The Reality: As we pointed out yesterday, people are flocking to see the new Batman movie, The Dark Night. To make the story more interesting, as people walk out of the movie, it's the darkness that has them captivated.
The Thought: I remember when the new Batman series started that a key point of emphasis was that it was dark again. As I watched it, I loved it, and while my wife had doubts, when she finally saw it, she loved it too. I remember walking out of Seven a number of years ago, and loving that my skin was crawling. I can even recall people talking about having this effect as they walked out of The Passion of the Christ, not because of the story, but because of the darkness and vividness of the crucifixion scene.
The Question: What is it about darkness, be it in film, the writing of Poe, or the artwork of van Gogh, that captivates us?