Well, first off, welcome to Words. It's a little online column (I hate the word blog, it's... inadequate and a little unprofessional) that I started to just, well... write about writing, movies, and the general culture surrounding such things. Movies, music, newspapers, magazines, fansites (well... maybe from time to time), and other related media things.
In any case, getting down to the nitty-gritty, this is my first little literary foray into the tangled mess of "tubes" that is the internet, well, first real one anyhow. I've been around for years writing about mundane things in my own life; a sad, and slightly narcissistic thing that nearly everyone online is guilty of...
Pardon my digressions, on with the article.
Fiction and Reality
There's a distinct, and very... very important line between what is real and what is not. Of course, having been an on again off again reader myself, I am familiar, to a point, with this line. Reading through many series, mostly in my younger years, I would find myself often entertaining the thought of breaking that oh so important line between the real and unreal, the world, and the fantasy universe.
I didn't, of course, and I am incredibly glad for it. I don't believe in delusional things, for the most part, because I didn't end up crossing the line.
Unfortunately, many people do.
Recently I learned of a following of the Twilight series called Cullenism (named, apparently, after a main character). Keep in mind, I am completely and utterly unfamiliar with Twilight except for the fact that it seemed to romanticize some sort of pre-teen friendly happy-happy vampire community. Now, one thing... vampires aren't real, save for the species of bat, and the people who are convinced that they are vampires and they actually seek out donors who will give them blood to drink. Now, of course, we would all love to live in a world where things are happy, eternal life is within reach, and being a vampire is a possibility, right? Well, maybe not everyone, but for each and every person out there, there is a fantasy world they would LOVE to live in. Some people know that fantasy is just that,and some do not. This is where the problem begins.
If anyone believes that this world is the world of Twilight, they are going to be disappointed. That goes for anyone who believes some book from the fiction section is real. Sorry, but it just isn't real. It's just another little fantasy. Fiction is for entertainment.
I have read a few articles on how people have taken fantasy to be real, and sometimes, it gets really dangerous, even to the point where people could be killed. It has happened, and it could happen again. It seems far fetched, but it's unfortunately true . Why has it happened? People get crazy.
So, for those who can draw the line. Go, read, and have fun. For those who believe in this Cullenism, or any other "fictionism", well, they're out of luck. It's not real. That's why it is fictional, and the books are in the fiction section. There is no reality to it, no matter how hard anyone believes it. Of course, arguments will be made, but I could probably prove to some people that drinking mud would save them and give them immortality with the right rationalization.
Point and case: Fiction is false. Always. Don't make it real, because things can get and have gotten ugly. People need to think for themselves, and not let a book rule their lives.
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