Video Games, Fantasy, and Escapism

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I’m not one for playing video games, but because I had a lot of time over the summer I played Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite.  I can say it isn’t a new experience since it is just a story in a different media.  Still, many people are dedicated to video games and use it as an escape, so I wanted to think about what is appealing about things like this

Good game

I’m more of a reader, but if you look at the books I read, they are mostly sci-fi and fantasy novels.  This trend started Freshman year of high school and hasn't really stopped since.  Is the huge interest in video games not a similar escapism as I do with books? With the great 3D and HD quality of video games, they create a digital fantasy that is on par with the imagination I use when reading books. 

When you think about it, nowadays a fantasy book or video game is successful because of its world building.  Probably the first would be the Lord of the Rings series.  It isn't just a fantasy novel, but it created a whole universe with maps, history, even languages (that people actually speak at conventions…). It is a formation of a new world that one can jump into, destroying the self in this reality for a brief moment. 

I doubt anybody could truly escape reality playing old games like Pong or Tetris, but modern games like Bioshock are so good at world building and immersion that people spend a huge amount of their time online.  Think about the hours people spend on World of Warcraft, almost as much as they work or go to school.  This generation is immersed in the digital world so deeply that it is hard to ignore. 

And it will definitely not stop there.  Google glass and virtual reality will take it to the next level, blending reality and fantasy.  In a short story of Sword Art Online, one of the characters, after coming out of virtual reality, said the first thing she feels is “the weight of my physical body.” Will there always be such an obvious marker between reality and fantasy? Will we ever return to the real world? Or just as people want to escape into fantasy, want to escape into reality?

Our Future?

Our era is a very scientific era.  You ask someone what the world is made up of and they will probably say atoms.  This materialism helps scientists and philosophers answer questions about the world.  Emotions? Chemicals in the brain. God? Doesn't have a physical embodiment and has no place in this idea.  The world thinks in this materialist view that has spread through globalization

Idealism is more about consciousness.  It is the artistic expressionism to the not so metaphorical realism.  Just as the famous “this is not  a pipe,” Idealism support stories and thoughts as reality instead of physical particles.  It is hard to not see this idea taking root in the arts, such as fantasy.  Just look at Marvel moves, Harry Potter, etc. and think about the genuine love and influence those things have created in people.  If I dare say, it is similar to religion, which creates genuine love and influence in people through an idea. 

Though the world is materialist, isn't some of it as fantastical as anything else?  Private jets, country clubs, penthouses, those are all real yet not.  They are not part of my reality and as good as not existing.  There is only your daily existence.  Working and fighting for the things you want or need, with no divine plan.  To be ironic and quote the bible as I talk about materialism “for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” 

The material world is harsh, so I see why people escape into the fantasy world.  Invest in a world where you are a hero, in a world based on you, where there is a single plot driving you forward.  The real world is mostly ruled by the powerful and wealthy.  We are just beings that come and go and that can only grab so much on this Earth.  Maybe watching heroes in movies or playing as one in video games isn't a bad thing.  The limits of society are gone and we are allowed to be free.  Maybe being in that alternate world will allow us to learn something about ourselves, that can empower ourselves to do better in the real world.  As Damien Walter said, “The world is not made of atoms. It is made of the stories we tell about atoms.” Escapism allows us to find that story and influence our own life.  

Arrogance

I always find it interesting how some things in society have double standards.  They are bound to occur, but actually critically finding them is fun.

We all accept that arrogant people can be jerks.  The ones that think the world revolves around them and when they enter a room everybody is there for the sake of them.  I think it is just part of society to condemn such thoughts. Most people never act that extreme and if they think it, they keep it hidden.  It just isn't accepted.  But what about the opposite? Instead of thinking that everybody in the room is there to praise, what if a person thinks that everybody in the room is there to criticize?

The idea of everybody criticizing you is much more common and acceptable.  Maybe because it is lowering yourself instead of raising yourself, but I can't find this attitude meek.  It is arrogance in the same vein.  The important point in each one is that people are noticing you in the first place.  Both situations the person places him or herself in the center, which is pretty much what ego does.

Just understanding this similarity helps so much.  Think of all the people who panic over public speaking.  What do they think will happen? That the crowd will become a mob? During a presentation, most people get the main details, then faze out.  You know you haven't always fully paid attention to someone else's presentation, maybe to text or just because you were bored.  People don't care enough about others to wholly criticize, so it is slightly arrogant to think that everybody will fully pay attention to you and nitpick any flaw.

Maybe I'm being a bit critical, but I don't see how one is more acceptable than the other.  Both are extreme cases but there is enough people who think close to the poles that can prompt this thought.