The fantasy genre has become very popular these last years. The current explosion has bestowed on us many examples of good and bad fantasy productions, thereby reviving the genre in the process. Some might say that the Harry-Potter series is to "blame" for a new-found interest, others believe, that Tolkien's long wind continues to create a never-ending stream of fantastic medieval good-versus-bad stories. A minor group holds the view that the advancements in special effects are the ignition key for the creation of fantastic worlds. At least for the adaptations we see in cinema. So it's chicken-and-egg! Either way, in principle, I'm happy about the prominence of fantasy in our daily movie and book routine, but of course, there is some inevitable consequence for the genre in the long run. It's getting milked!
Guilty Pleasures
An example for a horrible cover: you would never guess that the story is superb |
Anyhoo, they had really tasteless sort of self-painted images with horrible fonts in the front and all in all it was nothing to be proud of at all to call yourself a fantasy fan. Maybe there was even a little beating up in the cards, especially for boys who were outspoken enthusiasts.
Fantasy on Discount
Now, it's quite the reverse. It's uncool, not to be a friend of fantasy. Movies carelessly adopt fantastic elements and the result is sort of fantasy, sometimes indistinguishable similar, at least visually. The stories behind mostly don't live up to the technological background of the FX, they are uninspired and boring in equal measure. I ranted about Avatar with its polished look and non-existent storyline. A large amount of ever so crappy stories makes it onto the big screen. Again, milking it!
The problem with milking is that every material, good or bad, deserving or undeserving does make it onto the screen, creating an inflationary trend oversaturating and flooding the market until people can't stand the sight of it anymore. It's an economic reality that our beloved suits found their way into the entertainment sector to make some money there too, and as we all know, they don't care about the long run, meaning entirely ruining a whole niche while sucking it dry.
They don't care, because it's their job to cash in as quickly as possible and to then move on to the next money-making prospect, maybe sci-fi, maybe crime stories, I don't now. So in the absolute abundance of fantasy materials we are witnessing right now, it's clearly becoming an endangered species. A contradictory process.
A Possible Uprise
I always do look on the bright side, as grim as the outlook seems to be at the moment. Maybe the imminent downfall of fantasy is exactly what the genre needs, a push to move on to the next level to become unique and rich in content, so that a masterpiece like The Golden Compass once again has a chance to stand out and doesn't get lost in the myriad of materials. Because good stories should have a chance to be recognized as such. Because there are genuine stories of premium quality out there. Because they shouldn't be on discount.
Wonderful! I agree so much with this- I guess a lot of the LoTR buzz has been driving this- both the popularity and the money-making; but like you, I find it a bit sad that so many people indulge in Fantasy because it is 'the thing to do' rather than out of interest and for the love of the stories and their poetry. I loved the Silmarillion, but to think of it being degraded like that is so sad! I must read Pullman's series too sometime, it does sound excellent! Thanks for this great post!
ReplyDeleteLook at SciFi, it allready happend there. Most poeple have no idea that it is a genre with quite some substance to it, if you avoid what's sold as "SciFi" but really isn't.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, it all comes and goes in waves. It's unavoidable. Progress is slow because of it, but as with all things, progress can't be stopped. And i'm eagerly await the rebirth of contemporary sience fiction in main stream media.