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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 16, 2013 14:11:59 GMT -5
Post by Umbra on Aug 16, 2013 14:11:59 GMT -5
Let's discuss a little bit about the philosophy of fantasy--the realm we know as novels, movies, anime/manga, television, and video games. Is fantasy entirely good and harmless to people or does it perhaps make the line between reality and fiction blurry, to a fault? Or do you take a middle position and think that it can be good or bad?
For myself, I am in the middle position, but leaning toward "good." Generally, I think a good dose of fantasy is healthy for people. It can serve as a form of escapism from the tribulations of real life and can open people's imaginations up to greater levels than they expect.
Also, about the concepts in works of fiction, especially sci-fi, such as interplanetary travel and magic--are they really too abstract? To me these concepts are on an equal level of absurdity as the wonders of our own world, such as nuclear fusion and electro-magnetism (I mean, who would have thought 1,000 years ago these things existed!). Yes, these latter two happenings can be explained in our universe--but that may be only because the natural laws we know are contingent with only our universe. And so it is not too far-fetched to imagine fictional universes with their own natural laws and wonders, and that is why we are so drawn to fantasy--we indulge in the thought of immersing ourselves in a universe which is seemingly plausible to us. Because, let's face it, real life can be very dull and boring at times.
However, that brings me to the other side--how fantasy can be bad. If one overdoses on fantasy, they may find it difficult distinguishing what is real and what is not. I don't mean this too literally, but in such a manner that one may be psychologically confused about their environment--"This pencil I am holding exists. Why doesn't this giant airship also exist?" Suddenly, things can become very distant and the "real" world may seem unfittingly surreal. One may find themselves aloof and may have trouble making real-world commitments and connections because of their long-term vacation.
So, concluding this long-winded post, I maintain that fantasy is essentially healthy for people, however, like anything not taken into moderation, it can become something bad. What are your thoughts?
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 16, 2013 16:45:32 GMT -5
Post by AokiShizuku on Aug 16, 2013 16:45:32 GMT -5
I was in the position of saying 'Fantasy is always good' but then after reading your post I had to take what you said into consideration. Like you, I too am a huge fan of fantasy. For me, fantasy is a form of escapism. I want to see what is possible and what is not in a fantasy world. It's very interesting to see a world use magic to create objects, gain unusual abilities or even give things life. Yet when I see limitations such as not being able to use teleportation to travel to unknown lands or healing magic is not present in that world, it really gets me interested on how people deal with those limitations.
I never did take into consideration the negative side-effects that you mentioned. As a child, I loved fantasy worlds more than any other and I did admire a lot of JRPG heroes. So I guess you could say I grew up only knowing the positives. I learned quite a bit from fantasy games, unfortunately I did not read so much as a child and I don't read that many books even today. That aside, I never found myself in the 'bad' side of fantasy despite indulging in it so much. I always thought that fantasy could never be real (despite many times wanting it to be) hence why I never thought why it shouldn't be real.
But hey, things that can't be explained now might be seen as sorcery but many years later we might find a plausible and coherent explanation of the things we see as 'magic'
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 17, 2013 1:58:33 GMT -5
Post by sukotsuto on Aug 17, 2013 1:58:33 GMT -5
Fantasy and Reality are pretty much the same thing to me. I always felt that one is usually the source of inspiration for the other, and vice-versa. When it comes to sci-fi and magic - look at how we are right now! What we have right now, all this modern technology, is basically what equates to magic back in the day, or things back in old sci-fi books/tv/movies starting to come true. Fire spell? Flame thrower! Messages used to arrive by horse, over the course of days or weeks - now we get them in an instant via phone and email! Same goes for travel - no more horse carriages and worrying about bandits attacking you on your two week long trek across the land, as now, we have automobiles that can do it in a day! (And bandits of back then are muggers today!). We no longer need to use wyverns and dragons to fly, as we have aeroplanes and jet planes! With all these life experiences, I have a growing fascination for reality and the everyday life! It's no longer boring to me, especially once I get to travel across the world map and go to different places, different continents! And if I can't experience the fantasy I want in real life, I always have games, movies, shows, etc. to turn to. Or I can just ry to draw or paint this fantasy myself.
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 17, 2013 8:34:15 GMT -5
Post by Youngster Joey on Aug 17, 2013 8:34:15 GMT -5
I think fantasy's inherently a good thing. It encourages creativity and the questioning of our limits and that of the world around us. I'm sure inspiration for a lot of technology came from the "what if" of fantasy. But aside from that, sometimes it's just nice to relax and imagine something different for a change of pace.
I don't think there's really a bad side to fantasy. Sure, you can get too involved in fantasy at the expense of experiencing the real world, but I think that's indicative of greater underlying problems--the fantasy obsession is a symptom and not a cause. In cases like that, the question to ask is why the person feels the need to escape from reality to begin with. I know a couple people who do literally live in a fantasy world, and all of them (perhaps not coincidentally) are on the autism spectrum, struggle with depression, and have very few friends.
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 17, 2013 15:20:30 GMT -5
Post by Umbra on Aug 17, 2013 15:20:30 GMT -5
Ah, yes. I see what you mean about fantasy being a symptom of an underlying problem, but not necessarily the cause itself. If there is one thing I learned in the world of psychology it is that correlation does not equal causation. There are most likely other factors adding up to fantasy obsession than fantasy itself, and I wouldn't think most people who immerse themselves greatly in fantasy become negatively effected by it--only a portion of other people who have maybe a facet of other problems. My view of a bad side to fantasy is then probably the observance of a certain combination of these other problems.
You know, though, there is actually a true bad side to fantasy--fan fiction.
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 19, 2013 6:46:10 GMT -5
Post by Youngster Joey on Aug 19, 2013 6:46:10 GMT -5
Aha. Fanfiction.
Out of curiosity, how many people here have written fanfiction at one time or another?
I wrote this horrible Pokemon x Gundam Wing x Dragonball Z fanfic back in elementary school in which Ash Ketchum was actually the son of Lance and some lady, but Delia Ketchum KIDNAPPED him as a baby and raised him as her own. Ash was also a Super Saiyan who could read minds, fly, teleport, and was a mean guitarist to boot. He had six kids with Sabrina the gym leader, but divorced her and left her for a younger woman. They lived on King Kai's planet. Shortly after, Sabrina and two of their children got hit by a truck and died. Their grandson, naturally, was Duo Maxwell.
I don't even know.
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 19, 2013 6:54:09 GMT -5
Post by AokiShizuku on Aug 19, 2013 6:54:09 GMT -5
...... Wow. You were in your own league as a kid weren't you?
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 19, 2013 7:13:37 GMT -5
Post by Youngster Joey on Aug 19, 2013 7:13:37 GMT -5
We'll say I was... creative. Yes, creative.
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 19, 2013 18:34:31 GMT -5
Post by Umbra on Aug 19, 2013 18:34:31 GMT -5
I never wrote fan fanction, per se, but I did create some horrible amateur comics of the Lord of the Rings when I was younger. Wow, it's so embarrassing even talking about this just because of how horrible it was, but there is no shame here! Frodo was FRO-DOUGH (a dough-man with an afro), Aragorn was ARACORN (he threw corn at people), Legalus(sp?) was LEGLESS (literally), and finally Gimly was CHIMNEY (also literally--he had a chimney for a head.)
What a creative childhood.
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 19, 2013 21:38:31 GMT -5
Post by Youngster Joey on Aug 19, 2013 21:38:31 GMT -5
That actually sounds pretty entertaining. Are you a good artist at all?
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 20, 2013 2:49:50 GMT -5
Post by Umbra on Aug 20, 2013 2:49:50 GMT -5
Lol. No. I only did little doodles for fun when I was young--never continued it after that. If I had to pick what I can draw the best, though, it would be drawing abstract, nonsensical creatures. I'm really good at that for some reason (or at least with the idea and not the nitty-gritty details). My brother, who is an aspiring artist, even commented on the creativity that goes into my abominable drawings. I guess I'm just naturally creative (And now that I think about it, I would make quite the monster artist for video games).
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Fantasy
Posted On: Aug 20, 2013 23:32:14 GMT -5
Post by gαявαge on Aug 20, 2013 23:32:14 GMT -5
When I was little, I made a crossover with the main characters of the animes I watched (Which were too many to remember), and included my original characters in them. It still wasn't as creative as YJ's hahahaha.
I like to write, but after I get the overall concept of the story and design the main character(s), writing tends to fall short in importance to other activities of my daily life, so I've never really finished any story as of yet. Plus, I like originality, so anytime I start feeling my work is similar to another, I scrap it. So... yeah.
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