#and escapism gets treated as a 1-dimensional topic even tho its super varied and as complex as anything else

[unproduciblesmackdown]

how people interact with fiction is a really broad and complex subject involving like all of human history across the world and all the mediums we've developed and potentially all the individual stories that exist, and imo it's always interesting to hear anyone talk about it....but like of all the ways to analyze that topic there's stuff that is overlooked like just the other week i was taking a survey that got me thinking about how much the concept of the Fandom(tm) is kind of written off as a much less valuable or influential form of consumption than being a glum writer dude sighing in a misunderstood way at the local café or any random guy in a college class who is here to fuck kubrick's filmography. plus one thing that was really interesting on twitter a few days ago was someone writing about how even when anyone acknowledges video games are a medium its usually written off as worth any kind of analysis becoz i guess enjoying it is usually deliberately accessible and people are having fun, but they were pointing out that people will wave it off any "escapism" but don't ever consider why people find stuff like running around on an endless hero quest to be escapism. i.e. stopping to ask what they are escaping with this and why it fulfills something they dont find otherwise? like helping people directly, having choice and finding worth in everything you do, etc like natch thats not the only reason people play video games or the only benefit they get from them (and thats looking at one particular kind of game) but it also reminded me of how everyone tends to treat escapism as like, a self-evident criticism of the consumer rather than a really interesting way to examine what people are finding in a particular kind of story and what that reflects about any patterns in the lives of the audience that could expose something they value but aren't finding irl tldr it made me think of how it gets pretty old whenever people are just like hey, listen to THIS white-hot Exposé: you're invested in media because you're dissatisfied with your own life! and its like that's it, oh shit!! or the post that exists in like fifty variations about how people who like shipping are just reflecting their desires for their own relationships. which is kind of stale and way too oversimplified, and also its not like its an embarrassment when people use fiction to explore their aspirations. like its not like it isnt true that people use fiction as escapism and/or a reflection of their desires, but that's not like, the only thing going on there for absolutely everyone who loves fictional stuff, and its more than kind of a "is that it?" moment to just be like: being a fan of something is escapism, and that's the entirety of what i have to say. like...sick burn? thats like the least interesting thing to say about any of it. "people like botw because their lives are sad" is boring and self-righteously condescending, and "people like botw and its popular appeal could be an indication of how capitalisms effect on society robs people of the chance to find freedom or value in their everyday lives" is a lot less so and that's also to say that its bs when people are just presenting the "anything you're invested in is escapism" as a Revelation in and of itself, as though anyone needs to just realize this, because clearly theyre just escaping personal problems that they'd have time to fix if they'd stop watching star trek or whatever. as if everyone engaging in escapism is unaware of the fact they're doing so, and/or in denial that they're not happy with everything in their life. as though escapism is inherently a problem in itself. as if confronting a problem is always what's best for someone; it's not! especially when people do not have control over it! for example, in the earliest periods of grief, having this concept that people need to be confronting it and thinking through it to be getting through it in a "healthy" way. and that if they aren't talking about it and people don't see them emoting their grief enough and if they're trying to distract themselves, it's just avoidance or denial or whatever and they just need to confront it or have a helpful friend confront them with it until they're crying and Letting It Out or Confronting Reality or whatever. when really, distracting oneself tends to be helpful for most people in that situation. not to say that there's a Right Way to go through that and that if they just make the right decisions and take the one true approach they'll be emotionally unscathed now and forever—its in fact to say the opposite of that. people's emotions are complicated and the death of a loved one is one of the most "you have zero control over it" personal problems but in all those kinds of situations, there's no "one way" that applies to everyone to best help yourself get through it. its whatever is going to be most helpful to that one individual. and probably the people who are best going to know what's most helpful is the person who is going through it, people close to them who know them intimately, a good therapist with a lot of knowledge in the area of their particular problems and really, another side of that "escapism is bad and nobody would engage in it if they knew they were engaging in it" is this implication of immaturity. along with the implied immaturity of enjoying things. like being a fan of stuff is a step in your character arc and when you resolve that arc you will Transcend your enjoyment and see beyond your au fic. and that once you really become a mature Appreciator of True Art, you'll at last become the glum author man whose vast inner depths go unnoticed by the world. thank god