Fantasy Goes Mainstream?

I do apologize for missing last week's posting. I couldn't think of anything to write about, as sometimes happens to us writers. I do thank Sonja for reading and commenting, however! My first commenter, though hopefully not my only reader.

The other night I was watching the movie Ella Enchanted on television. I rather like this as a film, taking into account its intended audience of pre-teen and young teen girls, who had already loved Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries. It's not a particularly faithful adaptation of the novel, which disappoints me, but it has its own charm with its use of old pop songs and modern twists on fairytale conventions.

I also stumbled across a world of "fanfiction," or fictional stories written by fans of various movies, books, TV shows, etc., that spin further tales of favorite characters. There was an abundance of Harry Potter, Anime, popular sci fi shows, etc. Even some really obscure shows and movies that are decades old.

The internet will also lead you to a variety of role-playing games in the fantasy genre. The Realm is a personal favorite of mine, but there is also Ultima Online and others.

So what do these three sources of entertainment and much wasted time have to do with each other? Well, first let me add a fourth item.

I taught my first classes of the school year on Tuesday. After finishing a tad (okay, a half hour, but the classes are 1.5 hours) early, my quad of lively Sophomore girls quickly turned the scholarly atmosphere towards entertainment. (With my tacit permission.) The girls seemed communally interested in -- besides handsome male actors, or perhaps because of -- several fantasy movies and books, such as Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean (I would consider it a fairytale of sorts), The Chronicles of Narnia, and the ever-present Lord of the Rings.

What connected all of these for me is the growing popularity of the fantasy genre. Fantasy or fairytale movies almost always do well at the box office, especially if based off of well-written fantasy novels, and unbelievable numbers of people of all ages are so enthralled by the movies or books that they begin writing in the genre. (If you don't believe me, follow the link to fanfiction.net, click on books, and then Harry Potter, to see an example of how many thousands of spin-off stories one character has generated.)

Fantasy was once perceived to be the genre of nerdy high school boys sitting at home on Friday nights playing the dubious Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game, or grown-up nerdy computer programmers, likewise home alone on date night, reading Lord of the Rings and naming their pet goldfish Gandalf.

Slowly over the decades, but now with increasing frequency, fantasy is being embraced by all types of people, as well as the economic market. Companies are realizing that fantasy sells, and we see more and more of it out there. Who out there hasn't at least heard of The Lord of the Rings, thanks to Peter Jackson's enormously successful film trilogy? Then Narnia followed suit, though its success remains to be seen as we await the next film. On The Realm, for another example, I have met other players from 14-year-old, modern-day Dungeons and Dragons fanatics, to 50-some year old grandparents. The embracing of fantasy brings a community of like-minded people together.

Fantasy seems to have gone mainstream. I believe this is because of the inherent creative element of the genre. We are made by an imaginative Creator, who also gave us the ability to create, and take pleasure in what we make. Fantasy is a place with unlimited potential to invent new worlds. In this, I also see an inherent desire that all of us have for a world different from the one we inhabit. We know in our souls this world is not how it was meant to be, and we long for the new world God will create someday. In fantasy, we reach out to grasp an idea of what that world can be.