I’ve seen so many posts in the past few weeks expressing a cheeky confusion over people loving to read about oppressed people rebelling against their oppressors but cannot appreciate such things happening in real life. I’ve seen The Hunger Games, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and so on referenced as stories conservatives and critics of Black Lives Matter enjoy. And on the surface, yes, that is confusing, but upon further thinking, I realize that I think I know at least partly why these people can enjoy these stories…
…none of it is real to them.
When someone is so privileged, they don’t recognize that the struggles of Katniss from The Hunger Games, Luke from Star Wars, and so on are very similar to the struggles of real people. They see it as make believe. Oppression, to them, is like a tourist attraction. They can escape by reading a book or watching a movie in which they can put themselves into the position of the struggling just so they can win in the end and feel good. They can then go on about their lives once the story is over scar-free. Maybe as they’re enjoying the story, somewhere in their minds they say, “Gee, I’m so glad people aren’t treated like this in real life!” But the unfortunate truth is that many people live similar lives to these protagonists–just without the magic, spaceships, and cool lightsaber/sword fights and they don’t realize that many of the people they look up to–corporations, politicians, etc.–are mirrored in the villains of these stories.
