Twenty-twenty has extensively been regarded – in lighter dialog – because the Yr of the Introvert. However the ones who’re really geared to deal with the unhandleable are one other trendy subspecies altogether: the fantasists. Weaned on a food regimen of Recreation of Thrones and armed with their mandala colouring books, this breed can train the poor realists a factor or two about dealing with the apocalypse.
The inklings
As the true world retreated right into a shell, the necessity for make-believe grew like a beanstalk earlier than Jack, or like Alice tasting a chunk of that trippy Wonderland cake. However like all luxuries, this one, too, is reserved just for the fortunate few. I communicate for all these long-suffering realists, for whom magic and fantasy spell nothing however tedious, unsatisfying departures from the plausible. Bored of fairy tales in childhood, we recoil from magic realism as adults. Ghosts and ghouls, leprechauns and lightsabers – all so apparent compared with the delicate and stunning twists of “actual life”.
However this, in fact, isn’t an indictment of a beloved literary style. I’ve a deep affection for JRR Tolkien – with out having learn the trilogy That Should Be Learn. Having been force-fed The Hobbit as a sceptical teen, the magic simply didn’t take maintain. That didn’t cease me from going all misty-eyed whereas visiting the writer’s favorite pub in Oxford, The Eagle and Little one (nicknamed The Chook and Child) – the place he and his fellow “Inklings” like CS Lewis met usually for about three many years. “All that’s gold doesn’t glitter, Not all those that wander are misplaced”– the well-known strains from JRR’s most well-known work – are my distillation of the King of Fantasy. And so they work simply as superbly with out the one thousand and one plot particulars {that a} sieve-like mind can by no means hope to retain.
The reluctant fantasist
The fantasies of a realist, nevertheless, have their very own underrated allure. Take, for example, lockdown fantasies, that modern model of daydreams that even essentially the most hardened pragmatist can’t resist. Mine, predictably, have circled round foods and drinks, whether or not it’s a decadent platter of sushi in a paper-lanterned restaurant or a steaming glass of filter espresso at a streetside eatery – each as unrealistic, in the intervening time, as levitation or invisibility. Like all fantasies, these, too, have their darkish aspect. You pay for the temporary thrill of indulgence with a far longer bout of disappointment. However what’s life if not an countless cycle of contradictions? Right here’s one: for all my fantasy-phobia, I’m as uplifted by a Harry Potter confection as the subsequent curmudgeon.
Weaned on a food regimen of Recreation of Thrones and armed with mandala colouring books, the fantasists can train realists to deal with the apocalypse
Pleasures, as Uncle Freud has tirelessly identified, have a number of sources and interpretations. Of those, the revenge fantasy appears to supply a catharsis like no different. You already know that feeling when somebody says one thing actually merciless, but undeniably witty, and also you stand there tongue-tied, cloaking your harm in a faux grin? These scrumptious fantasies of delivering the proper acerbic comeback present an unrivalled solace in the dead of night hours that observe. Sadly, one’s revenge reflexes are sometimes as gradual as these of a hungover fielder within the slips. The slur grazes you and speeds away, like a ball hurtling in the direction of an unguarded boundary.
Rock ‘n’ roll fantasy
It’s within the realm of music that the query of candy escape is finest addressed. Ideally with a deafening guitar solo. The rock ‘n’ roll fantasy catches you early – in that numinous adolescent house, the place the thoughts is with out concern and the soul with out path. From The Beatles’ Lucy within the Sky With Diamonds to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, the pleasures of the surreal are amplified by the music of the courageous. Who’re these rocking horse folks and why are they consuming marshmallow pies? Does Beelzebub really put aside devils for particular person folks? None of it actually issues – you merely flow. Plausibility is the affliction of the unimaginative, you inform your self, and permit your self a flight of fancy.
Glam rock, that fashion of exaggerated music and efficiency that the ’70s exemplified, perfected the artwork of excessive artifice for electrical thrills. Outrageous and androgynous, the style blended supplies like a pav-bhaji vendor does components (lockdown fantasies die arduous). From ABBA’s sweetness to David Bowie’s weirdness, and from Prince’s mystique to Kiss’ masala, its avatars all flaunt a type of magic that’s arduous to withstand and far more satisfying than even the revenge fantasy.
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From HT Brunch, August 30, 2020
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