Allons-y!

On the Jukebox: "Hey! Ho! Let's Go!" by the Ramones
Quote: “Think you've seen it all? Think again. Outside those doors, we might see anything. We could find new worlds, terrifying monsters, impossible things. And if you come with me... nothing will ever be the same again!” ~ The Doctor
Flair: Dr. Who-lala

I read a lot of fiction. My perennial favorites are British Classic, Fantasy and Sci-Fi. I recently had a conversation with an old friend about why this type of literature is so appealing. We concluded it was because it is the ultimate form of escape. Who wants to watch a show or read a story about people who are exactly like them and dealing with the same mundane sort of problems? Wouldn't you rather fight dragons/aliens or make out with a sexy (possibly shirtless) pirate/werewolf/vampire/time lord? Oh yeah!

It seems these days the need to escape our bleak reality has become something of an epidemic. When Renaissance Faires and Comic-Con are not available, reading or watching movies are an easy way to do so. That’s the reason why “feel good” movies do so well at the box office. (BTW, did you know that the movie industry is one of the few recession proof work forces out there?) It is nourishing and uplifting to the soul to witness scenes of compassion, beauty, and truth. We all yearn for some idealized version of happiness, but we all have different ideas as to what constitutes this Utopia. I’d like to cite a few examples from recent pop culture.

Stephenie Meyer is an author whose talent isn’t equal to her immense appeal, yet her work has a fanatical cult like following. Women of all ages hunger for more of the romance she wove between an everyman, errr, everywoman and a handsome and flawed vampire bad boy in the Twilight series. I highly doubt the appeal is based on the fact that the romance is supernatural so much as it is based on the hero being as near to Mr. Darcy as the rising generation will ever come. Women want to categorize their love story as something out of a fairy tale with a man that goes to extraordinary measures to win her and protect her. Ladies, please take note that even women who find charming vampire husbands need an escape: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/woman_married_to_fat_emotionally

Lest you think women are the only maudlin creatures out there to get worked up over ‘syrupy slop’, behold the appeal of James Cameron’s latest work, Avatar, which I thought bore a remarkable resemblance to Disney’s Pocahontas and Fern Gully: The Last Rain Forest, except with Smurfs and GI Joes and way better special effects. According to an article on CNN (found at http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/) Online Avatar forums are reporting over 1000 posts from people experiencing depression and suicidal thinking after seeing the film. What the heck???

Okay, I get it. Maybe that makes me a freak… but I totally understand. I go through withdrawals when my television series end (Pushing Daisies, Battle Star Galactica, Quantum Leap, etc…) It feels like I lost my dear friends and the world we shared. I get that way after watching all the clips from Final Fantasy video games or solving Myst – that was such a pretty place. I get sad every time I finish a Jane Austen novel even though I like the story’s conclusion. I hate the ending part of it – the same is true of the Harry Potter series and the LOTR films. It’s because I realize that it’s time to return to reality and face it with renewed strength and inspiration and I fear that it will be hard with nothing to look forward to.

Recently the 10th Doctor regenerated in the long running series Dr. Who. What the 11th Doctor will be like remains to be seen. I hope he is snarky and not ginger. I feel I lost another friend. Yet I like when the characters depart happily and the story ends with the Utopian sunset such as Rose and the new 10th Doctor on the beach (talk about sweet satisfaction.) The 10th Doctor did that for me, which is more than I can say about ‘Starbuck’ being some sort of weird half-baked angel. The BSG conclusion didn’t leave me with any warm fuzzies and I won’t be tuning in for any of the spin offs.

So why is too much escape bad for us? Easy – creating real relationships with other people is the key to happiness. We can’t spend our lives online or in books. Those characters offer us great examples of the best ideals we as humans can achieve, but we need to get out there and make our world more like the ones we long for. The most enduring forms of fantasy stories all involve the struggle to become perfect and protect that which is pure, the triumph of good over evil and true love over bigotry. So go out there and earn your right to say as my dear friend Bilbo Baggins, "I think I'm quite ready for another adventure!" and when you do I will reply with an enthusiastic, "Allons-y!!!" (which for those who don't know means "Let's go!")