The Fantasy of Civilization

Hey everyone!

Wishing you all a happy Monday! Here’s to starting the week out strong. Oh, and have a happy Valentine’s Day. I just had to dig out my driveway from the snow we got. Hopefully all the extra snowing this season means the summer weather is going to be great. I think we’re all due for some awesome beach days this year. Anyhow, I hear the Super Bowl was pretty good. I haven’t watched football in a solid decade. My favorite team was the New England Patriots, and even though I don’t watch football anymore I keep an eye on how they’re doing from time to time. I’ll say congratulations to the Los Angeles Rams on their win, I would’ve liked to watch this one, but all my friends had plans and I was trapped at work. The Super Bowl brought a few trailers with it, like the new Doctor Strange film and The Rings of Power teaser. Doctor Strange looks like it will be fun from what I saw. I’m looking forward to seeing who they’ll be bringing in for cameos. I will say this, I hope they aren’t just cameos, I would love it if they had more substance to them than just here’s so and so playing this character for thirty seconds. I feel that small cameos would be a disservice to the film, but I also understand that it could also make the film feel bloated and push the runtime farther than what people are willing to sit down and watch. It’s an interesting balancing act but I’m confident that they can pull it off. I watched the teaser for The Rings of Power, and I’ll say it’s a mixed bag for me. In terms of appearance, it just looks like a generic modern fantasy show or movie. I wouldn’t say that would be egregious if it were its own separate work, but this is supposed to be The Lord of the Rings. There’s something about it that feels hollow. I understand that it’s a teaser and it’s unfair to judge it as I would the Peter Jackson films and even the animated films. But I find that those were able to capture the spirit of Middle Earth. At the end of the day, I really hope this new series respects Tolkien’s work and world. If the series can do that, I think it has a chance of becoming something great. Well, without further ado let’s dive into today’s topic.

What is it about fantasy and perhaps even more broadly fiction and large grandiose cities? I’m not complaining by the way, I find giant cities, castles, temples, and other such creations to be cool. But being cool can’t be all there is to it, right? This might just be my own ramblings but maybe it comes from being a representation of a successful civilization? At least they’re what comes to my mind when I think of grand civilizations. After all large bustling cities tends to mean that the population is doing well, don’t they? Think about it, no deadly diseases running rampant or mass famines occurring. Maybe a successful, stable civilization is one of if not our greatest creation. With it we have security, the propagation of knowledge, and culture. Of course, culture doesn’t need walls, and grand buildings that last hundreds if not thousands of years, but I’d say it helps. While I’m sure there are plenty more examples I always think of the city of Atlantis whenever it comes to fantastical cities. There is also Gondolin in The Silmarillion, and if we’re talking about civilizations in general then we can throw in Numenor which was also created by Tolkien, and Valyria from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.

I think one of the greatest strengths grand cities and civilizations have in fiction is not their height, but rather their destruction. I find this to be especially true if the reader can get a taste of the civilization at its height and then witness it’s downfall. It is a grand tragedy. Not of one person but potentially millions if not billions of lives depending on the scope and scale of the story. All the efforts and contributions of entire lifetimes being ground to dust. If there are to be survivors, then their pride has been snatched from them, and they are left only with bitterness, heartbreak, and perhaps even hatred. From there a story could go a few ways. It could become a story of inner strength and revitalization as the survivors pick themselves up and create something new. It could also become a story of vengeance as the survivors instead become the antagonists who are hellbent on destroying what brought their people to ruin. Or if you really want a nihilistic outcome, the survivors die as they are picked off one by one and maybe one lucky survivor gets to integrate with a different people and is bred out of existence. Dark I know, but also powerful and even somewhat haunting.

I find that I am drawn to civilizations and the wonders they can produce. This doesn’t just apply to fiction, but also in the real world as well. While I think we can come up with much greater landmarks and wonders in fiction the real world still has creations like the Great Wall, the Pyramids of Giza, and the Colosseum of Rome which are still quite impressive. I think what draws me to this subject is the knowledge that despite how strong it is, civilization is also more fragile than it appears. Now, so long as there are people, I believe it’s probably a definite that civilization will always come back.

It's about time to wrap up the post now. From the Super Bowl to the rise and fall of civilizations. What do you think about fictional civilizations? What fictional universe do you think has the coolest cities, fortresses, and or wonders? Feel free to leave a comment about it. Thanks for reading, have a good one.

Best regards,

Aaron Kirby