"Whimsy"

[User09678]

Aibu to have a real aversion to the trend for "whimsy" in current films and TV series? I find it baffling, not funny, I can't suspend disbelief when I'm watching violent scenes interspersed with whatever this new thing is. It leaves me constantly having to shift mental gears to try and understand what's going on and is very unnatural. It might just me. Is it? Am I too old and grumpy now? I'm not sure how I'm meant to be taking it. I probably am being unreasonable. Maybe it always existed and I just notice it now.

Oh. Yes you're right. Well the second one did! And another person on this thread. Maybe two?

I loved the Louis Wain film ! To be fair his art is the epitome of whimsical so that seems fair enough.

I don't think Black Doves is whimsy though?

Well, maybe you could answer one of the dozens that didn't and give some examples! Or is this some sort of meta-commentary and you're trying to be whimsical yourself? - Clue:It's not working.

Me also. I only suggested Black Doves as it was the only thing I could think off that mixed light heartenedness with violence which in her brief and vague OP she did mention.

No idea of it is the sort of thing she was actually thinking off though.

If you want more responses wouldn’t it be better to just offer an example to clarify what you mean for those of us that aren’t quite up to speed?

Like the film Poor Things? That sort of whimsy? I loved that film!

Is it like opera music being used as background for Mafia malevolence?

Me too!

Gotta disagree with your opinion of the Louis Wain film. IMO it was excellent and I wept buckets at the end. Plus, I'm REALLY not a Benedict Cumberbatch fan but I thought he was great in this. Plus, surely, the quaintness and whimsy is necessary given the content of his art and the Victorian attitude towards it?

Yeah!

Maybe the Kingsmen films?

OP needs to be clearer

@DappledThings @KrisAkabusi @TMGM

This provides a far better explanation than I could articulate:

"My Shorter Oxford defines whimsical as “characterised by deviation from the ordinary as if determined by mere caprice.” I think of it as a flight of fancy ungrounded in any sort of emotional, psychological, geographical or anthropological realism. I am all for fantasy, by the way, and am not an advocate of unadulterated realism, though it too has its place in the cinema. But the best fantasy is an integral part of the storytelling, and has ties to reality – albeit often in deep cover, buried beneath metaphor. Whimsy, on the other hand, is tetherless. It aspires to be surrealism or magical realism, but it’s really just pulling arbitrary rabbits out of a hat, trying to impress us with its off-the-wall kookiness." Taken from: https://multiglom.com/2015/08/16/filmsy-when-whimsy-runs-riot-in-the-cinema/

And can you give us some examples?

Because frankly that's just word soup

Timeless, magical realism type stuff. All chapter headings and too bright colour contrasts. Examples are Chocolat, most Tim Burton movies and anything by Wes Anderson. Plus those weird Netflix series about nothing really.

Sheldon??

Definitely!

I had a bit of a crush on him when I was younger.

There's certainly plenty of whimsical stuff in Wes Anderson films, and the lighter Tim Burtons. I'd agree with Amelie. Also Midnight In Paris, The Princess Bride and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.

And that relates to the violence you mentioned in your OP how? You're still not giving any examples of anything that's annoyed you. Which is annoying i itself

Those are a mix of film genres though
Wes Anderson horror films set in dreams
Fantasy/Gothic fantasy

Those are films where you go in know what to expect. I think if you go into a Tim Burton film and expect straight up realism then you're in the wrong film

And none of those are like the OP appears to be referring to

Yes, OP, most of us understand the dictionary definition of ‘whimsy’, but you’ve just linked to an online article that lists some characteristics of whimsical films (and yes, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s films are whimsical, but he’s been making the same kinds of film for over 30 years — Delicatessen is from 1991! So it’s not new) none of which appear to feature the violence you also mention.

What films or tv programmes are you thinking of?

Fallout was what I had in mind when I wrote the post, of which I couldn't make it beyond the first episode. I had read a review of Dark Matter, the Jennifer Connely one, which said it really needed a bit of whimsy. It did not.

Ha ha ha I was trying to think of films with an excess of small china animals

What was that Australian programme with Jamie Dornan in it, and Killing Eve, which I actually liked overall. These are examples of this kinda thing. Maybe I'm too old. I enjoyed Amelie and especially Eternal Sunshine when they came out but I was much younger I think it would really annoy me now. Maybe it's not such a new thing but it seems to have infused itself into almost everything now. It doesn't mix with violence or heavy subject matter. It just feels like an annoying heavily put on affectation and my old brain can't cope with the constant gear changes. Sorry if I've annoyed everyone

There was whimsy in Shakespeare. The porter in Macbeth talking about needing a wee before Duncan's body is found.

I'll be honest I think Beetlejuice is the only Tim Burton film I've seen - and I love it. It's not got that jarring quality, or the feeling that they're wasting precious screen time, and my time, on someone else's private joke.