Grownups Have No Imagination

There was a wizard, a woodchopper, a king, which is to say that if you are to believe that there was, you have to give up other beliefs you believe in including the belief that there was not because there could not be such creatures as these. A far country, a deep forest, a palace, which is to say that if you care to enter these places for yourself, you must be willing to enter them in some measure as a child because it takes a child to believe in the possibility at least that such places exist instead of dismissing them out-of-hand as impossible. – Frederick Buechner

I didn't think much of this when I first read it, but when I was reminded of it, I realized it was connected to something I'd noticed before: children's stories tend to be far more imaginative than adult stories.

Think about it. If a film's main characters include talking animals, living vehicles, Santa Clause or other folkloric figures, living toys, robots, monsters, muppets, or anything else other than a human, it's probably targeting young children. What do all these types of characters have in common: they're all very unrealistic. We're fairly certain their stories could never happen in real life. But no one cares as long as it makes for a fun movie. Kids watching TV and movies encounter all manner of far off places and creatures they can never hope to see in real life. Kids get to fly on the backs of dragons, watch snails race against cars and win, journey through islands inhabited by living food, ride elaborate carnival rides built by a couple of 8-year-olds, walk through wardrobes to other worlds, and all manner of other fantastic and absurd activities.

Adult films seem to be more limited in their subject matter. They only tell realistic stories. They focus almost exclusively on adult human characters in situations that could conceivably happen in real life. Everyday things like bachelor parties gone wild, wacky road trips, sports movies, and, if they're feeling particularly adventurous, spy movies and post-apocalyptic movies. They don't even have many stories about animals, which is strange, because you could theoretically write a realistic story about any real animal.

Even when they make sci-fi movies for adults, they work very hard to make sure every unnatural occurrence makes sense and is scientifically conceivable, even if it's still very unlikely. Frozen didn't feel a need to explain why Elsa has her powers, but most superhero stories take themselves too seriously to hand-wave things like that. And "magic" is a cop out.

There is one outlier that comes to mind: Ted, an R-rated movie about a grown man and his living teddy bear. I have no intention of ever watching this movie for reasons I explained in my previous post, but it interests me more than most "adult" films because it revolves around a novel, imaginative idea. A kid's teddy bear coming to life isn't a new idea, but what becomes of their relationship when the kid grows up? Adult movies don't usually ask silly questions like that. Only kid's movies do.

This is the adult version of Cinderella, which is similar to the children's version, except all the magic has been removed. Even when we tell the same stories, we have to de-fantasize them for the adults.

Why is this? Judging by the fact Disney movies are still popular with viewers of all ages, I don't think it's that grownups don't enjoy or at least appreciate fantasy. If Ted's success is any indication, there may be a lucrative market for movies like that. (Interestingly, the same guy who directed Ted runs an adult cartoon series starring a talking dog. Maybe we need more directors like Seth MacFarl--I can't believe I just thought that.) I'm sort of an adult, and I generally find fantastical stories more interesting. Why does Hollywood assume I wouldn't?