Fantasy Appeal

Fantasy stories are an exciting, fun experience for us to indulge ourselves in. The characters, adventures, ideas, plot twists—we can all relate to them in different ways.

As we grow up, we’re exposed to a lot of fantasy elements. Monsters and magic are in nearly every cartoon and Disney movie we watch. Watching these as kids makes our imaginations run wild and leads us to questioning what’s real and fake. Once we’re a bit older, we mostly have learned what’s possible and impossible, but enjoy these stories just as much, if not more. Why? It’d seem that we would stop caring about fantasy at this point, but we become engaged in them in a different way. Rather than focus on the fake, we focus on the relatable real aspects in the story, and also simply appreciate the story being told.

Game of Thrones’s current popularity is a testament to what we seek and appreciate in fantasy. The real side of the spectrum is laced with kings, medieval combat, backstabbing, and sex; the fake with magic, dragons, reanimation, and assassin spawn. The brilliant story and emphasis on the real aspects keep it fresh and allow us to relate to it heavily. Watching a dragon roast a sheep won’t connect to my life in any specific way, but it’s still interesting and contributes to the overall relatable story.  Observing a tyrant king at work may be a little out there, but it can remind us of bullies or snobs we’ve met in our lives. And seeing a wedding can mess with our emotions, just like in real life. Fantasy is just plain fun, so people enjoy it.