Inspiration: “Brick by Boring Brick” by Paramore
I grew up listening to stories about King Arthur, Davie Crockett, and Paul Bunyan. From there I began reading about Crusades, Roman Legions, Samurai, and World War II platoons. I played Final Fantasy videogames and lived in a world that was all my own. I had an active imagination as most kids do. I became enchanted with the ability to mix history into the stories of our fictional media. It made them seem as if there was a chance they could be real. After all, Medieval stories are full of dragons and demons despite being based on factual events. Is it so hard to believe that such a story as Final Fantasy VI could have truly happened with some slight modifications? I know it did not, but the historical traces laced throughout give it the credence to allow our minds to be encaptured.
Then I got older and people expected me to grow up. We learned that many of the history we are taught as children did not go exactly as we were told. As I studied history in college, I learned that ninety-percent of the history I was taught before I graduated high school was full of holes. If you do not believe me, take some time to look at confidential documents released by the government and how they compare to what was believed by the public prior to their release. The common expression “history is written by the victors” holds a lot of truth. Today’s media spends so much time trying to create controversy that it is harder for us to hide our imperfections. The result is there are no more heroes. One has to completely redefine the word hero to apply it at all. Ultimately, the lesson is taught: if it is not real, it is irrelevant.
The problem with such a notion is that the stories are real. Programmers create things that do not exist everyday. The only physical manifestation of a web browser is a series of electrical and magnetic charges. Even the concept of a soldier is not wholly existent. It is an abstraction based on people who have fought wars. I have friends I have never met in person. Some people laugh at that. I ask them if they wholly disregard what is said to them in an email sent by their friend. They always answer, “No.” They may try to qualify their statement, but it is always the same. The social interaction is real whether I have met them physically or not. How many business partners do companies have for which they have never been seen? Have you ever personally seen your credit card company or merely talked to them over the phone? Are you sure they really exist?
The end result is one must question whether they really care if something is true. If it inspires you, does it matter if it is true? If it guides you better than anything else, does it matter if it is true? If it brings you joy, does it matter if it is true? I am going to go play Dragon Age: Origins on my Playstation3 now. It is a story about saving a medieval fantasy world from a demon infestation while political corruption is passing through the land and dividing the people. In the end, it’s not real, and I don’t care.