Right before I began to write this article, I played a short half-hour session of my favorite role-playing video game, Skyrim. In that half-hour, I decapitated seven cultists, put the soul of a millennium-old ghost to rest, drank roughly three gallons of mead, saved a village from total annihilation by vampires, and dropped a bucket over the head of a shopkeeper to get away with stealing this really sweet battle-axe I've had my eye on for a while.
And that's relatively dull in comparison to the crap I usually get up to while playing Skyrim. In my time playing this game alone, I've slain, ridden, and befriended dragons, stood atop cloud-piercing mountains, delved into impossibly deep caverns, witnessed breathtaking sunrises and sunsets over entirely new and unfamiliar horizons, ventured into various realms of the dead, and meddled in the affairs of gods and demon lords alike.
And even still, that's just from my experience in playing this single game. I have played many others that let me live out other lives and witness different things just as fantastic. Moving past games, I have read countless books that, through words, have brought so many different worlds to life in my mind--so many different lives and stories. I have laughed, cried, and ground my teeth in anger, and lifted my fist in triumph along with the characters of some of the most thrilling, entertaining, enrapturing, and enriching tales I've ever had the pleasure to read. The same is true of many fantasy films that I have watched in my time, as directors, writers, actors, and animators work to give me glimpses of their own spectacular visions of alien worlds and horizons.
The long and short of it is that fantasy fiction, whether encountered in films, books, or games, is just freaking great. And yes, that's my official statement on the matter. It's just freaking great. Quote me if you like, take me to court on it if it please you (please don't, though)--fantasy fiction in any form provides us an outlet to see, experience, and achieve things that we would never be able to accomplish otherwise. Besides stimulating our imaginations, these epic tales can teach us more about others and ourselves in unexpected ways, introducing morals and ethics to many who would never otherwise encounter them. So as my parting thought, remember: fantasy is necessary and relevant to all ages, for all time. As the revered C.S. Lewis said:
"Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage."