The Trap of Elementary School and Fantasy

The Disillusioning Library

Before signing up to take my first ever course on fantasy, I had no idea what the genre was really about. If you asked me what the first thing that came to my mind when someone said “fantasy” I would have thought of something medieval, maybe knights on a grand quest to fight some demon at the top of some tower in a fiery, ruined landscape. Or maybe it was a bunch of wizards sitting at a long table assigned to protect a magical book in some castle in an otherworldly plain with unicorns and fairies in nearby forests. Most of this came from the most general, vague images over the internet and pictures that I saw in libraries over the word “Fantasy” in a big, swirly, fancy looking font. Oh, and also one book of the Magic Treehouse where, if I remember correctly, they were in the exact castle and forest that I imagine. And these influences were forced into my head repetitively until I was permanently stuck with the elementary school library's image of what fantasy should be. And just like old habits are hard to break, especially after that much drilling, I had trouble growing out of this image of the genre.

I guess one thing led to another and for a good portion of my life I assumed fantasy was confined to the ideas of dragons and old wizards. These imaginary limitations I had set on what fantasy could be, ended up not really being my taste and I ended up never taking part in it (or at least that's what I thought). I had just set fantasy aside as a genre I would never be interested in. Despite this, I enjoyed a lot of fantasy media like the Harry Potter series, Percy Jackson series, or The Chronicles of Narnia. But in my mind, they were “too cool” to be fantasy or they didn't fit my tight description of what I thought fantasy could be.

Escaping the Matrix

I think now, though, my thoughts on fantasy are changing. I started learning about fantasy a bit more and I realized just how much of the content I was consuming could be counted as fantasy. I stayed away from the Lord of the Rings series because I heard explicitly that it was fantasy, but now having watched through the first movie I realized it actually didn't fit my tight description at all. The story was so much deeper than a basic quest and the worldbuilding was beyond the scope of anything I'd ever seen in fiction. I couldn't believe they made up a whole functional language and the set designs and costumes were so intricately made. Powers I hadn't thought much of before had twists to them and the story had more complexity with a long running history than what I previously imagined a fantasy storyline to have. And while reading through Nettle and Bone, I actually found myself interested in what I was reading. Discovering the world they were in was like exploring an entirely different world. The characters were not the static characters I imagined. But most of all, I was surprised at how much of it was like the content I was already consuming. Fantasy was just as fun and was just as good as everything else I watched or read before.

I learned just how expansive the genre is, and now the more I think about it and remember what media I've consumed in the past, the more I realize just how much of it was fantasy. Just a few weekends ago, I watched Howl's Moving Castle, and over the summer, Arcane. I loved each of their environments; both a very steampunk-esque civilization in their own ways but mixed with a bit of magic and fantastical technology. They introduced nonhuman characters and real-world struggles like war and politics. It should've been a flag that it was fantasy when they introduced the living scarecrow or the thousand year old scientist fox (probably… im not too sure what he is) but I remember desperately trying to categorize them while simultaneously trying to avoid fantasy. But now with my newfound appreciation for the genre and realizing that the “box” of fantasy is a lot bigger than I ever imagined, I would happily add the movie and show to my list of fantasy media.

Holy Red Pill

As a fantasy enjoyer, what I find the best about the genre is just how expansive it can be. Fantasy isn't just a genre for kids wanting to read about knights, but it's for all ages looking for a fun escape from reality. Little me would be so surprised to learn that it's a lot more than the swords and the basic sorcery I had imagined; fantasy builds completely new realities that bend or recreate basic rules that we take for granted. The roots of what makes fantasy, fantasy, is the ability to world-build anything you can imagine. Fantasy can be anything from dark fantasy to epic sagas to character-driven tales. And if that wasn't enough, fantasy is so great because through this power, authors can create any reality it needs to tell a story. In other words, it can offer a lot better of a lens to communicate ideas or emotions clearly to the reader. By creating a world of the author's choice, readers can explore an alternate reality shaped by someone else's vision to cultivate empathy on a whole other level.

Now, to fantasy nonbelievers, I understand that it's easy to dismiss dragons and enchantments as escapist stuff or not mature enough, but honestly you have to try it out. Fantasy can deal with a lot more profound ideas like morality, abuse of power, identity, or mortality. And that's just from what I've seen, read, or watched recently. Having been in a similar position before, I get why people might not think fantasy is for them, but even a lighthearted story like Howl's Moving Castle explores stuff I would've never expected in a fantasy like aging, self-image, or the fear of commitment Fantasy can offer a whole new lens to understanding the world and you don't realize what you're missing out on until you actually try it out for yourself.

New Genre New Me

Ultimately, my thoughts on fantasy have grown so much more than I ever thought they would and I'm so glad that I took a chance at the genre. I felt like I've seriously expanded the scope of media I consume and it honestly made it fun to discover new shows. Actually, since realizing how expansive fantasy was, I added a lot more shows to my watch list and I'm super excited to get into all of them soon. But I think to me now, fantasy is great because it allows authors to ask “what if” questions on the largest scale possible and create a new reality for stories that are relatable or interesting in a unique way that wouldn't be possible.