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Seann Walsh is feeling guilty and wants to escape from escapism
Escapism must have always existed. As long as there has been routine, there must have been the temporary urge to pretend the opposite. Nowadays, it’s hard to escape escapism: computer games, the internet, television, films – every form of modern media. There are so many options that it’s easy to turn a healthy diversion into a destructive habit.
Escapism, like fatty foods, is fine in moderation. But when over-done, it stops being escapism, and simply becomes your life: your needlessly squandered life. I was made embarrassingly aware of this when I wasted yesterday, an entire day of potential activity, on computer games, pausing only to spend an hour and a half looking at footage of newsreaders farting on air. Yes, an hour and a half. Enough for a football match.
Video games strive for realism. The graphics improve; storylines are emphasised; emotional depth is laughably attempted. Once, it was enough for Super Mario to save a princess by jumping on evil mushroom things. Now, perhaps, we will explore the character in titles like Midlife Mario, in which we have to shepherd him through the emotionally rocky waters of a midlife crisis, by jumping on evil mushroom things.
“I wasted yesterday on computer games, pausing only to look at footage of newsreaders farting on air”
Whatever; the games are better than ever. And people who play them all the time become fat, spotty and prone to heavy breathing, looking like the sort of creature that Mario would get 100 points for jumping on in one of his pixellated adventures.
A day’s worth of computer games (and, moreover, my consequent avoidance of numerous obligations) was enough to leave me feeling shame of almost Catholic proportions.
Still, it’s worthwhile to consider the importance of life’s little distractions. Real life, let’s not forget, often amounts to a succession of chores completed in the pursuit of self-preservation, lit up only by sporadic joys like other people falling over. Real life is going to the dentist, paying the phone bill, seeking an education, attending job interviews, trying to enjoy fruit. It can be wonderful, but quite often it’s rubbish. This is why we need escapism. But, in a morality tale written by life itself, I’ve never felt more eager for the satisfaction of having filled in a tax return.
