Friday, April 25, 2008

My New Favorite Word

Nick Mamatas anatomizes "fantatwee."

Made me laugh out loud: "Your prize for being picked on in junior high school is a magic wand and a green button that lets you touch boobs."

Made me think:
Unfortunately, fantatwee is all about second-order escapism. Many great stories have elements of escapism, but also a twist of a thematic screw that lets the reader know that not everything is strawberries and cream. Hard choices get made. Misery abides. In the film version of Return of the King, Frodo may have had a big pillowfight with his friends and then moped about the house for a bit. In the book, he was a shattered man, utterly alienated from his communitarian society. That's what you get for saving the world from doom.

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