Winnie Jiang, Staff Illustrator
By Karolina Kozak
People face some challenges, whether at work or in their daily life. But what most of them do to forget about their boring routine? It seems that more people turn their attention to fantasy books. The News spoke to two individuals and surveyed a group of fifty people to see the appeal of these fictional worlds.
Why do people prefer to run away from their troubles and escape the real world, instead of trying to solve their own problems here? Having asked the interviewees, it led us to the general mind/conclusion that fantasy literature offers readers a temporary escape from this world and an opportunity to break away from reality, evading problems in their lives. It encourages people to develop their imagination, such as thinking about scenarios or visualizing themselves as new characters with superpowers, but without getting harmed in any way. Furthermore, it is a good way to discover new places without leaving home.
People from across the country were asked about their preferences for books and movies, how often they read or watch them, and their most common reasons for choosing the fantasy genre.
According to Paulina O., a 41-year old lawyer, this fictional medium provides a form of relaxation.
“The world presented in them allows you to escape from everyday life, troubles and ordinary matters,” said Paulina. “When reading, I don’t have to wonder whether I’ve done everything at work or what should I cook for dinner. It’s just me and some magical story I’m witnessing”.
Not only does reading fantasy books allow her to meet heroes with incredible powers and skills that allow them to fight off evil, these stories also contain different perspectives. For instance, it suggests that maybe not all bad characters are actually the villains of the story.
When it comes to movies, she also highly appreciates fantasy themes, especially since they are often based on books she already read. “I can compare and decide which one I like better”.
According to Frank N., a 55-year old police officer, said that act of creating fantasies can be akin to mentally training your mind.
“A sport psychologist taught me how to visualize the next training/competition and to go over, again and again with all different scenarios. This is also a sort of fantasy, created by yourself, to achieve better performance in sports.” Frank admitted he doesn’t really read or watch fantasy, but wanted to share his way to use fantasy, remembering what his coach once said. “The same technique is also used for everything else in life. To reach goals in school, at work, love life, business, with family, hobbies”.
To look at how often fantasy books are read and by whom, the News conducted a survey of fifty individuals across the ages.
What is the most surprising is that the majority, 54 percent, were people over 36 years of age, although it does not mean that fantasy books are not popular among younger people. Nevertheless the fictional world is not that willingly read by youth, like by adults. The results regarding movie watching are very similar to those regarding interest in books, which clearly indicates that fantasy theme is popular.
The results of a survey created among students and adults showed that the most people reach for fantasy for various reasons, but the reason which stands out among the others is that humans want to escape from the reality and experience an alternative realm. Fantasy allows people to feel the different atmospheres and delve into a world of magic and characters with extraordinary abilities.
After talking to librarians, it appears that people borrow lots of books from the fantasy genre, ask about new releases and search for the term “fantasy” on libraries’ websites, wanting to borrow books online as well. Same with the streaming media services — viewers mostly watch action and fantasy movies, but also look back on old productions. It means that even though we live on Earth, we prefer to escape this world and dive into the world of fantasy, watch new movies, read new books, but also return to the older ones, because when the future is unknown and unsure, coming back to what we know and be certain of can create some sort of comfort.
The heroes and villains may encounter obstacles, just as we can, normal people living on Earth. But reading about the book characters, who’s journey gives them lots of problems to solve, can make us feel less lonely. Lynda Barry said, “We don’t create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay”. We should use fantasy to gain a new perspective on our everyday life, to realize how beautiful it is or may one day be.