Thread "Deconstructing Anti-Escapism." in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 1:12PM, Dec. 11, 2020

Just something I always wanted to do is take common anti-escapist fiction and just tear it apart, because honestly I get tired of hearing about how "dreams are bad" and "reality is the greatest thing ever!".

One thought is more based in personal experiences of encountering people who live the "anti-escapist" ideals of constantly living in reality, no dreams, no ideals, just pure and cold "face reality and deal with it". I found many of them without much ambition, they just laid in the gutter waiting to die, drink heavily, do a massive amount of drugs.

It's kind of scary really.

Posted at 1:12AM, Dec. 12, 2020

Without dreams there is no ambition. Reality isn't to be endured, it is to challenged.

Drugs and drink are mechanisms to cope with a reality before which the user feels helpless. They are the escape instead of dreams and fantasy. The person really needs other escapes and coping mechanisms that aren't so self destructive.

They're not living, barely even surviving they're just existing and that's pointless. Welcome to existential nihilism.

Posted at 5:12AM, Dec. 12, 2020

Having to use drink or drugs to cope with reality is sad and pathetic.
That's overly judgmental, I know. People have their reasons, and many have really hard lives… But my escapist fantasy is that no one has a need for them and people that indulge anyway are weak. 😅

Haha… Sorry for the irony here, It's how my brain works. None of that is serious. I mean it would be nice to judge them as being pathetic, I'd love to do that! But there are usually real reasons for them to be in that situation.

That out of the way… Escapist fiction is the best.

Posted at 6:11PM, Nov. 25, 2022

I think anti-escapism can be done in a way that satisfies a person who revels in escapism.

That is to say, without telling them to go outside and touch grass or what have you.

The idea I have on that front, is to use something that would be viewed as perfect escapism as a front for lessons that people who revel in escapism could use.

We all escape to fiction because we're avoiding something.
Oftentimes it's done out of fear, or blame, those sorts of things.

Lure them in, get to the root cause of why they are escaping in the first place, and give them tools to handle those things through lessons taught in a story that would be a great escape of its own.

Posted at 7:11PM, Nov. 25, 2022

Throughout much the golden age of television, many shows were incredibly outlandish, far-fetched, and had such fantastic premises because they were meant to be a form of escapism. Especially given such a tumultuous decade like the 1960s, with the Civil Rights Movement, the Flower Power Movement, the beginning stages of Feminism, the eventual war in Vietnam, the Kennedy assassination, and so many other tragedies that were plaguing America for much of the decade, silly and kooky shows like THE ADDAMS FAMILY, THE MUNSTERS, BEWITCHED, I DREAM OF JEANNIE, GREEN ACRES, or others were the epitome of escapism, and also why television was so wonderful back in those days.

Gradually, beginning in the 70s, studios, executives, and networks decided that such TV shows were too hokey and ridiculous for viewing audiences, and as such, shows began to reflect reality and indulge in social commentary, starting with shows like ALL IN THE FAMILY, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, SANFORD AND SON, and others . . . unfortunately, TV has devolved into a cesspool of shows full of unlikeable jerkass characters who do nothing but whine about their sex lives (or lack thereof), because it makes them "more relatable" . . . which I suppose makes sense to a degree, when you consider that so much of the population these days are bunch of unlikeable jerkasses, what with all of the hate the division that's been planted into our culture.