3 ms·

What all fiction tends to do - crime stories, disasters, horror, action, romance - is make ordinary life look relatively muted. Maybe you don't want to become a

by chipsy 11y ago

What all fiction tends to do - crime stories, disasters, horror, action, romance - is make ordinary life look relatively muted. Maybe you don't want to become a mafioso in real life, but you do want to feel validated in your more minor lawbreaking, your small rebellions against authority, etc. Plenty of teenagers want to imagine themselves being action heroes, with a "simple" life full of glorifying adventures where people die but not them - an escape from the immediate problems of their everyday existence. As they get older, most of them feel less inclined to see the world burn, and so reinterpret the same stories in a more troubled way. But in the moment, it's always about being "so badass" or whatnot. A person you could be, if you were just a little less inhibited by things like emotion and caring for others. And that's the second part of it - that you can uphold "glorified bad guys" as part of an elaborate rationalization process to ignore your own failings, praising their every motion while distancing yourself from the idea you are also bad.

icebraining 11y ago
While the escapism you're describing is certainly widespread, it's completely reductionist to say it's always about that. Particularly in the most popular editions (The Godfather, The Sopranos, etc), the mafiosos do not enjoy a good life. They are often tragic figures, not successful people. Sure, Tony Soprano may have a lot of money and doesn't take shit from bosses or other idiots, but he's also living with depression and suffers from regular panic attacks. And does anyone envy the life of Scarface? I think it's actually the opposite; what really makes gangster films successful is not our envy of the "qualities," but the fact that we can relate to their flaws, which eventually destroy them. In good films, in which the characters are not two dimensional "bad" guys but relatable people, we take empathize and take pity on them, even if we understand they have no one to blame but themselves - much like we. (By the way, if you think all fiction makes ordinary life look muted, I suggest you look into the realism movements. I can recommend Scenes from a Marriage, which has nothing that would look out of place in an ordinary life, yet it's a masterpiece)

by chipsy 11y ago

icebraining 11y ago

While the escapism you're describing is certainly widespread, it's completely reductionist to say it's always about that. Particularly in the most popular editions (The Godfather, The Sopranos, etc), the mafiosos do not enjoy a good life. They are often tragic figures, not successful people. Sure, Tony Soprano may have a lot of money and doesn't take shit from bosses or other idiots, but he's also living with depression and suffers from regular panic attacks. And does anyone envy the life of Scarface? I think it's actually the opposite; what really makes gangster films successful is not our envy of the "qualities," but the fact that we can relate to their flaws, which eventually destroy them. In good films, in which the characters are not two dimensional "bad" guys but relatable people, we take empathize and take pity on them, even if we understand they have no one to blame but themselves - much like we. (By the way, if you think all fiction makes ordinary life look muted, I suggest you look into the realism movements. I can recommend Scenes from a Marriage, which has nothing that would look out of place in an ordinary life, yet it's a masterpiece)