Entry tags:
Copypasting from BlueSky.
There's a Brad Armstrong plushie and I want it soooooo baaaaaad. ;;
It's only available until May 27th though, so there's no way I'll be able to afford him before the end of the month is over. :/ It DID get fully funded though, so I'm hoping it'll be permanently available after this? Dear god please, that'll put my mind so much at ease.
I saw a post about escapism on Twitter, and I was about to make a cynical post along the lines of "Media that preaches anti-escapism is grossly fucking out of touch, especially with how our world is right now" when lo and behold, my feed brought me art of Molly & Entei from the 3rd Pokemon movie.
Spell of the Unown/Lord of the Unown Tower is an interesting take on escapism because the story is specifically about a traumatized girl whose mother is away for whatever reason and her dad goes missing. Storytelling is not only her escape, it's also her way of processing grief. That pain, of course, manifests in physical form as crystals, which she uses to lash out against the world. Remember, she's a kid--she doesn't have the life experience or the maturity to have developed any healthy coping mechanisms. The Unown are all she has.
But I think the movie has a more complicated take on escapism than just "weh weh you can't turn to your silly fairy tales for comfort forever." If Ash and gang just gave her that finger-wagging nonsense, Molly would've shut them down immediately and everyone would be dead. Instead, everyone hears her out first. Brock and Misty battle with Molly and see her enthusiasm for Pokemon and adventure. Delia sees both sides of the situation; she knows Molly is lonely, but she also points out it's wrong to separate her from her son just to be her "mama."
tl;dr Ash and gang see where Molly's coming from, but warn her that staying in her crystal world would make her MORE alone, not less. She's terrified of being abandoned again--they promise her there's people out there who care about her, and the world is worth exploring and finding good in despite how harsh and cruel it could be. This is a lot of emotions for a kid to process, so Molly's breakdown is understandable and relatable as hell. Even Entei realizes his own existence is holding her back, and sacrifices himself so she could truly be free.
I think the movie emphasizes how important a support system is. If there's no one to provide empathy or compassion, then how else is a person going to cope with the horrors of the world? How can the higher-ups who caused their shitty situation in the first place have the gall to preach to them?
"Escapism is unhealthy uwuuuu~" Says the gaming companies who want you to indulge in their worlds, then slap you for caring about characters they told you to get invested in, then charge you for DLCs and quality of life updates while jailing you for playing mods, romhacks, and emulators. (Oh yeah, and firing all their workers regardless of how well the game sold just so CEOs and shareholders can make themselves look good and hog all the cash. It's not just the gaming industry either, streaming services like Netflix fucking love to cancel popular/successful shows out of greed. Why the fuck even work a job in this economy when you're going to get fired anyway? At this point, our government expects us to make a living by never spending anything ever again, not even groceries, because they're smug and assured there'll be replacements. Oops, ranting about capitalism again)
To get back on point, I'm looking forward to how Deltarune is going to tackle escapism. Toby Fox is one of the rare people I still trust when it comes to storytelling, so I expect there's going to be nuance. Please don't let me down, smol white doggo. ;;
It's only available until May 27th though, so there's no way I'll be able to afford him before the end of the month is over. :/ It DID get fully funded though, so I'm hoping it'll be permanently available after this? Dear god please, that'll put my mind so much at ease.
I saw a post about escapism on Twitter, and I was about to make a cynical post along the lines of "Media that preaches anti-escapism is grossly fucking out of touch, especially with how our world is right now" when lo and behold, my feed brought me art of Molly & Entei from the 3rd Pokemon movie.
Spell of the Unown/Lord of the Unown Tower is an interesting take on escapism because the story is specifically about a traumatized girl whose mother is away for whatever reason and her dad goes missing. Storytelling is not only her escape, it's also her way of processing grief. That pain, of course, manifests in physical form as crystals, which she uses to lash out against the world. Remember, she's a kid--she doesn't have the life experience or the maturity to have developed any healthy coping mechanisms. The Unown are all she has.
But I think the movie has a more complicated take on escapism than just "weh weh you can't turn to your silly fairy tales for comfort forever." If Ash and gang just gave her that finger-wagging nonsense, Molly would've shut them down immediately and everyone would be dead. Instead, everyone hears her out first. Brock and Misty battle with Molly and see her enthusiasm for Pokemon and adventure. Delia sees both sides of the situation; she knows Molly is lonely, but she also points out it's wrong to separate her from her son just to be her "mama."
tl;dr Ash and gang see where Molly's coming from, but warn her that staying in her crystal world would make her MORE alone, not less. She's terrified of being abandoned again--they promise her there's people out there who care about her, and the world is worth exploring and finding good in despite how harsh and cruel it could be. This is a lot of emotions for a kid to process, so Molly's breakdown is understandable and relatable as hell. Even Entei realizes his own existence is holding her back, and sacrifices himself so she could truly be free.
I think the movie emphasizes how important a support system is. If there's no one to provide empathy or compassion, then how else is a person going to cope with the horrors of the world? How can the higher-ups who caused their shitty situation in the first place have the gall to preach to them?
"Escapism is unhealthy uwuuuu~" Says the gaming companies who want you to indulge in their worlds, then slap you for caring about characters they told you to get invested in, then charge you for DLCs and quality of life updates while jailing you for playing mods, romhacks, and emulators. (Oh yeah, and firing all their workers regardless of how well the game sold just so CEOs and shareholders can make themselves look good and hog all the cash. It's not just the gaming industry either, streaming services like Netflix fucking love to cancel popular/successful shows out of greed. Why the fuck even work a job in this economy when you're going to get fired anyway? At this point, our government expects us to make a living by never spending anything ever again, not even groceries, because they're smug and assured there'll be replacements. Oops, ranting about capitalism again)
To get back on point, I'm looking forward to how Deltarune is going to tackle escapism. Toby Fox is one of the rare people I still trust when it comes to storytelling, so I expect there's going to be nuance. Please don't let me down, smol white doggo. ;;
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militarypenguin
