Fiction can reinvigorate us. It can introduce us to themes and topics that we were otherwise unaware of.
We can become immersed in the story being told to the extent that we see reality through the lens of the fiction we consume.
And herein lies the danger.
For those who have yet to develop a mature sense of self-identity, the depth to which fiction can affect them can manifest in many harmful ways.
For example, the individual who has not yet adequately developed his sense of self may feel the quality of what he consumes, but is not yet able to recognise the lesson trying to be taught, so he co-opts the minutiae of the story itself. He takes the story as an end, rather than a means to the end the author intends.
He becomes obsessive about the particular details of the story rather than the overarching lesson to be learnt from it. He may spend his time imitating the superficial aspects of a character such as their dress, speech or mannerisms, completely missing the goal behind their existence. The story blinds him from reality.
Good fiction serves to gently teach us the reality of the world. It can call us towards higher values of justice, truth and integrity, or it can open our eyes to the grief, pain and suffering bore by so many. But what it must not be taken as, is an end in of itself. This is how people lose themselves in the details, blindly idolising characters and franchises instead of learning the intended message.
The one who has developed a strong self of self is able to enter the world presented for him. He is able to feel its themes and smell its flowers. More importantly however, he is able to learn its lessons and safely withdraw back into the real world.
He is not a captive to the tale.
He wanders through the story as a flaneur, feeling what needs to be felt and then retreating back to reality where he acts and feels upon what he has learned and dismisses what doesn’t feel right to him.
Any obsession outside of these boundaries is dangerous. The ability to filter between the story and the message is only capable of the man of strong self-identity. Anyone lost in the details tends to blindly absorb all aspects, good and bad in their pursuit of indulgence.
Consuming fiction healthily requires that you have a strong sense of self-identity. You must be a strong swimmer before you enter the deep end.