History Main / AntiEscapismAesop

* The "reality has changed" type is found Joanne Greenberg's ''I Never Promised You A Rose Garden". Deborah actually isn't insane because she "spent too much time in her imaginary world", or because [[TrueArtIsAngsty she's a gifted artist]]. These things ''saved'' her innate sanity. But after a childhood beset with agonizing surgeries (accompanied by LiesToChildren), parental expectations and vicious anti-Semitic bullying, she remains true to her imaginary world, even when it causes her intense pain. The doctor acknowledges that reality has been very bad to her but she needs to trust that things have changed and that she can even make the world better.

* The "reality has changed" type is found Joanne Greenberg's ''I Never Promised You A Rose Garden". Deborah actually isn't insane because she "spent too much time in her imaginary world", or because [[TrueArtIsAngsty she's a gifted artist]]. These things ''saved'' her innate sanity. But after a childhood beset with agonizing surgeries (accompanied by LyingToChildren), parental expectations and vicious anti-Semitic bullying, she remains true to her imaginary world, even when it causes her intense pain. The doctor acknowledges that reality has been very bad to her but she needs to trust that things have changed and that she can even make the world better.

* TheOrderOfTheStick: Roy, Haley, and Elan are briefly trapped in an illusion in Girard's pyramid where they defeat all of their enemies and all of their longstanding goals transpire. They only break out when Elan realizes [[spoiler:that many of his dreams are childish juvenile desires that aren't realistic...and yet they seem to have happened anyway]].

* In ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'', absolutely no one suggests that if a RealityWarper has created a world which is arguably better (yes, baseline humans are second-class citizens, but there's not really any suggestion they're ''mistreated'', and they seem to be better off than mutants are in regular continuity) and where most of the main characters are happier, maybe they should leave it alone. This is somewhat deconstructed in the crossover issue of ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}'': it's shown that non-mutants have basically no rights and innocent people are routinely killed by Sentinels simply for failing to get out of the way fast enough during a manhunt.

* In ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'', absolutely no one suggests that if a RealityWarper has created a world which is arguably better (yes, baseline humans are second-class citizens, but there's not really any suggestion they're ''mistreated'', and they seem to be better off than mutants are in regular continuity) and where most of the main characters are happier, maybe they should leave it alone. [[Note: In the crossover issue of ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}'', it's shown that non-mutants have basically no rights and innocent people are routinely killed by Sentinels simply for failing to get out of the way fast enough during a manhunt.]]

* In ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'', absolutely no one suggests that if a RealityWarper has created a world which is arguably better (yes, baseline humans are second-class citizens, but there's not really any suggestion they're ''mistreated'', and they seem to be better off than mutants are in regular continuity) and where most of the main characters are happier, maybe they should leave it alone.

* getting to the point where you CannotTellFictionFromReality is completely counter-productive to whatever is [[AnAesop the Aesop]] or final objective of the fictional work, to not mention you make people fear your mental stability

* getting to the point where you CannotTellFictionFromReality is completely counter-productive to whatever is the [[AnAesop the Aesop]] or final objective of the fictional work, to not mention you make people fear your mental stability

* Series/OnceUponATime pulls this off subtly by deconstructing [[EscapistCharacter one of the most iconic characters when it comes to escapism]]: Peter Pan. He is, prior to his life in Neverland, a washed up, down on his luck guy who had to care for his son. Long story short, the two ended up in Neverland where the only permanent resident there, a shadow that'd eventually become ''Pan's'' shadow, tells Pete that he's grown up and shouldn't be escaping to Neverland anymore. He, fitting the fourth item on the list of how to point out that the escapism is bad, ditches his son in a deal to restore his youth.

* The second-part of the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Legends", reveals that the retro-world with [[CaptainErsatz copies]] of [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age heroes]] was a recreation of the world a RealityWarper lived in, before the nuclear apocalypse. In the end, it was the recreated superheroes themselves who came together to defeat him, [[HeroicSacrifice costing them their continued existence]]. The citizens trapped in the projection for forty years all agreed that having to wake up to a war-torn world was better than what was, at best, a decades-long simulation.

* A ''Series/DoctorWho'' story had the Doctor and Martha arrive at what they think is an underwater colony (they think it is underwater because they are in a structure surrounded by water and lots of sea life). They soon discover that this is not true – what they are seeing outside the structure is nothing more than a projection and the truth is the planet they are on is barren and in a wrecked state. The Doctor, Martha, and a boy they meet agree that the humans in the colony ought to no the truth and the boy deactivates the projection.

Compare DoNotDoThisCoolThing. Do note that a few of the rules in DoNotDoThisCoolThing also apply here; namely, it is pointless to point out that [[BrokenAesop a work of fantasy telling you to stop indulging in fantasy is absurdly ironic.]]

* ''Franchise/TheMatrix''. Granted, the Matrix is not particularly exciting or beautiful, but certainly preferable to the mostly destroyed real world. Yet very few characters choose to stay in the dream world when presented with the choice. More justified than most other examples, since staying in the Matrix means you will ultimately be consumed by robots.

Sometimes the protagonist is the only one who can resist the temptation to escape reality, which is usually portrayed as a sign of mental strength. Characters who can accept reality can be said as characters who are wise and responsible. Characters who do give in might be portrayed as weak or pitiful, since they lack the strength to face reality. Often, the 'stronger' characters make the decision to 'free' those caught in the dream world. Even if they are not happy about it, it is usually implied that after some time they will be grateful and recognize how much better real life is.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', you come across a desire demon who has sent a man to a dream in which he has a loving wife and a nice home - while he actually [[spoiler:stands in a tower full of corpses after all his mage companions were slaughtered]]. The demon argues that he is much happier this way, yet you can choose to break the dream, because 'it's not real'. The man is not happy about this.

* ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'' hold this peculiar [[AnAesop aesop]], but goes about it in an odd way (and could even be said it's more of a SpaceWhaleAesop): the villains of the story, the Jovian Lizards, are in reality [[spoiler: a group of left-behind human colonists from the future, who got access to advanced technology, time travel]] and who have moulded their society around an InUniverse old-school SuperRobot anime that the protagonists are also fans of because it was the only entertainment they had on hand. However, while the good guys can keep their head straight about the show, the Jovians' fanaticism of the show mutated into BlackAndWhiteInsanity, with them (and the show's ideals) as the "white" side and humanity (and all of the moral grayness it (and reality) has) as the "black" side. [[spoiler: And when a GeneralRipper rose amongst their ranks, all he needed to do was keep the insanity going in order to satisfy his bloodlust]]. The final scenes of the show have the characters tell the aesop straight and with pile-driving seriousness: stop taking Anime so god-damned seriously.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAge''. In the first game, you come across a desire demon who has sent a man to a dream in which he has a loving wife and a nice home - while he actually [[spoiler:stands in a tower full of corpses after all his mage companions were slaughtered]]. The demon argues that he is much happier this way, yet you can choose to break the dream, because 'it's not real'. The man is not happy about this.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': In ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'', Peter Parker meets an overweight version of himself in which he didn't gain his powers and became a video game maker. Fat Peter rants, "We couldn't get the world we wanted, [[TakeThatAudience so we had to make a world we liked]]". [[{{WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], in his review of this in his 200th episode, found it to be hypocritical and [[DudeNotFunny offensive]] based on the fact that comic books by their very nature are based on escapism.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': In ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'', Peter Parker meets an overweight version of himself in which he didn't gain his powers and became a video game maker. Fat Peter rants, "We couldn't get the world we wanted, [[TakeThatAudience so we had to make a world we liked]]". Linkara, in his review of this in his 200th episode, found it to be hypocritical and [[DudeNotFunny offensive]] based on the fact that comic books by their very nature are based on escapism.

Even if your real life is the worst imaginable hell, the [[AnAesop moral of the work]] - or the opinion of most characters - will be that reality is always preferable.

Interestingly, in SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism, both the idealist and cynic side will answer the same: that reality is preferable to escapism. The difference is in their reasoning: The idealist believes that by moving on and facing your problems, you can change your world to the better. While the cynic believes that people who indulges in escapism are immature and you should accept the suckiness of reality.

There's also the concept of "The Vicious Cycle of Escapism" (see also Analysis.{{Escapism}}): basically, you have real life problems that you can't solve -> you escape to fantasy to relieve it -> while you do, more problems appear; rinse and repeat. The only way to break out of this cycle is to '''face those problems''' - and thus this aesop is born. More painstakingly, the nature of fictional media is that [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html they're always trying to get you addicted.]]

Note that despite all of the above, escapism is [[TropesAreTools not inherently a bad thing]] - as the saying goes, "all things in moderation": too much escapism leads to more problems, while too little escapism can leave you with a lot of stress and potentially makes you less productive (among other worse things). So it is wise to keep all things balanced, both with your RealLife routines and life, and your escapisms.

This trope is a {{Deconstruction}} of {{Escapism}}, mainly aimed at {{Neet}} and {{Hikikomori}} who are epitomes of Escapism gone too far.

Compare DoNotDoThisCoolThing. Do note that a few of the rules in DoNotDoThisCoolThing also applies here; namely, it is pointless to point out that [[BrokenAesop a work of fantasy telling you to stop indulging in fantasy is absurdly ironic.]]

[[AC:ComicBook]]
* In ''Comicbook/HouseOfM'' absolutely no-one suggests that if a RealityWarper has created a world which is arguably better (yes, baseline humans are second-class citizens, but there's not really any suggestion they're ''mistreated'', and they seem to be better off than mutants are in regular continuity) and where most of the main characters are happier, maybe they should leave it alone.
* ''ComicBook/{{Spiderman}}''. In ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'', Peter Parker meets an overweight version of himself in which he didn't gain his powers and became a video game maker. Fat Peter goes on a rant about how "we couldn't get the world we wanted, [[TakeThatAudience so we had to make a world we liked]]". Linkara in his review of this in his 200th episode, found it to be hypocritical and [[DudeNotFunny offensive]] based on the fact that comic books by their very nature are based on escapism.

* Both played straight, but then later {{subverted| trope}} in ''Film/BenX''. The autistic protagonist spends a lot of time in an online game. There are occasions when game and reality merge for him, and he even builds a weapon from the game in real life. However it is always clear that the real problem is the heavy bullying he gets in school, and it seems like without the game world to escape into, he would have snapped in real life much sooner. Later, he [[spoiler: develops an imaginary girlfriend, who seems to be real at first and is revealed as imaginary at the end in a {{Main/TomatoSurprise}}.]] Nobody implies that this is bad, and it clearly makes him much happier.

* ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' describes the drug Soma, which makes you happy and careless for a few hours to days. Yet two main characters refuse using it. One of them claims the 'right to suffer', but eventually gives up and starts using it when he actually feels terrible. The other [[spoiler:actually kills himself after using it once, because he is so horrified about what he did in his numbed state]].
* ''Literature/OddThomas''. During the book's finale, [[spoiler::the protagonist's girlfriend dies. You don't find this out until a few pages later, because the protagonist can see the dead and kept convincing himself that her ghost was still the normal her. However his friends come by at his house with her ashes and break him out of this fantasy. He then lets her ghost go completely.]]

* A ''Series/DoctorWho'' story had the Doctor and Martha arrive at what they think is an underwater colony (they think it is underwater because they are in a structure surrounded by water and lots of sea life). They soon discover that this is not true - what they are seeing outside the structure is nothing more than a projection and the truth is the planet they are on is barren and in a wrecked state. The Doctor, Martha, and a boy they meet agree that the humans in the colony ought to no the truth and the boy deactivates the projection.

[[AC:Live Action Television]]

* {{Supernatural}}

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC: Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Lisa The Drama Queen", as a WholePlotReference to ''Film/HeavenlyCreatures'', has Lisa making friends with a newly arrived girl and the both of them creating an imaginary kingdom, and said girl becoming more obsessed with said kingdom (and acting crazier) as the episode goes on. Most important to Marge is that the girl seems to be dragging Lisa down with her and wants to separate them.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "Dungeon Train", Finn is despondent over a recent breakup when he and Jake encounter the eponymous train. Each car contains progressively stronger enemies to fight which give up [[RandomDrops progressively more powerful weapons and armor when defeated]]. DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything It quickly becomes clear that the train runs on an endless loop and the enemies inside are no threat to the kingdom; Jake becomes bored and leaves, but Finn is enamored of the place and seems content to fight there forever. By episode's end, Jake finally convinces Finn to leave the train and face both his problems and the drudgery of everyday life.

* An idea (that was tossed aside) for a ''Series/DoctorWho'' comic strip story involved John (the Doctor's grandson from the old comic strips) playing a virtual reality ''Doctor Who'' game with Gillian (his sister) and the Doctor. It then transpires that Gillian died years ago and the Doctor tells John to grow up and exit the game.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* There is a psychological disorder called Maladaptive Daydreaming, which means people have daydreams of imaginary worlds so intense and time-consuming that they find it hard to come back to reality, in some cases forgetting to take care of themselves, forgetting to eat and sleep.
* There have also been cases of people playing a video game so intensely and for such long periods of time without end, they forgot to eat and died.