Since the dawn of mankind, humans have found ways to entertain ourselves. We've come a long way from sitting around a fire half-naked and listening to myths and legends. Books, movies, television series: these are the mediums through which we tell stories nowadays. And yet, the inherent reason for why has always remained the same. To escape.
We try to compensate for what we find lacking in our own lives, our own realities, by traveling to other worlds, visiting the lives of other “characters.” Why are the Bond movies so popular, even after their countless reiterations? Because they offer us guys everything we could possibly want: sexy women, million-dollar cars, and lots of explosions via big guns and futuristic gadgetry. In other words, they spice up our often mundane and tedious lives. Remind us that the world is exciting.
And what of the other sex? The females of our species have long been fond of the romance genre. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise. After all, where indeed have all the dashing young princes that we heard so much about in our youth gone? Were they ever even around in the first place? One of the most popular series of books among teen girls is the Twilight series. A tale of a love that is, but that can't be. Think Romeo and Juliet set against a supernatural backdrop. After all, what could be more romantic than falling in love with a vampire?
There are of course, stories that mesmerize us all. Take Tolkien's high fantasy masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. There are no infinite shades of gray, and readers do not have to worry about being bombarded with a myriad of different perspectives and equally appealing yet clashing ideologies, but instead, find themselves immersed in a simpler world. There are only heroes, and villains. There is only good, and evil. The story brings us back to a time when you could see your opponent's face, rather than have him appear on your screen as a little white dot. It brings us back to a time when wars were won by swinging swords, rather than pressing buttons. A nobler time.
The long-eared elves, short stubby dwarves, and white haired wizards are not what makes Tolkein's work a fantasy. Rather, it is the coming together of heroes large and small, strong and weak, in an unlikely alliance to challenge a force of darkness that threatens their right to exist. We see something in Tolkien's tale that we all too rarely see in our own reality. A true banding together, of people so very different from one another that we can't help but think that they will surely fail. And yet, they defy us. As times goes on, they grow closer, not farther apart. As times goes on, they learn that the power of friendship can extend beyond all borders, over all obstacles, and through all barriers. And it shows us that the greatest heroes are oftentimes the ones that nobody expects. Two hobbits, Tolkien's version of skinny dwarves, turn out to be the only ones with the power to destroy the Ring of Power and vanquish evil once and for all.
What of the great literary works, a reader may ask. What of, say, John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath? True, the world we escape to is in fact very much our own. Rife with injustices, prejudice, and hypocrisy. In many ways, our boring lives are far more desirable than those of Steinbeck's protagonists. Yet, these great classics provide food for the soul that is just as hearty as all the other forms of entertainment. They get us to do something we do all too little of in our day to day lives. To think. To philosophize. To question. In a world where tomorrow could be easily mistaken for today, they brings us into the eyes of those who have seen the greatest evil. Not some ancient monster. Not a hellish demon. But as William Golding put it in his Lord of the Flies, “The darkness of man's heart.” These stories, they bring a poetic quality to our own incomprehensible existences. These great classics, they remind us of what it means to be human.
Storytelling provides us with everything from comfort to enlightenment. It can bring tears to our eyes or make us laugh till our stomachs hurt. It reminds us of that which we need to be reminded of. It gives us faith, and hope. And it allows us to return to our own worlds refreshed, recuperated, and ready.
