Luke Cook from 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' shares why people find TV series with a dark side appealing
What was once considered a blasphemous subject is now a perfect recipe for hit shows. Our prime examples being 'Game of Thrones,' with all its incests, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's glorification of Satan and 'Lucifer', a show that makes the devil look irresistibly hot.
The inclination towards dark shows is on the rise and with the Archie Comics based story taking a darker turn, the younger audience seems to be more invested in the genre more than ever; a trend we started noticing with the success of '13 Reasons Why.'
The question as to why we are witnessing a rise in trend for dark shows was best answered by the Dark Lord himself, Luke Cook from 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina', who exclusively explained to MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) how the technology-driven millennial culture is serving both as a prison and an escape.
Australian actor Cook said: "Here’s my theory on why darkness and horror are so popular right now, I could be wrong, but here it is," he presented.
"I think our technology addictions are essentially a way to escape the painful nature of living," he shared, adding, "Instead of looking up and seeing the fact that we need to actually work on our lives, we put our heads in our phones and like pictures of salads, and vacuous people in bikinis on a beach selling us Skinny Tea. I think you’ll find that the more you experience pain, the more fully you’ll experience pleasure. But if you run away from it, you’ll be an emotional hermit."
"So when do we ever get to really feel? We have understandably numbed ourselves. So getting to feel scared in a controlled environment (like watching tv) is so much more invigorating for a lot of people, because maybe in front of the TV is the only time you’re actually allowing yourself to feel!" answered Cook.
The 32-year-old Australian actor was catapulted to fame when he played the role of the charming Lucifer Morningstar in Netflix hit 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.'
Now that the Dark Lord answered the curious question, fans in general trace the genesis of dark shows happened as we reached saturation for happy shows; comics gave a new angle to the horror genre with all its gory subjects starting right from Manga.
Archie comics, which started in 1939 took a darker turn and it has successfully secured TV hits with 'Riverdale,' and 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.' Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics has been credited and critiqued for the transition but according to Sacasa, Archie Comics had been experimenting with the light and dark subjects for over a decade as zombies, extraterrestrial serial killers were introduced in the comic series. In 'Riverdale,' and 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,' murder and cult theories abound.
'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,' which has been renewed for season 3 and 4 was a massive breakaway from the sunshine sitcom of '90s 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch.' While the reaction to the new Sabrina, played by Kiernan Shipka, was mixed, its reception, however, has been splendid, proving that the dark series is the future. By dark series, it does not mean ghosts and spirits, though these do feature in 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,' "dark" would mean inclination towards the horror genre without it being out and out dark. It is more stylized and personalized.
"I think it’s great that artists are pushing the envelope. I get a lot of friends, who are adults, saying they’d love to watch the show but are too scared, which is hilarious," laughed Cook, who recently filmed a movie called 'Classified Killer', a psychological thriller about a woman who secretly films people, shaming them on the internet.
Here is MEAWW's detailed interview with Cook on everything you are curious about the Dark Lord.
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