Black September: 'Two and a Half Men' to 'Contagion,' Pop Culture Gets Dark

From the big to the small screen, September was the cruelest month.

The overwhelming pessimism that gripped America throughout the end of summer and the dawn of fall has cast a shadow across the cultural landscape.

From the global pandemic at the heart of “Contagion” to a heist gone violently wrong in “Drive,” the films that jockeyed for moviegoers’ increasingly scarce dollars were a downbeat lot.

Even an inspirational sports movie like “Moneyball” ended not with a World Series title, but with the small market A’s swept in the first round of the playoffs. In place of “Chariots of Fire” uplift, the film ends with Brad Pitt listening to a song recorded by his teenage daughter. Its chorus: “You’re such a loser, Dad.”

On the tube, the financially desperate contestants on “The X-Factor” prostrated themselves in front of Simon Cowell in the hopes of snatching the $5 million booty, while Comedy Central Roast fans watched comedians brush off domestic abuse jokes and read a fake obituary for target Charlie Sheen.

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Also read: 'X Factor': Great, If You Like Watching Desperate People Play the Lottery (Review)

Even “Two and a Half Men,” the most popular and mainstream show on television, premiered with a particularly bleak bang, killing off one of its main characters, Charlie Harper, after star Sheen’s heavily publicized meltdown resulted in his firing.

As the laugh track crescendoed, Charlie was reveled to have been hit so hard by an oncoming train that it made him explode like a "balloon full of meat."

It may not have been planned that way, but either through scheduling happenstance or from a sincere desire to reflect our times, the movies and television shows that have aired or premiered in recent weeks collectively form a howl of rage and discontent.

Also read: Is Hollywood Bailing on Obama?

Behind all these downbeat diversions was the troika of Republican presidential debates that took place over the last four weeks. In one, Congressman Ron Paul implied that a person who had opted out of the private insurance market should be left to fend for themselves if they got sick -- that was greeted with cries of “yes” and applause.

Not to be outdone, Rick Perry experienced an equally rapturous response from the crowd, after moderator Brian Williams reminded viewers the Texas governor had overseen 234 executions.

Is it any wonder there's all this ill-feeling?

According to the a study in Rasmussen Reports, a plurality, or some 46 percent, of Americans believe the nation’s best days are in the past. A mere 34 percent maintains the best days have yet to come.