Credit: The Helpful Art Teacher

Theater of Mind: Paracosms, Films and Television Shows

Dramatic television ‘shows’ are paracosms; invented ‘as if’ universes that persist by establishing and sustaining themselves in our imagination. Their formal purpose is to compete for popular attention in order to sell commercial products; those that win sell more products. Even ‘reality’ shows are paracosms, because the introduction of surveillance transforms the real into the enfictioned and affords a sense of spurious participation in viewers.

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I have direct experience of how compelling television shows can be, and I grew up with favorites that I admired intensely. I still enjoy occasional exposure on disc. Commericial fictions. Imaginary worlds. Characters. Problems. Battles. Tragedies and triumphs. All made up. People who do not exist doing things that don’t actually happen for reasons that don’t exist. For simulated purposes that invent new spectators.

Millions of others are deeply compelled by television, including members of my remaining family. But what is it about this that we find so fascinating or worthy of celebration? Why are we even interested in watching professional imitators enact roles that seem meaningful in contexts that only exist as…