The place I escape to
I have many things to post about, but right now, I'm going to talk about escapism
A few weeks ago I was talking to my boss about Sex and the City, a TV show that she loves and I absolutely cannot stand to watch. She explained that for her it was escapism, and I said that was fine, but the world of SATC wasn't anywhere I wanted to escape to. Then she asked where I did want to escape to, and I was stumped.
I can easily tell you my favourite TV show ever: M*A*S*H. I can tell you that my favourite novel is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and I can't point out my favourite movie but it would probably be something grim, depressing or weird. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes to mind but it really varies depending on the day. The anime I've watched the most is Neon Genesis Evangelion and I doubt that will ever change, because I never get sick of it, and in my darkest moments, nothing does for me what that series does.
None of these things are escapism. When I think of the stories I love, they tend to be dark, or quirky, or ambiguous, or full of equal amounts of joy and pain. They're not escapist. But it occured to me today that although I don't hold them up as favourites, there are stories which I enjoy in an escapist way: adventure stories.
I say 'adventure' rather than 'action' because the kind of movie with secret agents and guns tends to leave me cold. Give me an archeologist or a historian as a protagonist, though, and I'm in fantasy land for a while. Give me grand outer space adventures, or treason on the high seas, and I'll switch off my brain and just enjoy. The examples that first come to mind are Star Wars, Indiana Jones, National Treasure, Pirates of the Caribbean and Gurren Lagann although that has its dark moments as well.
(I also enjoy a group of select, very funny, very good high school movies, but they're in a special category with only five members called 'films I keep watching with my sister and never ever get sick of'.)
I read an article a while ago comparing SATC to 'male fantasy' movies in which the male fantasy was supposed to be 'manning up' and then getting a girlfriend as a reward. For me the escapism has nothing to do with 'being a man' or getting the girl - it's just that this stuff looks fun. I want to escape booby traps in abandoned ruins or get into a swordfight or swing on a rope right over the villain's head, as he shakes his fist in rage, whether it's in Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Caribbean.
A few weeks ago I was talking to my boss about Sex and the City, a TV show that she loves and I absolutely cannot stand to watch. She explained that for her it was escapism, and I said that was fine, but the world of SATC wasn't anywhere I wanted to escape to. Then she asked where I did want to escape to, and I was stumped.
I can easily tell you my favourite TV show ever: M*A*S*H. I can tell you that my favourite novel is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and I can't point out my favourite movie but it would probably be something grim, depressing or weird. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes to mind but it really varies depending on the day. The anime I've watched the most is Neon Genesis Evangelion and I doubt that will ever change, because I never get sick of it, and in my darkest moments, nothing does for me what that series does.
None of these things are escapism. When I think of the stories I love, they tend to be dark, or quirky, or ambiguous, or full of equal amounts of joy and pain. They're not escapist. But it occured to me today that although I don't hold them up as favourites, there are stories which I enjoy in an escapist way: adventure stories.
I say 'adventure' rather than 'action' because the kind of movie with secret agents and guns tends to leave me cold. Give me an archeologist or a historian as a protagonist, though, and I'm in fantasy land for a while. Give me grand outer space adventures, or treason on the high seas, and I'll switch off my brain and just enjoy. The examples that first come to mind are Star Wars, Indiana Jones, National Treasure, Pirates of the Caribbean and Gurren Lagann although that has its dark moments as well.
(I also enjoy a group of select, very funny, very good high school movies, but they're in a special category with only five members called 'films I keep watching with my sister and never ever get sick of'.)
I read an article a while ago comparing SATC to 'male fantasy' movies in which the male fantasy was supposed to be 'manning up' and then getting a girlfriend as a reward. For me the escapism has nothing to do with 'being a man' or getting the girl - it's just that this stuff looks fun. I want to escape booby traps in abandoned ruins or get into a swordfight or swing on a rope right over the villain's head, as he shakes his fist in rage, whether it's in Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Caribbean.