I really don’t like fantasy, much to the disappointment of my boyfriend who is wild about wizards, deep into dragons and obsessed with oracles. All of Ollie’s computer games involve magic guilds, casting spells, perfecting charms and summoning spirits. I don’t hate on this, in fact I find it kind of endearing, I like that he is open to be taken on a fantastical journey, totally uninhibited. I love that magic and fantasy can feed your imagination and give your mind space to run free. I just don’t get it. I’m not discounting the genre, I mean it’s really fucking popular, but I’ve never found a connection despite exploring it in a variety of mediums.
I don’t watch Game of Thrones, I’m not trying to be contrary or defy pop-culture I just genuinely don’t like it. I mean, I occasionally glance up while Ollie is watching it to perve on John Snow or see a titty shot but that’s it. I tried to get into it, but I found the language convoluted and impenetrable. I also hate the costumes, the elaborate landscapes and unrealistic settings. I’m not transported to these spaces, I don’t escape while watching, if anything these things take me out of the moment. I can’t connect with what the characters are feeling or saying because I’m too busy focusing on fucking prosthetics or CGI scenery.
I like things to feel familiar, relatable, to look like the everyday. Then I can focus purely on the story and dialogue. That’s why I’m utterly obsessed with Louis CK’s new series Horace and Pete. I think it’s some of the most impactful, moving writing I’ve seen in a long time. It’s sparse and raw, it doesn’t shy away from confronting material: politics, transgender, cancer, mental illness, and doesn’t hide behind over-the-top production values. It slaps you in the face, and forces you to contemplate some fucking deep shit.
I tend to enjoy feature films of the same ilk; films that feel like plays and bring the power, vulnerability and excitement that live theatre possesses. Two of my favourite films Glen Garry Glen Ross and Polanski’s Carnage; have minimal set changes, lengthy continuous shots, and were both based on Tony Award winning plays. The acting in both films is exceptional, it feels like it hasn’t been watered down, manipulated or edited. It’s like your processing things in real time with the characters, your connected, and it’s fucking electric. A blue skinned thing flying around in an oversaturated jungle, an army of orcs, or a kid wizard, just don’t affect me in the same way.
I also feel like there is so much material to explore within our own humanity, I don’t know why we need to step into other worlds. Chris Marker created a beautiful, extremely moving documentary/video essay Sans Soleil purely focused on the nature of human memory. I know that fantasy content usually has deeper moral or ethical concerns at the core; and expresses profound themes and issues metaphorically. Like I get that the aliens in District 9 were a representation of our treatment of refugees, but I find metaphors make things less moving.
I like my writing to the be direct and to the point also, I don’t need to waste my time on pages and pages to get a pretty picture, or learn about wands or spells. I like writers like Bukowski, Hunter S Thompson, Eggers; that set a scene, simply, then go right for your jugular.