Fantasy For Our Time

What Aragorn Can Teach Us About the Deep Life

One of the biggest questions of our age is what we are to make of ourselves in a post-pandemic reality. If we allow it, hardship can unlock a deeply satisfying way of living; however, it requires an ability to live in the tension of survival and progress. When we are no longer reacting, there comes a moment where we commit to transforming our life into something deeper.
In this episode, I'll look at Aragorn, son of Arathorn, King of Gondor and Arnor, and share 7 lessons from his life story that can help us complete this transformative quest. 

What the Lord of the Rings Taught Me about Embracing Difficulty

We all have questions about what is the right way to live. Popular narratives seem to push a worldview of self-preservation no matter the cost. Is it better to avoid danger and difficulty? In our family lives? In our spiritual lives? 
Choosing the difficult path and engaging in self-sacrificial behavior benefits those around us. This is the story of history's greatest saints from time immemorial. As the world continuously goes deeper into insanity right outside our own windows, we need to rethink how we relate to it. 
Today I look back on what Lord of the Rings taught me about embracing difficulty. When we find Sam & Frodo in the seemingly hopeless situation of Mordor, they don't shy away from it. Why? Sam recognizes this path is the right one because of the stories he read growing up. 

The Last Kingdom and The Green Monk

I've noticed a trend in entertainment recently. It seems as though some strange anachronistic lens has been placed over history regarding faith and religion. People of a Christian faith are often depicted as weak and feeble, while people of pagan religions are shown as powerful and successful. 
Why does entertainment depict the Christian God as effeminate and impotent but the pagan god(s) with power? Where is the honesty of history, showing the reality of faith in all people in the ancient world? Martyrdom and bravery - across the board - were rather ubiquitous. 
Don't get me wrong, I am a man of conviction; however, I think what we need is a nuanced, balanced approach to stories. We need to see an authentic battle between light and dark. We need to see the reality that all sides of the spiritual equation are laden with some level of power (for why else would anyone put their faith in them?)
We need complex characters with a message of hope that doesn't preach.  
 

When the Movie is Actually BETTER Than the Book

Today, I continue my examination of time in fantasy and sci-fi literature. What is time? Is it a line, a circle, or some combination thereof?  Historically there are many ways to view it and interact with it; modernity seems to be much more concerned with managing it than experiencing it. Our current approach to time seems to be a revival of stoicism with a twist of fatalism. 
The 2016 movie Arrival has a fascinating treatment of time which left me pondering how God's relation to time comes into play and those classic questions of human free will.  Ultimately, it seems that - given omniscience - it is still better to experience life as it is. The acceptance of reality is liberating and beautiful. 
When asked what we would do if we knew every event in our lives before it happened, I hope we would all answer the same: I think I would love everyone a little bit more.

Time and Identity in Fantasy Literature

Today, in this old recording from 2019, I present an honest look at the concept of time as I reflect on a few pieces of fantasy literature. More specifically, we look at the idea of cyclical time and how it presents a highly depressing worldview where there is little to no way to redeem your own personal journey or that of your society, race, or anything. One where you are doomed to repeat past mistakes and forced to adhere to the pattern woven by the wheel of time. The only way to escape it . . . is to destroy it. 
Now let's juxtapose this with, say, a Christian view of time (one which Tolkien espouses beautifully in LOTR, by the way) where time is a helix, a constant progression in a circular motion with an ultimate end in the eschaton. Here free will reigns and redemption is possible. 
I've found that most people today view time in the first way - a constricting reality that forces us into certain boxes. Yet, the irony is that we are more fixated on choice than ever before. What is identity? Is it fated or is it chosen? 
Perhaps this is why we need to read good fantasy literature more than ever. We don't need mere escapism; we need hope. 

A Conversation with Bestselling Author Christian Cameron

Here's another throwback episode where I have an absolutely fascinating conversation with my friend Christian Cameron. Together we discuss a wide swath of topics including medieval cooking, wrestling, weapons, pilgrimages, pastries, armizare, and plenty of other fascinating stuff.  We also dig into our shared love of history and some insider writing tips. Perhaps what makes this conversation so timely is the way that Christian interacts with the concepts of darkness and violence in storytelling right as I conclude my podcast series on the same thing. 

Secular Sci-Fi & The Transcendent

What does it mean to be human? How do we interact with the Divine or find meaning in a universe that sometimes seems completely devoid of meaning?
 
It used to be that fantasy was the genre that most aptly responded to these monumental questions, yet I've realized that this is no longer the case!
 
I've found that it is actually the contemporary, secular, anti-Christian storytellers who are doing the best job right now at being honest and compelling about the questions of man’s encounter with the unknown, the Divine, the transcendent.

Violence and Catharsis in Fantasy Media

When is the violence we see on our screen or read in our books too much?
There is no denying an increase in violence in our world and the usual scapegoat for such a thing is the media we consume; but, is modern media truly more violent than that of the past, or is it just of a different kind altogether? For example, The Iliad has more than its fair share of violent dismemberment, but it is considered a classic.
The reaction to this - at least in American subculture - is a push for "clean media" where all traces of violence or overt sexuality are eradicated altogether. The problem with this is that exposure to only clean media leaves you devoid of an internal apparatus with which to deal with the very real violence you find yourself facing in life. 
The reality of literature (and media) allows us to connect to real life; however, the unreality of literature allows us to hold things like violence at a distance and examine, and assess them.
Why do poets want to write tragedy when the world is so full of it anyway? The answer: in order to become authentically human, we must encounter the darkness in an environment that is controlled, which allows us to deal with it in a way that is far less dangerous than if we were to come up against it in real life.
Add the layer in fantasy literature of having this fictional violence happen in a world that is wholly unlike the real world and now you have a vehicle for communal catharsis. The goal is to create an energy of repudiation in those who watch, read, and consume rather than one of titillation.
 
 

Cute Monsters and the Problem of Evil

Whatever happened to the good old days when we recognized that some things are ugly, some things are monsters and you can't fix them?
In this episode, I address the increasingly prevalent phenomenon of cute monsters in fiction and why it is a symptom of a more significant breakdown of a concrete worldview in society. Monsters without teeth are really just a way to say that there is no such thing as evil; there is only misunderstanding.
The minimization of all monstrosity to nothing but a lack of tolerant understanding removes the task of human self-examination, seeing the potential of evil inside of us, and having the hope for redemption.
Malevolence is a force, simmering under the surface of all humans, and it is real. 
 

Caped Crusaders and the Common Good

Should we avoid violence in media? Are certain portrayals of violence in media better for us than others?
 
This week I continue our discussion on violence as I examine Mat Reeves’ The Batman. Every iteration of Batman is an expression of very different eras of American history, from the campy, sometimes silly Batman of the 60’s to the bleak and, dare I say, hopeless Batman of 2022.
 
We live in a very strange time, and Reeves’ depiction of Batman directly reflects the zeitgeist in which we find ourselves. A loss of institutions, social capital, and shared stories has left us with a dark reality; however, as we see, any kind of encounter with the darkness cannot be successfully overcome, except by an act of self-sacrifice. 
 
Perhaps there is hope after all.