Escapism
Walking through an alley between two tall buildings, along a wall in the distance, I saw what seemed to be a skillfully crafted mural. Exited by my fascination with graffiti, I ran to get a closer look. But the nearer I got to it, the more I saw the talentless scribbles of a vandal. Written with a mean-streak marker and with simplicity was the word ESCAPISM. Disappointed after my high expectations and the unfamiliarity with the word, I walked away.
But as I thought about that word, it seemed the more I did the more I wanted to understand the meaning. Flipping through a dictionary, that day, I carefully began my study.
"Escapism: the tendency to escape from daily realities or routine by indulging in daydreaming, fantasy, or entertainment. An indication to retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy" (2000 dictionary.com).
Reading those words, I began to understand the complexity of our human nature. Believing that we can find peace and solace in a make-believe world, an increasing number of people, young and old, are using artificial means to escape the reality of life and to seek comfort in an unreal world.
Escapism is often looked upon negatively in our society. Many people understand it as the inability to cope with or face the realities in our world. But escapism finds many different forms, from extreme sloth to the ultimate in healthy living to the devastation of heroin addiction. In its simplicity escapism is nothing more than offering an escape from our own consciousness by heightening the sense of self, giving to us a feeling of aliveness.
Life is becoming more and more complicated. Society is feeding our minds a lifestyle that is so contrary to what we live in, setting the standard of normality to a happy life. And just within reach we find almost every kind of escape including television, cinemas, fairs and circuses, or even worse, intoxicants such as narcotics, alcohol, and at times sex.
Even if one does not seek such worldly diversions, the alternative is often spiritual intoxication: going to a place of worship and mindlessly repeating prayers or performing ceremonies.
Humans subconsciously go in search for an exciting location after having become bored of theirs. Humanity goes in search of an exciting location their satisfaction tank is not filled anymore because of their daily boring routines. In a sense one becomes so familiar with a place that he or she is part of the location, like walking the same path to work or home or seeing the same people doing the same thing every day. When discussing how people become too habituated to an environment, De Botton wonders “What would it cost those who are out for a walk or crowding out of the theatre, to look up for a moment and admire the brilliant constellation which gleams above their head?” (De Botton, 66.) People do not seem to appreciate what is in front of them, which in this case above them. He or she becomes blind because they had never bothered to look up. One falls in a routine excluding the fact that there is much to be seen without having to be out of one’s environment. To show this point, De Botton explains having walked around his home town
Within the impoverished urban streets arose a youth culture captivated by infamy and self-pride. A youth culture virtually undistinguishable from members of modern society with a passion, setting them apart from the community. The members of this underground subculture could be your next-door neighbor, your son or daughter, or the contractor repairing your roof, yet you would have no idea that they strive to “bomb” objects and surfaces found in everyday life. It is the subtle differences that distinguish a graffiti artist from the average member of society, such as their, mindset, desires, speech and active lifestyle.
Considerably, literature is a form of escapism. This came to me from a young age, where I became engrossed by the concept of story-telling. Whether it be through the natural world conveyed by romantic poets like Shelley and Wordsworth or the complex characters found in prose, like in the works of Dickens and Hardy; comprehending how plots are reflective of life intrigued me to devise my own.
In the short story by Ray Bradbury “ The Pedestrian” Lenoard Mead is walking down an empty sidewalk in a dark city that feels dead. Every one except for him is in their house watching tv or something doesn’t involve leaving the house. It’s like they are escaping from something they don’t want to do. Of course watching tv or doing anything else to “escape” isn’t bad it can help people calm down or entertain people, But that’s only in moderation. It can make someone forget to do something inportant.
In conclusion, escapism was a very prominent and reoccurring theme in Pan’s Labyrinth. Escapism can have both negative results and positive results. Escapism can be a healthy escape from the troubles of life, unless it is used in excessive amounts. Those like Ofelia who use escapism for their problems need to find a healthy medium between escapism and reality. Ofelia’s death at the end of the movie shows how disastrous escapism can be when there is no healthy medium. Running from reality does catch up with you in the end, so escapism when used as a coping mechanism needs to be used
escaping from it. From the moment you wake until you fall asleep you are confronted with media. Almost
Man has always been driven to create. We constantly shape the world around us by inventing stories of heroes and monsters, by crafting complex but passionate ideals about good and evil. Some relish in the power that this manipulation of reality wields; others are more innocent in that they are simply yielding to a universal longing for something in which to believe.
Like de Botton observes that "they had fallen into the habit of considering their universe to be boring-- and it had duly fallen into line with their expectations". Some people feel at ease in a "habituated mindset", just being at home, having nothing to worry about. The fast pace of life in the modern era in fact requires us to have a "habituated mindset," meaning that we are settled within our expectations. Furthermore, when one comes back from a vacation, he tends to say the phrase "home sweet home", suggesting that there is indeed no place like home, our habituated environment. To change our perspective at how we look at things, is like coming up to a new solution for an old problem, just like how in the beginning de Botton despised London, and in the end saw latent layers of value released from it. People could well argue as to how long can we be expected to keep a "traveling mindset" within our habituated surrounding. Inevitably, we are going to get bored of seeing the same things over and over again, and at that time, applying a "traveling mindset" would be of no avail
Extroversion is described as a person being stimulated or feeling energized by living in the external world. This means that an individual with a preference for extroversion are oriented towards people and things in the outside world, such as talking or interacting with other people, going to new places, and getting new experiences (Fretwell, Lewis, & Hannay, 2013). Extroverts
In the beginning of The Ascent, Jared is seen as an imaginative and innocent child, albeit a little lonely. However, the tone dramatically shifts when Jared discovers the plane wreck and “sit[s] in the back seat [for] two hours, though [to him] it seem[s] only a few minutes” (Rash 281). By finding comfort with dead people, it is clear that Jared is emotionally disturbed. He isolates himself from others by depending on his imagination to make up for his lack of company. This is further exemplified when Jared watches his parents “pas[s] the pipe back and forth… want[ing] to go back to the plane” (Rash 284). Rather than stay with his drug-abusive and neglectful parents during Christmas time, Jared desires to escape to the place where he can be alone with just his imagination. According to Robert Stanley Martin’s review of the short story, “[t]he plane becomes to [Jared] what the drugs are to his parents: a place to escape that he never wants to leave, and which he always longs to return.” The plane and drugs in the short story are extreme examples of common forms of escapism used by humans every day. People love to take a mental and emotional break from reality in the form of vacations and hobbies. However, when these examples of escapism are vastly more important to individuals that actuality, they can become “numb inside the vehicles of their escape” (Martin). This is very detrimental to one’s emotional stability as an individual will lose his perception of the real world. At the end of The Ascent, when visiting the plane for the final time, Jared has escaped so far from reality that he imagines the plane “ha[s] taken off” (Rash 287). He stays in the plane for so long that “after a while he began to shiver but after a longer while he was no longer cold”, demonstrating his eventual death from hypothermia (Rash 287).
Imagination is one of the most powerful attributes a character can possess, and one of the most undervalued. In this day and age, materials seem to be desired by the majority of the people in our generation, whether it’d be elaborate clothing, advanced gadgets, or luxurious cars. We value the accessories that allow us to feel extravagant, rather than appreciating the remarkable abilities gifted to us by human nature. Because of this, the potency of imagination is neglected. However, what happens when we take those material goods away? What happens when we are left with nothing, only ourselves and our minds? This isolation from the material world gives us a chance to explore the possibilities that we disregard while we are blinded by it. With
Graffiti has been on the rise in popularity since its beginnings fifty years ago. Danielle Crinnion provides a brief history of graffiti arguing that “Philadelphia
Why does one escape reality and what consequences do his or her actions hold? Evading real life can be a way to cope with the harshness of the world or can be an innocent activity for fun. Sometimes being excessively imaginative will force someone to be naturally less confrontational with his or her real problems. Therefore causing him or her to go through the motions every day, without specific goals or hopes of improving his or her life. Escaping reality can be harmless temporarily but can show negative effects when repeated.
Examine Synge's Treatment of the Theme of Escapism in, The Playboy of the Western World Ireland, during the nineteenth century was ruled by the British, which created resentment with the Irish people feeling they were oppressed by the British authorities. These bitter feelings were not helped by the British government's laissez-faire policy, especially as Ireland was in a period of depression- only Northern Ireland (Ulster) had industrialised, the rest of Ireland was still agriculturally based and mainly rural (except for large cities such as Dublin) This was highlighted after the potato famine which saw Ireland lose a quarter of its population through death and emigration. In the West of Ireland, in the remote village where the play is set, the villagers lead simple, farming-based lives which are boring and monotonous.
When I was younger, I would often think of ways to be different. I often became witness to things going on around me that I ultimately wanted no part of. What we saw as fun later we realized that we dodged many bullets, not in the literal sense, but the exact same activities we’d get ourselves involved in due to mere boredom is the same activities that cost others their lives and even given time behind bars.