The great thing about films, television series and video games is that they give us an escape from our daily lives
They let us immerse ourselves in exciting new worlds, let us be somebody else,
like a treasure hunter chasing mysteries in exotic locations,
or a knight adventuring in medieval times.
They let us be warriors with superhuman abilities, practice magic in a world of wizardry,
and wield lightsabers in a galaxy far, far away.
It is understandable that we imagine ourselves as the heroes of such stories,
that we fantasize about living lives that are more exciting and rewarding than our own,
that let us accomplish greater deeds and be part of grander romances.
I’ve always wondered what it is exactly that draws us into these stories,
especially seeing as they don’t always add something positive to the lives we’re already living.
Why is there a part of us that also finds such enjoyment in characters who are worse off than we are,
that finds excitement in situations that seem to imply the opposite of happiness.
Why do so many of us secretly fantasize about being a survivor in a worldwide apocalypse?
About being a superhero even when that implies losing the ones you love for a tragic, but necessary origin story
or about being a soldier in history’s most traumatic events?
Although there is no singular answer to this, one of the main reasons, I believe, is because
stories such as these actually do add something to our lives worth fantasizing about,
they do contain something fundamental that we are lacking, and that is a clear sense of purpose.
In his book Man’s Search for Meaning,
Viktor Frankl argues that finding a meaning in life is our primary motivational force.
As a Holocaust survivor, he found that having purpose is what we value more than anything else.
More than pleasure, money and power, more even than our comfort, our security and our happiness.
He begins by explaining that to find such purpose, we need a certain degree of tension;
a tension between what we have already done and what we still have to do,
or between who we are and who we have to become.
“Such a tension is inherent in the human being and therefore is indispensable to mental well-being.
We should not, then, be hesitant about challenging man with a potential meaning for him to fulfill.
It is only thus that we evoke his will to meaning from its state of latency."
As we see in many films, series and video games, having a goal to strive for not only
drives characters to act, but also embeds the world around them with meaning,
which makes interacting with it purposeful and exciting.
To showcase this, I've compiled a couple of commonly used tropes that, although not seeming
like ideal situations on the surface level, do exemplify this deeper sense of purpose
that still makes them enjoyable to immerse ourselves in or fantasize about.
Let's start with the building blocks of purpose and discuss a trope that I like to call 'Prepare for Nightfall'.
Let’s be honest; who hasn’t ever built a fort to keep the monsters at bay?
Who hasn’t ever imagined dangerous creatures lurking in the darkness
beyond our self-established safe zones?
A fear of the dark is common among children and is generally considered to be
a natural part of their development.
I think part of the reason why the film Home Alone was so popular is that it plays into
this basic fear by confronting its main character Kevin with an actual danger coming after nightfall.
We'll come back about 9 o'clock
This way it's dark then.
Yeah, kids are scared of the dark.
Realistically speaking, a situation like this would be terrifying.
As a film, it’s still scary, but also kind of exciting.
Before he was left at home, Kevin was just a child struggling to find his place within his family.
I’m not an idiot.
Oh really?
You’re completely helpless.
Everyone has to do everything for you.
After they were gone, he enjoys the pleasures of his newly gained freedom,
but only for a short while.
It is only after he learns he is in danger that his purpose becomes crystal clear.
This is it. Don’t get scared now.
Even as adults, the simple purpose arising from having to prepare
for the dangers of the night can be quite thrilling.
We see it in films like I Am Legend, but also increasingly in video games;
Take for example the hostile mobs in Minecraft, the volatiles in Dying Light or the predators in Far Cry: Primal
All of these dangers are exclusive to the night,
giving a titillating purpose to the day as preparations must be made under the suspense of the setting sun;
be they setting traps, gathering resources, building a fortress or finding a safe zone.
All actions are given meaning by the simple goal of surviving the night,
of staying alive until the sunrise relieves you of the danger. At least for a little while.
Yikes, I did it again.
The prepare for nightfall trope can be fitted into the larger survival genre.
‘The Survivor’ takes many forms, but what it comes down to is that characters are thrown
into a an unrelenting wilderness, often including some additional dangers,
turning their complicated existence into a much simpler life or death situation.
Let’s briefly zoom in on one of the most popular survival situations: the zombie apocalypse.
I may seem like an unlikely survivor with all my phobias and irritable bowel syndrome.
I survive, because I play it safe and follow the rules.
My rules.
Zombies are interesting because they are just threatening enough to create tension,
but not so much that it breaks the illusion that we, as regular citizens, could take them on.
Because of course, even though only a tiny percentage of the population will survive a zombie outbreak,
we’re all convinced we’ll be among the lucky ones.
The enticing element of such an apocalypse is that it frees us from the shackles of our modern existence;
taxes, consumption, social media, reality shows, personal appearance..
none of it matters in this world of renewed purpose.
a purpose that is continuously generated by basic needs like food, water, shelter and safety.
Tools must be turned into weapons, stores must be scavenged, homes must be fortified;
one is never bored in the face of the living dead.
Although survival is arguably the most basic way of creating purpose,
it’s rarely the sole purpose in these stories as there is usually a larger narrative present;
maybe there is someone to protect, or someone to hunt.
Whatever it is; there is always something more at stake;
a purpose that is higher than simply not getting yourself killed.
In video games too there’s usually more to do than just existing in the game world;
there can be skills to improve, achievements to unlock and storylines to progress.
It shows the importance of finding a purpose that transcends your own being.
And indeed, for Viktor Frankl this is also essential as he writes that;
“The true meaning of life is to be discovered in the world
rather than within man or his own psyche, as though it were a closed system.”
So let’s continue our exploration and examine some stories which give their characters a higher purpose,
thereby making them enjoyable to engage in even though they still do not
seem like ideal situations on the surface level.
One way you can find a higher purpose is by dedicating yourself to your job.
Now, obviously, not all occupations are equal in this, but there is one type of character
for which complete devotion to the job is pretty common, and that is ‘The Lone Detective’.
Lone Detectives are usually brooding, solitary characters whose personal lives have been
either negatively impacted or sacrificed altogether for their work.
My life's a disaster zone, because I spend all my time chasing guys like you around the block.
That's my life.
As a result, they are more likely to find themselves on the fringes of society,
observing humanity from a safe distance;
We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self;
programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody,
when in fact everybody is nobody.
For Lone Detectives, there is only the case, and it is here;
in protecting the innocent and trying to bring a little light into the darkness,
that we find the Lone Detective’s higher purpose,
one that is worthwhile enough to motivate action,
and one that makes interacting with the world meaningful.
Even someone like James Bond, who is known for his hyper masculinity, expensive lifestyle
and encounters with beautiful women, is ultimately not defined by these perks,
but by how easily he can give them up.
They mean little to him as is purpose lies in his absolute devotion to his country,
not in simple pleasures.
Is this really what you want?
Living in the shadows,
hunting,
being hunted,
always looking behind you,
always alone.
I don’t stop to think about it.
This distinction between what is truly important and what is expendable is made even more explicit
in the Batman films in which it becomes clear that Bruce Wayne’s fame and fortune only
serves to hide who he really is and what he really cares about;
protecting the citizens of Gotham.
Batman is just a symbol Rachel.
No, this, is your mask.
Your real face is the one that criminals now fear.
And this is what makes Lone Detectives so fascinating
despite them not appearing like very inspiring characters;
they always aim towards something greater than themselves,
and that is what gives their world meaning.
You don’t owe these people any more, you’ve given them everything.
Not everything, not yet.
Instead of empty places; they see puzzles, clues, and dots waiting to be connected.
Instead of strangers, they see suspects, witnesses and sources of information;
which is an especially enticing fantasy for those who aren’t naturally outgoing;
the Lone Detective always has a reason to interact with people,
without really having to participate in social conventions.
On the other side of the detectives we find the prisoners
and the widely popular stories of their escapes.
Alcatraz was built to keep all the rotten eggs in one basket.
No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz.
Many films and series about these daring attempts at breaking out of confinement
feature sympathetic main characters who are wrongfully accused or prisoners of war,
thereby turning the escape into a rightful act.
There will be no escapes from this camp.
Colonel Van Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape.
But putting such motivations aside, I think it’s fair to assume
there is something naturally exciting about a prison break regardless of its justification.
This is because for prisoners, most of their daily lives is decided for them.
Put your trust in the Lord, your ass belongs to me.
All that’s left for them to determine is whatever they occupy themselves with
while sitting out their sentence,
and what higher purpose could that be other than reclaiming their freedom?
And so, somewhat paradoxically, it is exactly through their imprisonment,
that prisoners are free to devote themselves completely to this higher purpose.
I’m getting you out of here.
Without having to worry about anything else, and with time as their ally,
prisoners spend their days mapping out their escapes, digging tunnels, gathering some materials,
losing some others, putting up appearances for the guards, avoiding suspicion;
all of it to turn otherwise mind-numbing routines into purposeful action.
There are many other tropes I could discuss,
but I think I’ve discussed enough of them to showcase that these films, series and video games,
more than anything, play into our desire for purpose to create engaging stories for us to immerse ourselves in.
This will to meaning, I believe, runs deeper than just having a worthwhile goal to strive for;
it also suggests our longing for ultimate purpose, for the world to have tangible deeper meaning.
After all, one thing that makes all these stories so attractive is that purpose is often created
for the characters by the world around them; they are given meaning through external circumstances.
This can happen within the narrative as characters get superpowers by accident,
are faced with a tragedy, are born with a natural talent or predisposition towards a certain skill,
are given a mission by superior forces,
or are simply destined to become a purposeful actor within a meaningful world.
You are the one Neo, I’ve spent my entire life looking for you.
But let’s not forget that all these films, series and video games are created by people,
people who did so with a purpose in mind and while following certain story structures,
most commonly; Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey.
So even when it doesn’t seem like any special meaning was directly imposed on the characters by the narrative,
on a meta-level; they are still part of a story that was created with a particular purpose,
they still exist within a universe that carries a self-transcending significance.
Consider also how video games are specifically designed to have purpose, to keep you engaged.
In a game; it is always pretty clear which actions are purposeful and will lead to meaningful interactions,
and which are not.
This is precisely why so many players are able to find the discipline
to spend countless hours improving themselves in a game world
even though they can’t bring up that same motivation in the actual one.
It should be mentioned that this purpose sometimes requires your own creativity,
which is what many sandbox survival games like Minecraft are ultimately about.
These are the kind of game worlds that quickly lose their purpose when you, as the player,
can no longer find anything to accomplish within it,
which brings us much closer to a reflection of our actual reality.
For in the real world, we aren’t born with an innate purpose,
and there is no creator providing us with one, at least not one that we know of.
Even if there is such a thing as ultimate purpose in our universe, it is inaccessible to us.
Furthermore, one consequence of our modern society is that the basic tension from survival
is generally decreasing, leading to a growing number of people being trapped
in what Viktor Frankl calls the existential vacuum; a feeling of meaninglessness.
“Now we can understand Schopenhauer when he said that mankind was apparently doomed
to vacillate eternally between the two extremes of distress and boredom.
In actual fact, boredom is now causing, and certainly bringing to psychiatrists,
more problems to solve than distress.”
It is therefore understandable that we turn to fictional stories that do give us a sense of real meaning,
that simplify our existence into a singular purpose
in a world specifically designed to accommodate it.
It is also understandable how these escapes can become a substitute for actual purpose,
how we can let ourselves become lost in fantasies; wishing that if only we had a special talent,
a unique skill, or an ultimate destiny to determine our path;
even secretly wishing for more distress; for a tragedy, a nemesis, or an apocalypse;
anything that would give us that feeling of ultimate purpose.
But this, of course, would be to deny our true task, which, according to Viktor Frankl,
is to take up our personal responsibility and decide for ourselves what our purpose is.
“It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.
We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves
as those who were being questioned by life — daily and hourly.
Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct.
Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems
and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”
So what actual lessons can we find in all these stories when it comes to finding real purpose in our lives?
How can we not only enjoy these fictional worlds but also find inspiration in them?
The first and most obvious point is that it is important to transcend our own being,
to find purpose in a cause that is greater than ourselves.
Viktor Frankl explains how this can be done by finding or creating a task to fulfill;
by experiencing beauty, by finding someone to love; or as I discussed in my video the Grey;
by showing courage in the face of unavoidable suffering.
Once more into the fray.
Into the last good fight I’ll ever know.
Secondly, we must acknowledge that the meaning of our lives is always changing,
it is not found in one singular purpose.
Just look at how many characters end up in an existential crisis after achieving their goal,
or how many are killed by their creators because the purpose they served was negated by its achievement.
Luckily, we are not tied to such narrative constraints, which brings me to the last point;
our purpose may not always be clear, but because it’s bound by our own free will
and the limitlessness of our creativity and inspiration,
the meaning of our lives is an unconditional one.
And thus it never ceases to be.