Sweet, Sweet Fantasy: Part I

Fantasy is back. It has always been a strong genre in print media (novels and comic books especially) but I'm not sure any period in film has seen as many high grossing fantasy films as the early 21st century. In the 250 highest grossing films of all time, you'll find The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (#2), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (#4), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (#6), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (#9), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (#12), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (#14), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (#16 -- and it just came out this summer!), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (#20), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (#25), and Eragon (#230).* And soon to be released is The Seeker: The Dark is Rising based on Susan Cooper's series as well as the Golden Compass, an adaptation of the first book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series.

Clearly, it's all about appeasing the nerds in this market and if you can win at all, then you can win big. The veritable explosion in fantasy novel adaptations can probably be in large part attributed to the dramatic improvement in computer graphics animation in the last decade. The monsters and magic that form the essence of these stories can now be displayed more plausibly on the silver screen. But is that all? In it's first multi-part look at the media, Creative Differences is going to try and find out why Hollywood is catering to the nerds.

In today's installment, let's look at what ties all these films -- and the books upon which they're based -- together.

1. No girls allowed: With the exception of the Golden Compass, the two girls no one likes in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Hermione, it's basically a sausage fest. Fantasy stories tend to be about an unlikely boy discovering he has a rare talent and then coming face to face with a rising evil only he can stop. Of course, there are women in these worlds, but they're there to inspire the male hero. Men don't do anything unless it's to prove to each other that yes, they have penises. Uh, I mean, prove to women.

2. Children belong in battle: Hobbits, a school for wizards, four kids running away from the bombing of London, a small girl in an alternate universe, a young boy who steals a dragon egg -- it's all about children in these films. I'm guessing that the core audience for the original books is children and I suppose children want affirmation. I say let them have it. That's right kids, as long as you inhabit an implausible world that operates on principles totally foreign to our own, you'll get all the love and adoration you need. Well, only if you can wield magic, actually. Otherwise, be seen and not heard. No, seriously, I'm not kidding. That's it. Go to your room.

3. Animals are people, too: This doesn't apply to all of the films, but Golden Compass, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Eragon all feature sentient animals who help the protagonists navigate their respective quests. I guess a lot of people think intelligent animals are cool. I couldn't disagree more. In fact, I find this the most disconcerting part of fantasy books or films. If animals became sentient, it would really freak me out. I mean, who wants to talk to his cat or dog? It's annoying enough when they ask for food with their stupid animal sounds. Plus, it would be a lot harder to enjoy meat if the animals said things like "Please don't kill me. I have a family -- four little calves waiting at home for me."

Stay tuned for Part II . . .

*These rankings probably haven't been adjusted for inflation, but that would damage my argument, so I don't care. We can't let the facts bias the truth . . . Trust me, that made sense.