Real life kind of sucks. Hurricanes. Earthquakes. Military activity. Widespread illnesses. Election season. Insurance companies. Work. Family drama. It all adds up, you know? Some days I consider leaving my phone at home just to get a few hours of peace and sanity while I’m at work. So how do we as humans deal with all of these stressors? Well, we escape. Obviously, we’re still physically here on the planet Earth. I mean, some astronauts can escape the planet, but the rest of us are pretty much just stuck here. So we have to escape in our minds.
We read books, we watch movies, listen to music, play games. All of this allows our minds to step away from the things that are causing us stress on a daily basis, and live somewhere else for a while. Some people escape into a galaxy far, far away to see their heroes overcoming a tyrannical government or into the distant future of this galaxy to see what humanity has the potential to become at their best. There are people who wander through the forests of Middle Earth, others who fly over the crowds of New York City, or some skulk in the shadows of Gotham City, defending the innocent at night and sometimes passively taking in the events of the world we escape into. Isn’t enough for some people. They take a controller in their hands and jump through a Mass Effect relay, or they hunt dragons on Tamriel. They race carts with an Italian plumber or coach their favorite team to a championship season.
Some of my favorite people also take pencils, paper, dice, and their combined imaginations to weave new stories that exist only in the shared memories of the people at the table when the tale unfolded. Now, the coolest of these people sometimes live stream their games for you to watch, like we at the FSF PopCast do on the second Monday of each month. Hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge, if you get my meaning. But whatever our escape, we take off into that imaginary world as a way of getting away from the problems that the real world keeps throwing at us in an effort to retain our humanity.
One of the best summations of the concept comes to us from Terry Pratchett in “The Hogfather.” “All right, said Susan. I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need fantasies to make life bearable? Really? As if it was some kind of pink pill? No. Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape. Tooth fairies. Hogfather. Little. Yes. As practice, you have to start out learning to believe the little lies so we can believe the big ones. Yes. Justice. Mercy. Duty. That sort of thing. They’re not the same at all. You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder. and sieve it through the finest sieve. And then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet death waved a hand. And yet you act as if there is some ideal order in the world, as if there is some some rightness in the universe by which it may be judged.” Yes, but people have got to believe that. Or what’s the point? My point exactly.
So because we all need to escape, we all need some form of fantasy to retain our humanity. We should remember that whatever else someone likes, be it the sequel trilogy, Rings of Power, Teen Titans GO! Whatever they need that escape to be human. If we try to take that away from them by loudly telling them that their favorite thing is somehow terrible or worthless, we are effectively trying to deprive them of their humanity. We are denying them a form of happiness that they need in order to survive. And if last season taught me anything, is that even the Detroit Lions can be a source of hope. So enjoy what you enjoy. Let others enjoy what they like as well. If you don’t understand why they like it, ask them.
Engage in an honest conversation about their perspective. Maybe you’ll discover something new that you can enjoy yourself. Thanks for listening. What’s your favorite fandom? What’s a fandom that you don’t understand but might be willing to try exploring? I hope you all enjoy your weekend. I’ll be back on camera this coming Monday when I run our monthly Star Wars RPG session. Will the heroes survive another session or will I finally roll over an eight when the NPCs are shooting at them? There’s only one way to find out.
Once again, thank you for listening, and may the force be with you as you live long and prosper.
English