

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#14 rogueshadow  Moderator

@rubear said:

There is a tendency for immature people to act all dark and edgy.

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socajunkie

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#15 socajunkie  Moderator

Any source for this?

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mega6382

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@rubear said:

There is a tendency for immature people to act all dark and edgy.

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KanyeCosby

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That isn't really true for dark and edgy work. However, there is a tendency for mature people to be more receptive to material with more complexity.

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helloman

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No.

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mrmonster

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No.

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ParagonNate

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There's a tendency for people who think they're mature, to like darker and edgier content. And then set themselves up on a pedestal because of it.

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deactivated-5d6b913edbeeb

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Depends on what do u like but not every human who thinks himself as mature person doesn't mean they have tastes for liking mature entertainment .

Some may even improvise their thoughts to imitate those things towards more dark or edgier content for their inspiration but most probably their outcome gets much more flake rather than giving solid performance like for instance Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns .....

Sometimes some small pieces do work towards a greater idea like The Joker by Azzurullo is comic series whose Joker's character somehow replicates Ledger's Joker from TDK

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Yassassin

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How do you quantify any of that?

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deactivated-61d5b935096d2

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Depends what you mean by dark and edgy. If you mean gratuitous sex and violence then no. If you mean complex, morally ambiguous and controversial subject matter then maybe. Put it this way, kids are less likely to enjoy that stuff than adults, but not enjoying that stuff as an adult doesn't make you any less mature.

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Lone_Wolf_and_Cub

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No.

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deactivated-61215780523f9

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not so much.

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RukelnikovFTW

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#26  Edited By RukelnikovFTW

There's a tendency among mature people to stop fixating on "darker and edgier" works. That's mostly a teenager thing.

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BullPR

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#27  Edited By BullPR

No.

Teenagers and young adults that lack self confidence may think that but that's it.

Then people grow up.

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DeathandGrim

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@kyrees said:
@legacy6364 said:

Being mature is irrelevant to ones taste in entertainment.

Only a child would believe otherwise.

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Penguin-Dust

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Believing that being darker and edgier makes story content mature is a sign of immaturity.

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Fanawtik

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#30  Edited By Fanawtik

I can make a graphic story where Captain America is shot at by a mugger and responds by breaking every bone in his body, crucifying him, and then leaving his ~20 children and wife to burn in their home. Is that suitable for younger kids? Probably not. Does that make the story meaningful? No, but that seems to be a common misconception among teenagers. This probably wouldn't be as enjoyable to a 6 year old as it would be to a 15 year old, but that 15 year old is probably more likely to find value in stories that deal with actually mature themes (though they can still be present in entertainment aimed at younger children. Don't crucify me, Comic Vine). It's about mental development and higher understanding. In my eyes, the tendency to lean toward darker content is (mostly) separate.

In plenty of cases, this seems to calm down during the adult years. "I remember when superhero movies were fun!" This reminds me of a conversation I had with my mother. She said something like she had enough to deal with in her adult life and she would rather just be entertained than watch something that disturbed her.

At the end of the day, an edge ≠ maturity.

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mrmonster

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#31  Edited By mrmonster

@paragonnate said:

There's a tendency for people who think they're mature, to like darker and edgier content. And then set themselves up on a pedestal because of it.

@Penguin-Dust said:

Believing that being darker and edgier makes story content mature is a sign of immaturity.

@bullpr said:

No.

Teenagers and young adults that lack self confidence may think that but that's it.

Then people grow up.

Pretty much all this. For the most part, the whole attitude of "I'm too old for all that PG-13 crap, I want to see naked boobs and F-bombs" is an attitude exclusively held by the immature.

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BatmanPlusJay

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I'm immature af I still laugh at dick jokes

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BatmanPlusJay

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#33  Edited By BatmanPlusJay

@bullpr: What do self confidence gotta do with thinking mature people like darker, edgier entertainment? How tf do that even correlate?

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BlackLegRaph

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Dark and edgy material can still have an aspect of immaturity to it too.

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FullMetalEmprah

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Not in my case, to me I can like something dark or edgy, but I can also like the complete opposite. Dark/edgy doesn't always equal mature or good.

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BullPR

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@batmanplusjay: don't be so surprised. It is not rocket science, just very simple psychology. Based on the mirror test (known since the 70s) and the mirror technique (used to build self confidence).

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BatmanPlusJay

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#37  Edited By BatmanPlusJay

@bullpr: Oh, another psychologist master on the internet. Why am I not surprised.. I also wouldn't be surprised if you said "People who think more mature people tend to play battlefield are people who are usually 15 year olds with fragile egos and minor retardation, it's just simple psychology"

Lmao I still can't get over the fact that you think people who are very confident can't think mature people tend to like darker humor more.

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BullPR

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@batmanplusjay: I am not a psychologist. I did make some rotations in psychiatry when I was a medical student, but it was more than 20 years ago.

Use the key words I provided in my previous answer to search a little bit the subject.

As I said, nothing very special in my comment. Self explanatory for most people. If you don't get it, again, use the key words from my previous post.