On Time Well Spent: Escapism

AA72, Zdzisław Beksiński

In the seventeen years that I have roamed this planet, I have had difficulty dealing with escapism, as it lingers everywhere and nowhere. Especially these last five years. As a kid I wasn't aware of escapism, although I came into contact with it very often. I mostly read modern fantasy and most of it was escapist fantasy. Yet I wonder today whether it was an escapist activity for me at the time, since I really enjoyed reading these books and regularly got very excited. That brings us to the question: what makes an activity escapist? The most straightforward definition is: an activity that leads us away (a way to escape) from reality. This helps to relieve stress and distracts from the unpleasant and banal aspects of the individual's life. An important distinction to make, however, is how one experiences the activity and the activity itself; while an activity can be fundamentally escapist, it still can be experienced as confrontational (e.g., a critical reading of an escapist work), conversely, an activity that is fundamentally confrontational can be experienced as escapism (e.g., an escapist reading of Gormenghast). Thus we distinguish the activity itself from the individual experience of such activity.*

This means that an escapist experience cannot provide any insight into our world or ourselves, as it then had to point toward reality, and it neither improves nor confronts reality, right? The line does indeed seem a bit blurry: e.g., one goes out jogging, thus improving his health, but it is only to avoid confronting their reality, be it familial, financial, etc.; the real intention here being escapist, rather than confrontational, making this an escapist experience (experientally escapist*) of a confrontational activity. So the jogger actually does improve his reality, but only the parts of it that aren't connected to the major problems in his life that he wishes to avoid. 

Hypothetical? yes, but isn't it wonderful ?

This raises an interesting question: can a direct confrontation with our own reality be experienced as escapism? Let's say, Rick is depressed and regrets that he didn't spend more time with his now dead child. Every time this theme is present in a book or film, this will confront Rick, and make him think about his experience and how he might have to deal with it. Yet, he experiences self-pity instead, he doesn't think of changing his own reality, he merely relates to said theme and feels more emotionally invested; it doesn't make him actually think of his own situation, because he is so utterly detached from his own reality: the 'ultimate escapist'. (Highly hypothetical? yes.)

J. G. Keely in his article, 'On Escapism', says: "So, the first and most important point is that 'escapist' is not the same as 'pleasurable'." Well, not quite. I think an activity can lead us away from life and still be (infinitely) pleasurable. As I explained, any confrontational activity can be experienced as escapist, this just means that any activity can be experienced as escapist, and also the most pleasurable ones (e.g., sex, visiting themeparks, eating, reading, sleeping, etc.) While an escapist experience can be pleasurable, it is never meaningful, and that is what we have to keep in mind while dealing with such activities; in the end, what would you prefer: a life of knowledge, experience, growth, love, wisdom, wonder and all the (little) hardships that come with it, or a life of constant and infinite pleasure, but without knowledge, experience, growth, love, wisdom and wonder? Even if it was indeed pleasure without hardship -- and it's most often the other way around, I would still pick the former every time, for these are the 'true pleasures', which only we (humans) can experience.

As I said earlier, I used to read escapist fantasy, yet my experience was rather confrontational, since I experienced narratives and narrative devices that were new to me and excited me. These books always contained the limited views and opinions of the authors, because they seeped in as a cause of their lack of skill as writers, comforting the reader instead of confronting, agreeing instead of disagreeing. The less experienced a reader is, the more stuff he thoughtlessly puts into his mind, thus I unconsciously might have formed my worldview according to the biased views presented in the books, but luckily my mind wasn't totally deprived of critical judgement and I questioned some of the ideas presented in their books. Eventually, I found these modern fantasies to have become too dull to be fun reads and I quit reading fantasy for some time, until I stumbled upon better fantasy through Keely's suggestions.

Any books below 500 pages?
Well, one would almost suspect that obesity within the genre is most contagious: spreading
from author to volume, from volume to volume, and from volume to both author and reader.
(hopefully the cat stays safe)

Well, when I hear people talking about literature, gaming, cinema, etc., especially speculative fiction, the term 'escapism' is often mentioned, sometimes with disgust, sometimes with approval, but most often misunderstood. Some regard every fiction as fundamentally escapist -- just because it transports you to another world with different people --, and while they might experience every fiction so, this statement is clearly flawed if we use our own definition, because most fiction doesn't lead us away from reality, in the contrary, it points toward reality, it brings us closer, and provides a deeper understanding of it. Certainly, some activities like writing, studying, reading, etc., might take our attention away from the more negative aspects of our own reality: maybe your situation, relationships, conflicts, etc., but it does bring us closer to our own reality in general; it improves our understanding of the world and ourselves. Thus, if escapism meant: an activity that makes one forget the negative aspects of the individual's life, almost all activities would be rendered escapism, making it a very loose and almost meaningless term.

Some people will find themselves to be experientally confrontational*, and others rather experientally escapist*. The latter being an unhealthy approach. As Keely notes: "escapism is just the symptom of a larger life problem that isn't being dealt with." These problems can also be smaller things, like postponing work or avoiding necessary self-reflection.

'Bridget Cuddled up Against a Fat Baby Kookaburra',
Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

Escapism is merely a coping mechanism in the face of adversity. When confronted by a problem or work, it's very easy to just avoid it and do something that takes you away from all of that, like playing FIFA when you should be studying for your exams. One avoids the conflict, yet the conflict will stay, sometimes getting even bigger than it was at first. These are kinds of escapism that everyone has dealt with, at some time in our lives, but there is worse, much worse. Some people seek escape because of deep-rooted trauma, while other people seek escape because of feelings of fear, anxiety, depression, sadness or lack of self-esteem. By constantly avoiding the problem, we aren't solving it, we aren't dealing with it, it's just guaranteed to stay the same indefinitely, or get worse. 

This doesn't mean we should do away with pleasant distractions, because they aren't always necessarily escapist. Sometimes it's fine to stop all these thoughts and give your mind that bit of necessary rest. Yet it is important not to overdo it, because it can very easily become routine -- which is fine, if your mind needs that routine, but often it really doesn't --, consistently drawing time from your life, as discussed in the previous post. So we can choose to include pleasant distractions in our lives that are fundamentally confrontational, since they give your mind the necessary rest, thus aiming to improve your reality.

It's sometimes hard to differentiate and classify these escapist activities, because they can be quite tempting and seem insignificant; for example: these last two years, I have played Valorant every few weeks, sometimes months, often with friends. I also watched pro Valorant for some time, to become better at the game and because it could be very exciting and fun. I was beginning to get really good at the game, yet it became more and more an isolated experience. 

The sweet taste of victory!

I found it a fascinating game; playing around with all these different characters and many possibilities. Most of my friends quickly became disinterested but I was still playing every now and then, trying to improve my strategies and mechanics. While I didn't play much at all, it became sort of an addiction, and every time I was working on a project or reading -- which is quite a demanding activity for me, most of the time --, a little voice in my head would tempt me to walk over to my computer -- or even easier when I was already on the computer --, to start up Valorant and play a game. I mean, it's so much easier to ignore your problems or work, sit down and play a game. Sometimes I gave in, but most of the time I resisted, but I always felt frustrated. 

First, I convinced myself it was like chess -- oh, and it very much was like chess -- and that it improved my problem solving skills. Eventually, I wanted to play the game very badly, and it became harder to resist, and then after I had given in, I often felt the need to play just one more, after which I felt I hadn't done anything productive at all, that I just had wasted my time, that I just was a few hours older. A week ago, after dinner, I asked my father to completely remove Valorant from my pc -- I had tried before and it somehow didn't work. He convinced me that a little distraction like Valorant isn't a bad thing, and that everyone needs these little distractions in life. I replied: "Oh, well, I'll see for the next couple of weeks how it works out; maybe after that you can delete it." My father was already opening the door to leave the house, when that little voice whispered in my head: "Well, let's play some Valorant after dinner, shan't we?" "Dad!!! Wait! I have changed my mind: you can delete it. No! Now! Right now, please!"

The other day, a friend of mine asked me what fictional reality I would prefer to live in; I couldn't come up with any fictional universe that surpassed ours or one that came even close, and I replied that I would rather live here, because there is still so much to be experienced and to be explored for me, and that I didn't like the notion of preferring a fictional reality over ours, as many people do. What fictional universe surpasses our nature, wonderful people, philosophy, history, etc.? oh, and we've got Monty Python, Priest, coffee and cats; I suppose nothing can beat that ey. Well, in the end, we all have to deal with escapism at some point in our lives and it's our choice whether we give in or fight it, and be better rewarded for it.

*Defining said terms:

Fundamentally escapist: the activity itself aims to let the person escape reality. 

Fundamentally confrontational: the activity itself aims to improve the person's reality.

Experientally escapist: the person experiences the activity as a way to escape reality, regardless of what sort of an activity the activity is, whether it be fundamentally escapist or confrontational. 

Experientally confrontational: the person experiences the activity as a way to to improve his reality, regardless of what sort of an activity the activity is, whether it be fundamentally escapist or confrontational. 

PS: as always, influential and quoted articles are linked in the text.