Escapism

I have concluded that my theme is escapism. To escape the sometimes harsh reality around you to something you feel more comfortable in. There are extreme cases where one can be drawn into their fantasy world too much, disregarding reality.

Some people can use escapism to forget problem and relieve stress to calm down, or just to put an end to being bored. Children do it all the time, they will come up with their own worlds to play in. Though when it goes beyond a certain point, it becomes a problem and possibly an illness. That is when it will become a serious matter for someone.

These both apply for my character. He is a small boy who is using the painting as an imaginary world yet, he is doing this to prevent the sadness he suffers in his life, deriving from neglect from parents and having no friends.

The definition of escapism:

"The tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging fantasy."

If that is the case then however, video games could serve as some form of escapism, as player lets themselves be engaged into the worlds of which ever games they are playing, specifically role-playing games. RPGs have entire worlds to explore, taking hours of gameplay to venture. When we play games, we forget the stresses of our lives and only think about what is on screen. This could be considered escapism as the player is forgetting about the reality and only concerning him/herself with the game's virtual world.

I believe that escapism is used to help people get through the day, little by little. But when taken too far, for example, playing too much World of Warcraft, then you start to dismiss duties such as school, caring for kids, working, etc. So, listening to music and playing sport are only minor forms of this. It is only when one is far deep into their world that the term escapism is used, which is where the boy will eventually be, deep into his own imagination.