Escaping into the Fantasy World

Fantasy is defined by its paranormal and extraordinary settings. One of the first images people envision when they think of fantasy is the spectacular and impossible landscapes and surroundings in the fantasy world. Often the setting will include spectacular imagery such as extra planets or moons seen on the horizon or floating mountains. Fantasy has a limitless boundary for where to put its characters, from somewhat believable places such as Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings to the unbelievable planet of Pandora in Avatar. These breath taking locations are wonderful spectacle, but they also serve another purpose; the epic Fantasy landscape develops the audience’s sense of immersion and escapism.

A common trope seen in fantasy movies involves a main character who has a harsh life or childhood and eventually finds a magical world to escape in. Harry has to escape his horrible family in Harry Potter, Jesse has an oppressive father in Bridge to Terabithia, and Ofelia escapes from the brutal war in Pan’s Labyrinth, and the fantastical worlds they travel to help them escape from the terrible lives they are forced to suffer. This cathartic experience is shared by the audience who can relate to the characters who leave their oppressive worlds and enter a magical land where they are welcome. In a magical world nobody feels out of place because everyone and everything around them is strange and different. Even though the new world is scary and different, the main character can thrive in this new landscape because they have been awarded a fresh start where nobody knows them or understands them. They are free to develop their inner self to deal with the challenges they face. This is an important piece of the escapism the audience relates to in Fantasy.

The idea of escaping one’s problems by running away is usually not considered the best way to deal with issues. As a society we fell that standing up and facing our problems is the best way to overcome them. In fantasy the main character usually undertakes a journey where they can develop the courage and strength to stand up to the problems they faced in their real life. For the audience, however, escapism is considered a form of low brow entertainment for the masses and holds very little literary weight or importance. Escapism is used to get away from problems for a while but does not lead to anything significant like social change. Escapism is intended for the mass culture, not for serious study, and as Dwight Macdonald says on page 43, “There are theoretical reasons why Mass Culture is not and can never be good. I take it as axiomatic that culture can only be produced by and for human beings” thus escapism, which is produced for mass culture, does not hold any real value and appeals to the lowest form of human nature like a drug.  

To look at escapism as a target for mass culture is wrong, however. Instead escapism should be viewed as a vehicle or medium for the message the movie or book is trying to achieve. When the audience is hooked and immersed in the story and they care deeply for the characters they are more likely to believe in whatever social commentary the author can work into the narrative. As a literary critic one should not shun escapism but embrace its power over the audience to teach them something intelligent. Escapism is the best element of Fantasy, and the genre’s greatest asset.

Eowyn of Rohan

A popular trait in fantasy media recently has been to portray the lead female characters in an aggressive light. The female characters are usually very strong willed and abrasive towards other characters, striving to prove their worth. It has been pushed to a stereotype to see the lead female character being motivated to prove that she is “one of the boys” and that she does not need a man to save her because she is not a typical damsel in distress. This stereotype has been seen across genres on multiple occasions, Astrid in the movie “How to Train Your Dragon”, Arya in the book “Eragon”, and Sophia Lamb in the video game “Bioshock”.

The stereotypical female character who tries to prove her worth usually is presented with a masculine personality. The female character tries to act tough like the guys to prove that her femininity does not hold her back and that she can accomplish anything the males can. In a movie such as “How to Train Your Dragon” the stubborn and strong character Astrid has an immediate disliking to the agreeable and amiable main character. Astrid’s unwarranted aggression towards the hero presents the audience with unnecessary tension. This lays the ground work for future character development as Astrid later changes her mind and warms up to him, but the tension has already tainted the mood of the film which was trying to be light and cheerful. As Judith Halberstam says in Chapter 34, “Performances of masculinity seem to demand a different genre of humor and performance. It is difficult to make masculinity the target of camp precisely because masculinity tends to manifest as nonperformative” and this aspect did have an affect on the films light hearted charm. Astrid’s sour mood toward other characters is a jarring element to the character’s relationships, and thus feels like a moral lesson that the filmmakers were trying to force into the movie.

By comparison, Eowyn from the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy was an excellent female character. Eowyn was determined to do her part to serve her country Rohan without being abrasive towards others and more importantly without losing her femininity. Eowyn remained compassionate and caring towards Pippin by allowing him to ride on her horse and yet she was passionate and brave enough to ride into battle and even defeat the Lord of the Nazgul herself, something many men were too afraid to attempt. She shows an impressive balance between being a woman and a warrior despite the fact that the King, who is her Uncle, commanding her to stay out of the fight. While she proved that she could hold her own in battle she also managed to preserve her personality and character. She did not feel that she had to act masculine to prove her worth.

Most Fantasy movies and books could learn a lesson from Eowyn. Women in today’s society assume that they have to show masculinity to be equals with men but Eowyn shows that women can be equals without being cold to others. It is more ideal for women to be tru to their feminine warmth and compassion than to try and be masculine to compete with men.

Authenticity in Fantasy

Today’s generation has been overwhelmed with media and advertisements to the point where we have a newfound appreciation for authenticity. The internet has provided the everyday person with the ability to take any media such as video, songs, and pictures and to edit them and repackage it as a new item. Movies are pirated and streamed online, songs are downloaded and remixed with other songs, and pictures are photoshopped for comedic effect. Nothing seems to be safe from being tweaked or changed. This is why there is an appreciation for the authentic in our culture, because something that is pure and untouched by second market hands feels more official and proper.

As we talked about in class, rap music has become an incredibly popular form of music and many try to associate it with its African origins to give it authenticity. If we acknowledge that rap came from a culture that produced music for reasons other than making money, it seems to validate rap music as an extension of the more authentic style.

One of the biggest complications for a fantasy movie is when it is based off a best selling novel. Movies such as Lord of the Rings, Twilight, and Harry Potter are some of the more well known movies, but this trend has been seen in some lesser known films as well such as Eragon, Inkheart, Stardust, and Percy Jackson that all started in the novel form. It becomes a difficult balancing act for the filmmakers to decide how to create a movie that is both faithful to the novel it is based on as well as manage budget and time constraints.

These fantasy movies, especially the lesser known ones, are mostly going to be profitable because the fans of the books will be going to see the movie. They already have an interest in the subject matter and will be more likely to pay the ten dollars to see the novel they love on the big screen. Unfortunately for the filmmakers, however, the fans are also looking for authenticity in the movie. The core audience for the movie will be the people who already have images in their head as to how events should play out in the movie for it to be accurate to the book, but this is not always possible for the filmmakers. Not everybody has the same ideas for how events should unfold, and not everyone has the same tolerance for how much editing and changing can occur from the source material.

Authenticity is an important factor in popular culture, and it is nearly impossible to maintain authenticity when a book is turned into a movie. It is practically a cliché to say, “The book was better than the movie”. It may be necessary for fans to approach these films with a different attitude, however, and to take the film as a new production, a new creation of the material that will have to take some liberties. As an audience we have to be forgiving and understanding, and take the new product as something with its own type of authenticity.

How Lord of The Rings Should Have Ended

Fantasy Reappropriation

When an element of popular culture has been reappropriated, it means that it has been taken by society and subverted from it original intention to make it something that belongs more to the consumer who has absorbed and molded the material. This is usually done in a satirical or ironic way. Many consumers enjoy subverting a person's material to make it their own, and it has created an industry were people appreciate this satirical work. The fantasy genre generates an enormous amount of passion from its fans, thus an equally proportianate amount of reappropriation.

For every Twilight fan that clamors to attain the next book in the series or to watch the next film in theatres, there is a Twilight hater who shuns the series and insults the fans. The movie Vampires Suck was targeted mostly for the latter group, but was seen by fans and haters alike. The Twilight series had been examined, twisted, and repackaged in the form of a spoof to poke fun at the series. This is how the series was reappropriated by Hollywood and sold back to us for even more money. Having made millions of dollars, Hollywood then targeted the audience who did not like the movies. They accomplish this by parodying many aspects of the film series that were taken as serious moments or by examining plot holes. By doing so the filmmakers have reappropriated the series and subverted the creator's intentions.


The Internet sensation Potter Puppet Pals is a series of videos on YouTube that has generated millions of views. The videos are somewhat crudely made but nevertheless have become incredibly popular. The makers of the video parody the Harry Potter series by using hand puppets fashioned in the likeness of the characters in the series. The Potter Puppet Pals frequently plays with concepts from the series in a satirical way, such as portraying Professor Dumbledore as a silly eccentric old man. This is another example of society reappropriating material to subvert the intentions of the creator to be humorous.

Another YouTube video that shows this form of appropriation is a Lord of the Rings satire called How It Should Have Ended: Lord of the Rings. While still trying to be funny, this satire focused more on the major plot hole in the trilogy. Why did the hobbits have to walk the entire way to Mordor? Why not just fly on the back of an eagle? This subverts Tolkien's effort to make the trilogy feel more epic and grand. It was much more noble for Sam and Frodo to walk and fight their way into Mordor than to simply drop it into the fire after a few minutes.

This is how society takes what we we consume and make it our own product, usually to be funny but also to point out that we understand how Hollywood works. We understand how they make a profit and we can subvert their efforts in our own way, by reappropriating their material.

Merchant of Cool Trading Cards

When people hear about trading card games they usually think about baseball cards. A more culturally diverse person might think about Pokemon or Yugioh, two of the most popular and successful trading card games. Almost everyone, however, has an image of a popular stereotype when they think about the people that play trading card games. Most people picture a nerd who wears glasses, lacks proper hygiene, and is socially inept. These people are unequivocally uncool. For the gaming company Hasbro it has been a challenge to market their card game Magic: The Gathering in a society that looks down on their product as childish and uncool.

For the last few years Magic has been a thriving business despite its uncool status. For the mega merchant Hasbro they had to figure out how to make Magic appeal to a wider audience to keep it from going bankrupt. To begin with, Hasbro subsidized the Magic brand out to a company called Wizards of the Coast. The first step in making the game seem less childish was to separate it from the Hasbro name which is usually tied to board games. The name Wizards of the Coast is usually shortened to just Wizards which conjures up ideas of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings which are still considered nerd material but is at least more recognizable and approachable.

The next step Wizards took was to make the game a more sociable event. Being a card game it already requires at least two players, thus Wizards has pushed local stores to hold sponsored events to raise awareness. These local events give Magic a sense that it is similar to a social club or an extracurricular activity. This encourages new people to join the crowd because it is a social event instead of two people who are just playing at a table by themselves.

In addition to all of the things Wizards has done to increase the game’s maturity and coolness, Wizards also made certain decisions of what not to do. The popular kid’s games Pokémon and Yugioh created cartoon spin off shows to market the card game as well as multiple full length feature films. Wizards chose to take a different route in hopes of distancing their card game from these two franchises. Wizards has not made any spin offs except for a novel series which explains the alternate universe that the Magic cards are set in. A book series sounds much more advanced and mature than a cartoon show to the average teenager who is concerned with cool.

The most influential move Wizards took was to create larger events that reward winners with cash prizes. With small events paying out five thousand dollars and larger events paying in the hundred of thousands, Magic has generated a world wide audience. The Magic Pro Tour mirrors many elements of the World Poker Tour, traveling overseas to places like Rome, Madrid, and Tokyo to hold large events that have been featured on ESPN. Wizards has spent a lot of money to make Magic feel more like a social sport than a children’s game, and it has paid off. Magic is the biggest and most successful trading card game right now being translated into over nine different languages. While still not entirely socially accepted, Magic has solidified itself as a mature and cool card gaming experience.

The Graphic Novel

Comic books originated in 1934 and immediately garnished a reputation as immature children’s reading. This reputation probably stems from the correlation between comics and stories that contain illustrations. People assume that the illustrations help the less intelligent reader to understand what the words are saying. Even today there are still people who view comics with this condescending tone despite the mature evolution comics have undergone. In particular, a subculture of comics emerged in the 1960’s known as the graphic novel. Graphic novels quickly sought to distinguish themselves from the more juvenile media of comic books, and often did so by containing more controversial and mature themes.

As Dick Hebdige observes, “The emergence of a spectacular subculture is invariably accompanied by a wave of hysteria in the press” and for graphic novels this is certainly true. Many people were not accustomed to the idea of such mature themes and graphic images in heavily illustrated works. Comic books soon followed suit in attempting to create story lines that were edgy and dark, but graphic novels had already been solidified as the more adult and meaningful form of literature.

Just like ay other type of subculture, however, graphic novels soon became swallowed up by mass culture and repackaged as commodities to consumers. Graphic novels have been adapted into large screen productions such as The Watchmen and 300. The edgy and dark material that seemed so taboo just a few years ago has now been produced as films for mass culture and given unassuming “R” ratings. Most people are surprised to hear after watching a movie like Sin City or Kick-Ass that it was adapted from a graphic novel, as graphic novels have lost some of their surprising quality. Hebdige describes this absorption of subcultures into pop culture by saying, “The process of recuperation takes [this] form: the conversion of subcultural signs (dress, music, ect.) into mass produced objects (ie the commodity form)” and graphic novels have certainly become a part of mass culture. They are no longer considered the icon of edgy taboo material but merely a more adult form of comic books.

This process of absorption into pop culture has not been entirely negative however. Graphic novels have achieved more respect in their transition to mass culture. Even though graphic novels are not as popular as comics, they have slowly become accepted into mass culture and this has helped the graphic novel industry flourish. Ironically, many graphic novels will remain critical of the mass culture that is swallowing it up, yet sustaining it.

The Spectacle of Fantasy

Fantasy films are renowned for, and in fact classified by, their fantastical elements. The use of Computer Generated Imagery, or CGI, has become a staple for fantasy movies that are striving to capture the impossible and the fantastical. The scenes in fantasy movies that incorporate CGI are very expensive to make and are a tedious process for the animators. The CGI scenes in fantasy movies are usually displayed throughout the movie’s trailer and generally create the most excitement in the movie theater because of spectacle. Fantasy movies use spectacle to capture the audience’s attention whether it’s vast armies battling in Lord of the Rings or an enormous Kraken rising from the seas in Clash of the Titans. These scenes are rarely intended to advance the plot but are a crucial element to the fantasy movie. These spectacle shots are part of what make the fantasy film unique and popular, just as the audience is wowed by the strange creatures and plant life found on Pandora in the movie Avatar.

Lately fantasy movies seem to focus solely on spectacle as a selling point. A filmmaker can forgo character development and a complex plot to focus on merely the CGI spectacle shot that will generate enough revenue to turn a profit. Lord of the Rings, however, manages to incorporate spectacle for the sake of the movie instead of merely for the awe factor.

A good fantasy movie uses the fantastical and the spectacle shots to reflect on the most non-fantastical element of the movie: human nature. Whenever there is a shot in Lord of the Rings that shows vast armies of thousands of soldiers or towering war elephants stampeding over the battlefield there is usually a shot that shows one of the leading protagonists. In these captivating moments we get a look into the heart of the character, be it the mighty King Theoden or young Pippin, as they struggle with their emotions. We see their faces express the overwhelming fear of death and their courage to stand and fight. A fantasy movie is defined by its magical or fantastical elements, but its merit comes from its ability to examine the human spirit and reflect on human nature. In contrast to enormous walking trees or mountain trolls is the human reaction (albeit not always from a human creature) to these fantastical elements. We see the fiercest bravery in Gimli and yet the lowliest selfishness in Smeagol. Frodo’s companion Sam, even when faced with the perilous Mount Doom and the terrifying black cloaked riders, is unyieldingly faithful to Frodo. His unselfishness shows the absolute best of human nature in his undying loyalty. The fantastical element is capable of showing human nature in the most profound way that no other genre of movie could achieve because of its fantastic spectacle.

Can A Videogame Be A Work of Art?

In 2005 Sony Computer Entertainment released a PlayStation 2 videogame called Shadow of the Colossus. The game centers around the protagonist Wander who must travel on horseback throughout a vast landscape to locate and defeat 16 enormous beings known as Colossi. The game was widely praised by critics and is usually what gamers will point to when arguing that videogames can be considered works of art. Many people still view videogames as childish, or at least solely for entertainment purposes, which explains why videogames are not universally recognized as art forms. Some people believe a work of art should be refined and political as well as pleasing because of its beauty. Thus, the adrenaline rush that the player feels when stabbing a creature 100 feet tall with a sword and watching it plummet to the ground does not seem to fit the criteria of refined, political, or high brow culture.

There are many reasons why Shadow of the Colossus is viewed as an artistic piece, however. Firstly, the game is beautiful. Even by today’s next generation, high definition graphics Shadow of the Colossus is simply breathtaking to look at. The enormous Colossi are animated with painstaking detail so that they appear grand and powerful. The expansive landscape with rolling hills, waterfalls, and tall cliffs are realistic and gorgeous as well making the game just as enjoyable to look at as to play.

The game is divided up into two parts: fighting the mighty Colossi and riding through the serene landscape to find the next Colossus. This means that half of the player’s time is spent exploring and enjoying the expansive yet barren land, utterly devoid of humans or any creature larger than a lizard. The only sound to be heard during this time is the galloping of the horse’s feet and the breathing of the player’s character. The environment was designed specifically to evoke helplessness and isolation in the player. The feelings of dread and hopelessness culminate in a climax every time the next over-sized Colossus reveals itself and begins its assault upon the player.  Afterwards, however, when the beast has been killed, all of the player’s negative emotions change into relief and the player feels a primeval thrill of victory that comes from killing an enormous creature over a hundred times bigger and more powerful. The range of emotions the game can evoke from the player is incredible, and this is what many believe makes the game a work of art.

Another interesting aspect of Shadow of the Colossus is the minimalistic approach to storytelling in the game. There are only two major moments where the player is given any detail of the plot which comes at the beginning and at the end of the game. By limiting the information given to the player the designers of the game made it so that the player can fill in the gaps of the story how they choose. The player becomes the story teller and creates motivations for their character. The videogame becomes an interactive work of art as the player participates in its creation, something that no other medium of art can achieve. This is what art is about, experiencing emotions and feeling a connection with the artist, or in this case the game designer.

The problem becomes that the game is art for art’s sake, or more precisely, art for the sake of enjoyment. Many people play the game solely for the experience of having fun and do not reflect on the artistic nature of the game. This could mean that for them it is not art but instead just a fun game. Can something be considered art to one person and merely a toy to somebody else? It would be considered foolish to say that the Mona Lisa is not art because somebody enjoys looking at it. Even if the person viewing the Mona Lisa is not an art critic they can still enjoy looking at it without appreciating its full artistic value.

Shadow of the Colossus, even if it is considered art, was published by the multi million dollar company Sony who, above all else, was attempting to profit from the game. The designers of the game may have been producing art, but the game would never have been created if there was no money to be made. How can a work of art be something that is made for the sake of turning a profit? There have been many artists who created art with the goal of making money, however. Shakespeare, for example, wrote many masterpieces but he still had to make a living so he made his plays exciting and funny for the audience. Shadow of the Colossus also appeals to the player because it is exciting and fun to play, but it can also be seen as a work of art.

From Dracula to Twilight

In the past, works of fantasy have not been excluded from high culture. Works such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) or Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) have been studied at the collegiate level and are praised by scholars for their literary merit. At the time of their release, however, these works of fantasy literature were not as widely praised or accepted as they are today. In general these books were regarded as literary for the masses and unworthy of serious study. It has taken time for them to grow into the literary classics that they are known as today.

It seems that most works of fantasy begin this way, as works of fiction intended for consumption by the masses. It is usually the exception to see a work of fantasy rise from mass culture into high culture. It is not unprecedented, however, to see a work of fantasy become a product of the culture industry. Culture industry is the technique by which mass culture is taken as a product, packaged, and sold back to the masses for a profit. Works of fantasy are birthed as products of mass culture, and then marketed and sold to millions as a very lucrative business.

The Twilight Saga is a series of fantasy teen novels that depict vampires as major characters. Twilight has become a huge commercial success. It has sold over a hundred million copies and been translated into over 38 different languages around the globe. The film adaptations have earned over one and a half billion dollars. This is an example of the culture industry taking something that is a product of mass culture and creating profit out of selling it to the masses. Fans will spend millions of dollars purchasing the official Twilight t-shirts, posters, buttons, and the DVD’s. Whereas Stoker used Dracula to explore important social problems such as the role of women in Victorian culture, immigration, and colonialism, Stephanie Meyer has used Twilight to tell a story about a girl who falls in love with a vampire and a werewolf. Scholars study Dracula as high culture but look at Twilight as trash literature even though, and possibly because, it has appealed to the masses and made millions of dollars.

This does not make Twilight any less a part of popular culture, nor does it mean that Twilight has less value than Dracula. What it means is that in this era of technology and capitalism it has become easier and more profitable to mass produce literature that appeals to the largest audience instead of creating social commentary. Theodor Adorno, who first identified the concept of culture industry, would argue that it makes the masses more passive and less critical of popular culture. Culture industry does not strive to further the human condition or to improve our social interaction but merely aims to make a profit. The fantasy genre has struggled to attain a status as anything more than mass culture suited for the culture industry. Of course, Twilight fans appreciate the novels without the approval of any scholars.

Stepping Through The Wardrobe

In C. S. Lewis’ "The Chronicles of Narnia", Peter, Edmund, Lucy, and Susan step through a magical Wardrobe to enter the land of Narnia where they discover a world that is beautiful yet dangerous. As an audience, our culture has taken a journey through a magical wardrobe into the world of fantasy. Beautiful yet dangerous, the genre of fantasy has permeated its way into several mediums, recently becoming massively popular especially in books and movies. The genre of fantasy transports the audience into new and imaginative places filled with impossible creatures. Fantasy is a fresh, vibrant, living entity that is constantly evolving and changing. The limits of fantasy are bound only by the imagination of its creators, who are like gods creating new life and new places. Fantasy connects us all by taking us to worlds we have never been to see things we have never seen, instilling us with mystery and wonder.

To study the effect fantasy has had on culture, it is important to define the fantasy genre. Any medium that contains magical elements or paranormal elements is considered Fantasy. This means anything that expands beyond the realm of realism and into the unexplainable is classified as fantasy, which separates fantasy from science fiction. In science fiction the fantastical elements are explained through scientific reasoning such as future technology. In fantasy the audience must be able to suspend their disbelief to accept the fantastical elements.

The fantasy genre has left its mark upon popular culture in many forms such as comic books, videogames, literature, and movies. Fantasy is a dominant part of our culture and has been a part of popular culture around the world for many decades. Fantasy is found in various media and with various styles, and will continue to be a part of our popular culture for a long time because fantasy is molded by every culture in its own unique way. In America we tend to think of fantasy as entertainment but fantasy has also been used in Greek mythology and Native American folklore to explain natural events such as the sun rising or the change of the seasons. Sailors recounted stories about mermaids and sea monsters to help pass the time when sailing the ocean. Fantasy is an ever flowing and changing genre that will continue to grow as each culture reimagines it.

The most impressive aspect of the fantasy genre is that it allows the audience to escape from the real world. Fantasy takes the audience through a wardrobe and into new worlds. When fully immersed in a work of fantasy, the audience is transported into a dimension that was created by someone else’s imagination. This escapism factor is soothing in that it allows the audience to forget their own life and live inside a world that is foreign. This immersion into the fantasy genre can also be frightening, manifested as a fear of the unknown. Being beautiful, soothing, and yet dangerous makes fantasy a genre that manages to produce a full scale of emotions from its audience, from fear of the villain to pride in the courageous hero.

Over the course of the semester I plan to examine fantasy and its affect on popular culture. While the fantasy genre is defined by its magical and paranormal qualities, its greatest power is to reflect on our society and the human condition. This is what makes fantasy such a strong force in popular culture, because the spectacle of fantasy serves to magnify the human element and help us to examine ourselves and our culture.