Before we get too involved into the areas that escapism has been especially successful in to date, I would like to take a brief look at what it is, and what meaning it has to me personally. The Merriam-Webster definition is as follows, “habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine.” And an “escapist” is someone who possesses this habit. In this context escapism basically refers to anyone who regularly uses their imagination, and importantly, that one can be an escapist without any outside input on hand. That being said, there are myriad mediums that are, in part, escape-inducing, the list is different for everyone, but classical examples include books, television, film, and videogames. I personally believe that any object perceivable to humans could possibly induce escapism, but some objects seem to do it better than others. (The reasons for this are somewhat beyond the scope of this post, but I may touch on them briefly.) Anything that stimulates imagination, it seems, can help induce escapism.
At this juncture I’m not really sure if I should comment on the all the negative connotations commonly associated with escapism. I think it will be enough for me to say that I consider myself to be an escapist, but that I do not consider the “real” world to be unbearable, or completely unsatisfying. I do not believe there is anyone alive who finds the real world completely unbearable, no matter how many hours a day they play video games. Also, I do not feel that whether or not I am addicted to anything has any relevance to whether or not I am an escapist.
So, with all this nonsense hopefully one will come away with the idea that when you perceive something you then think about it, and if you then imagine that something in a context different from its original context you are practicing escapism. You do this often enough and you can call yourself an escapist. Escapism is a parasite in the sense that it interrupts your regular life, and is enticing because it gives you an opportunity to become someone else somewhere else. Also, like any good parasite, escapism watches out for itself and ensures its survival by utilizing medium that tend to inspire the infected to go out and create more escapism-inducing medium. Anyone who has ever been inspired enough to create something should know what I’m talking about. I understand the process goes like this, you see something interesting, think about for a while and then you start imaging it in different forms and contexts. If you get into it, you tell someone, and that’s really all it takes, the process can repeat itself. If you’re really into it then you’ll probably produce a tangible version of it. Now you’ve not only caught the escapism “bug”, but you’ve also helped give it you someone else. If we consider this, then one begins to understand not only how wide spread escapism is, but also how long it has been around. How would our lives be different if humans were not able to look at things in a context different from the original?
I will admit that there is a hole or two in what I am telling you, for one thing, most of what I have been saying so far sounds as if it is under the assumption that in order to create something one must be an escapist. While I think it is difficult to create without first escaping, I also realize that some creations are intended to be as real as possible in all aspects. (Morel’s invention?) I also acknowledge that, in using one’s imagination to create, that “escaping” is not necessarily the intent. Even allowing for these two things, we cannot escape escapism entirely because whatever you create can still induce escapism in someone else.
In class on Friday, I shared with everyone that I consider escapism to be one of the most significant parasites in my life. I also stated my top two mediums to be writing and video games. By the comparison, any video game is easy. Just go control someone else’s creation in someone else’s world. If you die, it’s usually not a big deal. If you win, you can always play it again. My favorite games have always been the ones that give the most freedom of control over your environment. Grand Theft Auto does this pretty well, so does Oblivion (although not nearly as well as Morrowind did), and Spore is almost revolutionary (although still limited in so many ways).
As far as I am concerned, writing is the last word in escapism. When I write, I feel as if the whole process is suspended in escapism. I am either working at abstracting new ideas from ones I’ve heard elsewhere, or I’m furiously trying to remember times I’ve done it in the past. For the true escapism junkie, writing puts video games to shame, and I would like to see a day in my life where I spend more time writing than I do playing video games. I’m just not strong enough yet.
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