Fantasy Isn't Make Believe
Many people deride the fantasy genre as escapism, as if those who indulge in fantasy should be embarrassed or—at the very least—recognize that their pursuits are less scholarly, less valuable than those of folks who engage in more serious media. We’re hiding from the real world, escaping into make-believe.
The thing they fail to realize is that fantasy is more real than “reality,” whatever that means, anyway.
I realize that sounds crazy but stay with me for a minute.
Fantasy isn’t make-believe, it’s reality taken to extremes. You might be a hobbit when you feel small and impotent, but you don’t realize the deep strength and resilience that rests inside you, just waiting for a dragon or a ring to expose it.
The greedy dragon who hoards treasure at the expense of anyone who dares enter its cave IS the greedy, backstabbing CEO taken to extremes.
The woman who remains kind, gentle, generous, and overcomes her hardship through imagination and grit IS Cinderella.
Sure, it’s all a bit fantastical, but taking our human experiences and heightening them serves a really interesting purpose. It allows us to see the heart of things without getting clouded by the mundane veil that makes our everyday lives so dull and confusing. The mean old lady down the street is unmasked as the witch, the friend who picks us up when we’ve fallen is a hero on a white horse, and that demon we’ve been fighting for years is our arch-nemesis who is never quite able to defeat us.
Fantasy is reality without the mask.
If you look back over your life through the lens of fantasy, you will see yourself trudging purposefully across treacherous landscapes, defeating dragons (or nasty bosses,) besting evil sorcerers (or, manipulative “friends,”) and conquering world-ending plagues. Oh, don’t tell me you’ve never felt like your whole world was coming to an end…but you’re still here, aren’t you?
You are a flipping HERO.
You’ll also see those regular folks who have made your life better for the miracles they really are: unicorns, princesses, helpful fairies, courageous centaurs, and daring heroes. And the skills you’ve gained that helped you on your journey are magic swords, amulets, and impenetrable armor.
Life is magical, guys, and you’re living it every day. That’s why fantasy is such a powerful genre.
So the next time you walk out your front door, put on your fantasy glasses and remind yourself that you’re the hero of your own story, and you’ve never yet been defeated.