While I was documenting myself to create a romantic work between two women, I made a little detour and read a Manga (Love Hurts, by Kiriko Nananan) that made me wonder if the idea I initially had for my story is too idealistic to the point of bordering on childish. It’s just that the manga portrays interpersonal relationships in such a raw way (compared to what I’ve been consuming until then), that perhaps the impact it gave me was even greater than I expected.
I understand that there are those who prefer an escapist work, experiencing more of a dream than a one-on-one copy of real life. I also know that there are those who don’t see much value in escapism and prefer art to function as a mirror of reality. I personally found myself somewhere in between.
What I would like to know is which side I should lean more towards in order to do the best work possible.
Short answer: Realistic
Long Answer: I think there’s a time and place for both. Idealistic can be very fun and comfortable to fall back on. However, like your typical “Jack Smith, highly-trained and deadly secret government agent” protagonist, there’s way too much idealistic romance in pop culture to the point that I believe it skews how many people expect relationships to work. That’s commonly unhealthy and occasionally dangerous, so I think we need more popular depictions of realistic romance, and by romance I mean all kinds of relationships. ESPECIALLY close, tight-knit non-sexual friendships between men and women.
I can’t agree more to this.
Totally on board with that. I’ll keep it in mind more seriously.