Escapism.
Now, this might not seem particularly bad to some of you. But as a sci-fi/fantasy writer, I hear this a lot. And it is pretty much never used in a positive light. The reasoning is usually that escapism is bad because all it does is provide people with a way to avoid their problems and/or the problems of the world. It does not help confront or solve issues, and therefore does not contribute to the betterment of mankind.
Mostly I got this kind of tripe from my writing workshops in college. My stories weren't "literature;" they did not address important socio-political issues. My professor seemed willfully unable to grasp the concept of writing as entertainment, and very often my speculative fiction was deemed "escapist" (as synonymous with "garbage"). It sounds silly now, but it took me a long time to get over this and realize that the elitism of Academia was just as pointless and arbitrary.
There's nothing wrong with escapism. Life is hard, and sometimes what you need is a few hours away from it. I think the great fear is that people will draw themselves completely away from the real world to immerse themselves in the fantasy world of some book, movie, TV series, or game (especially roleplaying games). While I'm sure this happens every once in a while, you can hardly blame the genre or medium for the individuals mental instability. If some kid gets completely wrapped up in WoW and forgets that's he's not an elf, well that kid clearly wasn't well to begin with. If it weren't the game, it was going to be something else eventually.
I also balk at the idea that proper "literature" changes the world with its challenge of important issues. Does that strike anybody else as conceited on the part of the literary world? To claim that your writing is the cause for social or political change is like saying the sun came up because you woke up this morning. Isn't it more likely that this was going to happen anyway? Let's face it, issues like racism and sexism weren't challenged because people read Jane Eyre or Native Son. Rather, these books were the results of social trends that were already in the works. And nowadays, with the speed of information being what it is, there really isn't any way to create a piece of literature to address an issue that isn't already on the forefront of some socio-political movement.
I like escapist media, because it helps me not be quite so cynical and pessimistic. If I spent my whole life in the real world, I don't think I'd have any hope left at all. The economy sucks and doesn' t seem to have any chance of getting better, and the common man's attempts at protesting this have essentially faded into obscurity. Should I be spending all my time writing things that rail against corporate greed or corrupt government? Newsflash: everybody already knows. So instead of getting all depressed by this, I'm going to create a fantasy world where things make sense. Yes, cities will be razed by armies of monsters, but at least I know that the good guys will prevail in the end.
Which actually brings up the point that escapist media can make some things seem a lot better. No matter how much you might think your life sucks, it could be worse. There could be hordes of zombies beating down your door or a fleet of alien warships hovering overhead.
Just keep that in mind the next time you're stuck in traffic: at least it's not because you're rushing out of the city that Godzilla is destroying.
No comments:
Post a Comment