The Importance of Fantasy
The “childish” genre we should all take more seriously.
There’s a very solid chance that if you clicked on this article, to read what I have to write, you’re already like me: you enjoy reading and/or writing, and perhaps you love Fantasy in particular more than any other genre. This article isn’t for you — you already understand what I will soon discuss.
(That doesn’t mean I don’t want you here though.)
If you are a person who clicked on this article in curiosity or in disagreement, then you are the kind of person I want to talk to. While you in particular may not have done so, many people who believe as you do have mocked the fantasy genre for being “childish” (sometimes), or “escapist” (obviously), or even “counterproductive” (up for debate). It is those comments I wish to address.
My goal here isn’t necessarily to change your mind. My goal here is to present a different perspective and open you up to experimentation.
The one that bothers me the most is “childish”. As a society we have a tendency to demean any behaviors that are resonant with youthful actions and interests. Playing games is childish. Wearing your heart on your sleeve can be considered childish. Reading books or consuming media where there is magic in the air, dragons flying high, and wondrous things everywhere is considered childish.
If that is the case, and fantasy is childish, then we are all childish. Every last one of us. As children we fantasize about being a wizard or a doctor, or about the monsters in the closet. As teens, we fantasize about what adult freedom and responsibility look like, and how much we yearn for that ideal. As adults, we fantasize about the perfect relationship, the spicy new sexual experience, or even more mundane things like stable finances or being debt free. We never really stop fantasizing, never truly stop dreaming.
The difference is that as we grow old, we limit ourselves. Our natural fantasizing decays, year by year, as we become increasingly affected by the rules (real or imagined) of the world. We become jaded, and we become bitter when someone acts in a way that reminds us of those more colorful times. Fantasy, as a genre, uses escapism to inject more of that color into our lives again. It allows us to feel the wonder of a young child again.
I remember the first time I took the gondola up to the summit of Crystal Mountain in Washington State. I’m scared of heights, but I was distracted by the beauty of the woods and the lucky view of a couple bear cubs playing in the shrubbery.
When we reached the summit, I walked off the gondola, and looked left to see a stunning view of the area. At the time, as a snarky pre-teen, I didn’t let myself feel much — that would be childish and I was mature damnit. I looked behind me, and was almost literally knocked on my rear by the imposing facade of Mt. Rainier. It was huge, it was close, and I found myself in a state of absolute wonder. I’ll remember it as a positive experience for the rest of my life.
Those kinds of experiences become less and less common as we age, and those experiences are important to our mental health. Bibliotherapy is a legitimate form of mental health treatment, where reading certain kinds of books can help alleviate symptoms of depression, as well as improve empathetic and social skills in some cases. Fiction and fantasy are the two sibling genres that have been the most effective. That suggests that we as people need to fantasize, need to believe that there is more than what’s around us.
To be happy, we need to allow ourselves to dream again. Fantasy can provide that. We can open the book, and within its pages once again discover that joy, wonder, and hope that many of us haven’t truly felt since our youngest days.
Does that seem “counterproductive” to you?
I encourage you to pick up a fantasy novel and give it a shot. Immerse yourself in something wonderful, and then come tell me what it was like.
If you want recommendations, I have them.
