Why Does Fantasy Matter?
"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality" - Shirly Jackson
Says the woman who wrote the book that inspired the TV show, The Haunting of Hill House, which did terrible things to my brain causing me to have nightmares of creatures like Diedre. Part of me wants to draw a more realistic version of her (not as a shadow), buuuut this is still a fantasy romance, and I want to leave the horror elements somewhat to a minimum.
Why does fantasy matter? Why do myths matter? Why do stories matter?
Fantasy isn't just an escape or a form of entertainment, but it was a way to imagine what we would do in different circumstances. In a faraway land in an undisclosed time, where candles grow on trees. Nobody's wondering what causes dewdrops to appear in the grass. Fairies put them there because it would just make the world a little prettier. It's not just about having pretty fantasy races, but thinking about the elves as artisans, spending many hours creating lovely architecture, dresses, and swords vs. the mass production of the orcs destroying nature to create machines of war.
It's not just about escaping to a better world either. Remember: dragons, witches, and monsters live in this world too. But even so, these creatures are viewed as a more glorious thing to overcome than the daily obstacles of the real world. In every good fantasy story, there's a hero who's lacking something. They're not always particularly experienced (it seems as though the stories that stick with us the best are the heroes that aren't. Like Luke Skywalker, for instance), strong, or skilled, but are forced into a situation where they have to learn to handle themselves against big bad evil dudes, and in many of these stories, the heroes become kings at the end.
This is a cliche, but I think the reason WHY it's a cliche is that it resonates with us so well on a human level. As humans, we're always inadequate in some way, we face challenges every day, we have to change ourselves to overcome them, and we fail, but if we try again, we come out of the obstacle changed people. Fantasy has a way of teaching us valuable lessons (if written from as much of a nonbiased perspective as possible).
I don't know what lessons Dragonrider's Dance is teaching you. If any. As long as you're having fun, that's the important thing. Redemption is a particularly important theme to me and I see that coming a lot, but eh. I'm trying to write with as much of a non-bias as possible. It's my job to tell a story, not shove a lesson down your throat. I find the best stories are those that teach you new lessons every time you read it. The story becomes different, because YOU'RE different.
2 thoughts on “Art Critique”
John M
I think you’d appreciate these: http://bondwine.com/2017/07/20/fairy-tales-and-realism/
http://bondwine.com/2016/09/13/the-exotic-and-the-familiar-part-1/
Fantasy is (when done right) not an escape but a fresh look at universal truths. Peter Kreeft’s The Philosophy of Tolkien does a brilliant job of showing that far from being “escapist” as some critics have the guts to call it, it actually is a good deal too relevant to us for comfort.
And Tom Simon (Bondwine) is one of the best living essayists, a delight to read and a source of incisive and hilarious commentary.
ashley.t92
Thanks! I think more people are starting to appreciate the themes Tolkein explored beyond the fantasy world- Hello Future Me. I was having a bit of anxiety last night, but in the fantasy world, the stakes they have to deal with are always mountains higher than what we deal with in our day to day lives. Like if you can imagine yourself fighting a dragon or a dark lord, the student loan sharks seem like mice in comparison. Not next week, but the week after next, I’m going to have a sword-fight training between Allan and Matthias. I’m sprinkling in some great advice I’ve heard from people smarter than me about the nature of fear.
Of course, Early Access will be available next week! I’ve been posting some WIPs on Facebook! ^_^