Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
First off, that Whizbang guy is a weirdo. No one should be listening to anything he says.
Second, I definitely agree that there's an idea that "if it's grim, it has to be more thoughtful and intelligent than the stuff that makes us laugh." All I can think is that this thought occurs to us when we're about 13 years old and pretending we don't like Lego any more and many of us never fully grow out of it.
I will put The Good Place up against any somber movie about how society functions and death any day -- it's got more ideas in 30 minutes than many doorstop non-fiction books do.
Second, I definitely agree that there's an idea that "if it's grim, it has to be more thoughtful and intelligent than the stuff that makes us laugh." All I can think is that this thought occurs to us when we're about 13 years old and pretending we don't like Lego any more and many of us never fully grow out of it.
I will put The Good Place up against any somber movie about how society functions and death any day -- it's got more ideas in 30 minutes than many doorstop non-fiction books do.