Seth MacFarlane Calls Out TV’s Dark Tone & Dystopian Stories : “Give People Hope”
Seth MacFarlane wants Hollywood to tell more hopeful stories instead of focusing so much on dark and gloomy themes. On the podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name,” as reported by Variety, the creator of “Family Guy” shared his thoughts about how TV shows and movies have become too negative. He thinks audiences really want stories that inspire and give hope.
MacFarlane talked about his own show, “The Orville,” as an example of the kind of storytelling he wishes was more common. He said, “That’s why I did ‘The Orville’… because when I was a kid, Hollywood was providing that voice in various forms.”
He added that back then, there was a lot more hope in entertainment. But today, he feels Hollywood is stuck making stories that are mostly pessimistic and dystopian. “The dishes that we are serving up are so dystopian and so pessimistic. And yeah, there’s a lot to be pessimistic about, but it’s so one-sided. There’s nothing we’re doing that’s providing anyone an image of hope,”
MacFarlane explained. He misses the optimistic feeling he got from shows like “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
While he praised “The Handmaid’s Tale” for being “beautifully written, beautifully directed,” he said there’s way too much dark and heavy content compared to hopeful stories. He also criticized Hollywood’s love for antiheroes, saying that shows like “The Sopranos” started the trend of focusing on deeply flawed characters.
MacFarlane made it clear that telling hopeful stories is important. He said, “As we all learned from this election, nobody gives a f**k what celebrities think. We can tweet, we can talk. Like, people don’t care. They don’t care. What we do do well is tell stories. And we’re not doing the best job right now of telling those stories in a way that gives people hope.”
His message is simple: Hollywood needs to change direction and create stories that lift people up instead of dragging them down. With his background in mixing humor and heart, MacFarlane wants to see more movies and shows that leave viewers feeling hopeful and inspired.
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