Why does media need to be offensive in order to be considered good?

[Raz]

I have been wondering to myself why people feel that the only good media is offensive media. Like why does media need swearing, slurs, violence, sex, unending gore, to even be considered good? Why do we want characters who are villains rather than characters who are heroes? Back In the day the main character was always suppose to be the good guy who does the right things, now it's like people want only cruel characters who do morally bad things for morally ambiguous reasons.

Have we just been conditioned to not want heroes and stories of good people triumphing over evil and darkness? Are heroes not cool enough unless they call someone a racial slur or something? When did wanting good and wholesome entertainment become a bad thing?

[Lime]

Dunno, none of my interests are offensive.

[eram]

You should start consuming some wholesome content

[OoOoOoooOOoOoorgle]

All of these things can be done in ways that register as offensive or not; it's contextual and depends on if it fits aesthetically or if it's just there to be bombastic or shocking.


But really the answer on average is, people are just desensitized. If someone isn't getting stabbed 37 times and decapitated with a chainsaw it isn't "scary."

It's a self-perpetuating cycle; media creates the desensitization while also escalating it and if you don't think this is intentional, look closer

[Thegamingnerd4525]

I think the main idea is that people want to live through a power fantasy with things they would never be able to do irl or they want to break the mold as it feels too much like the same story over and over again. At least to my understanding

[Sixtyfivekills]

Because it's fun.


Ninja Gaiden is about you saving the world from craziest BS imaginable in the most violent way possible and being cold about it, and there's also women in skimpy outfits kicking ass as well. Its fun.



I also enjoy laid back games though, because they're fun as well.

[Breathe]

Why not complex characters that do not scale the protagonist nor antagonist categories? I think such things are because being polarizing is key in creating an invested audience. As far as why things need to have obligatory sex scenes or cursing for main characters, I think it could be chalked up to laziness in writing or a reflection of the culture, maybe both. Culture has always contained the crude. Human history is rife with its own ills.

[Day 1]

I can't remember the last time truly offensive content was popular. The early 2000s, sure. But lately? I think we have South Park and uh...

[GlaceonChireiden]

When has this been the case? As far as I see stuff like superheroes are still super popular

As are games like Sonic which is still very "heroes vs villains" oriented