A Sense of Proportion
In a recent conversation I had with Harley, I spoke aloud something I'd been thinking about...
I (and most of you who might be reading this) exist in circles in which it's not a big deal to say something like, "Okay, so picture a world where the common person believes that winged leonine creatures are the dominant species..."
I take it for granted, this simple ability to adjust my perception to imagine an alternate world—period. That's really not an everyday thing. I've met plenty of people who find books or movies not set in modern times in a completely real world distasteful or, more likely, completely foreign to rational thought. As a writer of fantasy fiction, though, it's an everyday notion.
Of course, I take that to another extreme sometimes. When I watch a movie trailer that flashes across the screen dramatically, "Based on a true story..." I get disappointed. Real life? I much prefer fiction, (1) because it's more likely to be supernatural or fantastical, and (2) because whatever events occur, it didn't actually happen. If it's a tragedy or a crime movie, I'll feel better about it. Give me The Ring any day, but not as a real life event! Scare me to death if you can, but I'll actually be more freaked out knowing it's not real. Movies that are a little too close to reality just aren't that fun for me. Give me fiction! Give me another world!
It's like how lots of people I see on the train, who live in the Bronx, like reading novels about drugs, gangs, crime, marital affairs, or any of a dozen other depressing real-life issues you hear about on the news each night. That amazes me, that—as I see it, anyway—inability to detach oneself from Real Life, even for just a few minutes.
But don't misunderstand. This isn't disappointment with the real world. For one, the real world gives substance to fantasy; without it we would't have any basis for the fantastical. As well, the real world does have some pretty cool stuff—and that's just things I've seen with my own eyes.
A recent project of mine has had me researching the Aztec Empire a little bit. Dang, that's some pretty amazing stuff. Tenochtitlan, its capital city, was huge, and built upon the surface of a lake and accessed only by four narrow bridges. They erected great temples and pyramids, and they didn't even have the wheel.
In fact, this is a great example. Our real world produced something amazing we modern folks could never have dreamt up...it feels like a humble testament to me to base something in a fantasy world on such real-world wonders.
At this point I'm just babbling. Escapee episode 15 is up, by the way.
I (and most of you who might be reading this) exist in circles in which it's not a big deal to say something like, "Okay, so picture a world where the common person believes that winged leonine creatures are the dominant species..."
I take it for granted, this simple ability to adjust my perception to imagine an alternate world—period. That's really not an everyday thing. I've met plenty of people who find books or movies not set in modern times in a completely real world distasteful or, more likely, completely foreign to rational thought. As a writer of fantasy fiction, though, it's an everyday notion.
Of course, I take that to another extreme sometimes. When I watch a movie trailer that flashes across the screen dramatically, "Based on a true story..." I get disappointed. Real life? I much prefer fiction, (1) because it's more likely to be supernatural or fantastical, and (2) because whatever events occur, it didn't actually happen. If it's a tragedy or a crime movie, I'll feel better about it. Give me The Ring any day, but not as a real life event! Scare me to death if you can, but I'll actually be more freaked out knowing it's not real. Movies that are a little too close to reality just aren't that fun for me. Give me fiction! Give me another world!
It's like how lots of people I see on the train, who live in the Bronx, like reading novels about drugs, gangs, crime, marital affairs, or any of a dozen other depressing real-life issues you hear about on the news each night. That amazes me, that—as I see it, anyway—inability to detach oneself from Real Life, even for just a few minutes.
But don't misunderstand. This isn't disappointment with the real world. For one, the real world gives substance to fantasy; without it we would't have any basis for the fantastical. As well, the real world does have some pretty cool stuff—and that's just things I've seen with my own eyes.
A recent project of mine has had me researching the Aztec Empire a little bit. Dang, that's some pretty amazing stuff. Tenochtitlan, its capital city, was huge, and built upon the surface of a lake and accessed only by four narrow bridges. They erected great temples and pyramids, and they didn't even have the wheel.
In fact, this is a great example. Our real world produced something amazing we modern folks could never have dreamt up...it feels like a humble testament to me to base something in a fantasy world on such real-world wonders.
At this point I'm just babbling. Escapee episode 15 is up, by the way.
posted by Jeff LaSala at 8:12 AM
7 Comments:
I so know what you mean. I live in the world everyday. I want escapism from my entertainment, not more "reality."
I think we're being a little hard on the people who enjoy reality here.
I would say that I watch 90% animated programming. I am not a fan of cop dramas, law dramas, hospital dramas- to me much of this signifies the unconscious shift to ultraviolence as the predominant "fetish" of human culture. Everyone rails agains "sexual content" but they show shows about fictional rapes, ACTUAL rapes (also called the Local News), murders, drug overdoses, family van explosions, death, death, and so much violence. That's Prime Time television right there.
Violence is the New Sex. Hmm... album title?
I'm not a big fan of that type of programming, but it makes me think about a C.M. Kornbluth short story about a culture that embraces violence and vilifies sex to the point of mental psychosis.
First off, we all know that reality influences the fiction we love, and without real life events, these fancifull stories would not exist.
But Second.. i know some people who... well, the don't dislike fantasy stuff- they just don't get the interest. I'll be the first person agree if someone says we're genetically predisposed to like or dislike things. I don't know why anyone would want to run a marathon... I see the value in it, but nothing in me can become interested. Some people are like that with sci-fi and fantasy. It's not "Anti" at all.. it's "A" they are afantyasyfans.
But I forgot to mention one thing-- fiction set in reality IS fantasy. Even true stories have some sense of elaboration in them. Really though, what's the difference between a drug dealer story set in 1980 and a drug dealer story set in 2064? More robots in one, right? So, maybe some present day stuff isn't "high fantasy", or the "fantasy genre" or something, but it is indeed a fictional story. For someone that doesn't live in a world of drug dealers, stock brokers, lawyers or whatever, that "reality" is just as fantastic as some Shrike or something.
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My 6th paragraph is essentially my disclaimer on all that, Josh. I'm not anti-reality. Mostly I'm just marveling at many people's inability to comprehend anything BUT reality. I'm not even saying they suck. I just know I'm in a different place than they. Don't read that to mean a superior one.
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Oh, I wasn't thinking it superior at all. There are a lot of people that actually ARE anti-fantasy or anti-reality, but there's plenty of ground for both people who favor one or choose not to endorse the other... and the people who just can't comprehend one or the other.
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