Grounded In Fantasy

So, this week saw the release of the final part in the Harry Potter film franchise. I went to see the first possible screening, at midnight! It was no disappointment. In fact it was breathtakingly good. But this isn't a review of the film, nor is it a critique of the whole series, I want to talk about the fantasy genre and what it is really all about.

There seems to be a mass misconception among those who have never taken the time to familiarise themselves with the genre, an understandable misconception that fantasy takes readers or viewers away from the real world. I read a comment in relation to Harry Potter recently, stating that the author was too grounded in reality to enjoy fantasy.

I've read a lot of fantasy and my better half has read far more than I have, our bookshelves are a testament to a lifelong love affair with swords and sorcery, wizards and goblins, mystical lands and generational wars.

But what does really good fantasy actually do? No matter where or when it is set, good fantasy makes you think about your own life and our own world.

The magic and mystical beings are handy writing conventions that give the author a sort of mirror in which they reflect back to the reader insights into the human condition.

Take Harry Potter, yes, there are wizards and witches, magic wands, dragons and an evil wizard out to seize power over mere "muggles", causing an epic war among the denizens of the magical world. It is an epic story. Or is it?

The main character is an ordinary boy. He's not an especially gifted wizard. He feels out of his depth a lot of the time, he forms an immediate rivalry with another boy at school, he struggles to turn in his homework on time and from time to time he gets into quite serious trouble. That is why his story has captured the imaginations of so many people, of all ages, because most people can relate to him.

As for the evil enemy and the epic war, I think most free thinking adults can see the allegory in that basic storyline; the power-hungry who abuse their position and oppress people. It has happened throughout the world in various guises and I dare say it will continue to do so for a long time to come.

As it happens, Voldemort and Harry are intimately linked because of events in their shared history, so Harry fears that he could turn out to be just like his evil enemy. So into the mixing pot of real life reflections is the concept of duality and inner demons, of a person having to overcome their fears, conquer their demons and allow their positive traits to triumph. Most of us do this in our lives, most of us try to better ourselves and doubt ourselves along the way, most of us have things about ourselves that we fear or dislike, we can try to acknowledge our faults and strive to overcome them, or otherwise accept them as a part of ourselves.

All of the issues underneath the fantasy setting are true to life and they are the elements that the story is really about. The existence of magic is just the dressing, just the tool with which to tell a very personal and real world story.

This is far from unique to Harry Potter, as I said at the beginning, all good fantasy does this. That's not to say that there isn't an awful lot of very bad fantasy out there though! And it's true of horror and science fiction too.

Take the Southern Vampire Mysteries series (True Blood), on the surface it's about Vampires and shape shifters, but really it's about relationships and about owning oneself and all ones talents and flaws.

Babylon 5 is a great example of sci-fi that is really all about the people. Yes there are aliens and advanced technology, but it's about what people do when faced with a difficult decision, it's about the way society bends to whoever is in power and what happens to the people who see through the propaganda to what is really happening.

The series, A Song of Ice and Fire, by George RR Martin, recently televised in the series Game of Thrones, spans a huge fantasy world with different cultures and an epic power struggle between families. It's a political drama, essentially, and its characters are the heart and soul of the story.

The plethora of teen supernatural romance series out there explore coming of age, learning to be independent and making ones own decisions in life and let's not forget, the intoxication of first love.

Fantasy doesn't get more gritty and relate-able.

Placing a real world condition or dilemma in a fantasy setting allows authors to explore the issues with more vigour and honesty than placing it in the real world often does. It can free authors from fear of offending sensitive groups and it can allow them access to groups of people who wouldn't otherwise ponder the issues consciously.

Fantasy definitely has its place and while it isn't going to appeal to everyone, I do think people shouldn't knock it until they've tried it.