I have my own way of dealing with being a casualty of Capitalism. It's called Escape! I have never been one to follow sports and could care less who wins the Super Bowl. I am not interested in Angelina Jolie's new hairstyle or who is the most popular star on American Idol.
I crave Fantasy! At every opportunity, I leave this mundane life and all of its problems and retreat into realms of magic and mystery. Sometimes the places I visit are beautiful and inhabited by wondrous creatures who are friendly and helfpul. Other paths take me down dark roads where I encounter the most fiendish of beasts and shadows from beyond the grave.
How do I reach these worlds of wonder? I love to read! I can usually be found reading at least two to three books at any given time. As a boy I enjoyed the Tarzan series by Edgar Rice Burroughs and have recently gone back and read them again.
Another lesser known character created by ERB is John Carter, Warlord of Mars. The adventures of John Carter and his love Dejah Thoris are some of the best Science Fiction novels I have read. Long before Star Trek, Star Wars or the Space Age itself, ERB was creating fantastical races and space ships on other planets.
Of course I have to mention my love for Tolkien and his Lord of the Rings Series, as well as The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. I have also read the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander and the Merlin Trilogy by Mary Stewart. I finally read the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling in 2007 and was drawn into the world of Hogwarts, far away from the ordinary lives of Muggles.
Other books I have enjoyed are the Dragonlance Series created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and the morbid Ravenloft series set in a gothic world of Horror.
I have been a comic book fan since I was a child and have boxes filled to overflowing in storage. Some of my favorites are the X-Men, Justice League, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman and Elf Quest.
At other times I travel to worlds of wonder through film, including movies and TV series. I have recently discovered the Carnivale series that aired on HBO several years ago and am currently watching those, as well as the BBC series Primeval. In the past my favorite TV series were Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules The Legendary Journeys.
I am looking forward with anticipation to seeing the remake of Clash of the Titans and also the new Harry Potter film scheduled to be released this summer. The technology continues to improve, delighting audiences with the most amazing films ever created. I have mentioned in a previous blog my fascination and love for the film Avatar.
Sadly, I don't attend Hogwarts, nor do I fight lions armed with only a dagger beside Tarzan of the Apes in the jungles of Africa. Xena isn't my mentor, teaching me how to wield a sword and defend myself against corporate invaders, and Gandalf and Aslan do not walk beside me, guiding me along my path with their words of wisdom. All of this is just make believe, and thus unreal. Or is it?
Why is fantasy so popular in our culture? Why do people stand in line, fighting crowds to see the newest Twilight Film? I don't see very many movies out there about life in the office. No, in the deepest depths of our being, we all crave something more. We know that there are deep and vital truths being portrayed in the lives of our heroes in books and on film. We are intrigued by the idea that they may not be quite so distant as we are led to believe.
What is it that makes something Real? Do you have to be able to see it or touch it for it to truly exist? What about love, hope, or even fear? We have all experienced these emotions, and yet they are intangible and cannot be measured by science or cold hard facts.
One of my favorite quotes is from the movie the Polar Express - "Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see." So Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! And Frodo really did save Middle Earth by destroying the Ring of Doom. Faeries still dance under the light of the full moon and sometimes the dead come back to visit the living.
How do I know this to be true? I have seen it... with my heart.
Tomorrow I will go back to work, punch the time clock and face another day of problems at the office. But at the soonest opportunity, I will leave this world behind with all of its problems and once again travel to realms of mystery and magic. If only for awhile.
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