When you could be watching Darkon on Hulu? Seriously well-done documentary on fantasy role-players – i.e., folks who have created a culture amid the wastelands of their modern lives. “None of our wars are just another war. Every one is different, unique, and worthy of stories, and songs, and lies after the fact. They’ll all be enshrined in our history.”
And there’s this, from the end: “It’s all terminal. We’re gonna die. And maybe fantasy and religion and all those things are, if not crutches, vehicles that get you from birth to death. I think that the people who get the most out of life are those that have a rich fantasy world. It’s part of what allows people to hope.”
But as awesome as the Darkon people are,* the really amazing thing is the filmmaking, the incisive movement deeper into the dynamic of a fantasy world populated by real people. Not mocking, not lauding, but looking, and looking closely.
*No, this does not imply that I long to number myself among their ranks.
So, if after a long roleplaying battle one of these guys hops back into his car with the Flying Spaghetti Monster logo on it, saying “your fantasies are no better than mine,” how do you respond?
I love Hulu.
Anon,
I guess I’d say, “You may be right. But I’m hoping that my fantasy is actually true, and that living according to the precepts of my fantasy world will not only bear fruit unto life everlasting, but actually transform myself and the entire world for the better. The real world bleeds into Darkon – the same frustrations, the same mediocrities and mendacities. It is combat with those dragons that lends drama to my fantasy. I could go on, but as I said, you may be right.”
Hey, I know one of the guys in it. He visited Toronto for the release of Darkon… three years ago?
Still haven’t seen it. I really should.
The quality of awesomeness is not strained. Thanks a million for that link!