It’s entirely possible that the world only feels like a magical place when you’re a little kid. Perhaps whimsy only lasts when one doesn’t know any better. A dream, a shape in a cloud, a face cast by shadows on a stucco wall.

But I don’t think so.

The obsession with function over form appears to be a grim reflection of our modern condition.

Things aren’t appreciated for being beautiful, for being delicate, for being intricate and peculiar. Buildings, cars, clothing—and even little things like silverware and coat buttons—are no longer made by and large to be observed, but rather to just “do their job” and probably in the cheapest way possible.

But this loss of whimsy in modern life isn’t just affecting our day-to-day. It’s bleeding into our imaginations, and it’s costing us more than we think.

Stick to the end to see how the fantasy genre is dying (and for some whimiscal movie picks).

The little things.

I’m not the only one looking for a bit more whimsy in everyday life. I’m sure you are too!

I see people like Rachel Maksy, Bernadette Banner, Morgan Donner—I appreciate how they reveal small ways to introduce more fun and wonder into everyday life. I recently watched Rachel Maksy wimsify her clothes—take what she already had and make it more magical.

Is it so hard to bring wonder and fun into little things?

This is a time of cheap, fast fashion. I know. “Form follows function,” we’re told. “Practicality comes first.”

But in the words of Inigo Montoya, “I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Fun fact time!

The term “form follows function” was coined by the American architect Louis H. Sullivan, often called “the Father of Skyscrapers,” and a mentor of Frank Lloyd Wright. He recognized that the structure of modern buildings should suit the functions that needed to exist inside them. Brilliant!

He also believed that office buildings and skyscrapers didn’t need to be ugly, nor should they be.

In his magazine article, “The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered,” Louis H. Sullivan states his praise for modern function along with his beef with modern aesthetics:

Offices are necessary for the transaction of business; the invention and perfection of the high-speed elevators make
vertical travel, that was once tedious and painful, now easy and comfortable, development of
steel manufacture has shown the way to safe, rigid, economical constructions rising to a great
height….Thus has come about the form of lofty construction called the “modern office
building.” It has come in answer to a call, for in it a new grouping of social conditions has found
a habitation and a name.

Problem: How shall we impart to this sterile pile, this crude, harsh, brutal agglomeration, this
stark, staring exclamation of eternal strife, the graciousness of those higher forms of sensibility
and culture that rest on the lower and fiercer passions? How shall we proclaim from the dizzy
height of this strange, weird, modern housetop the peaceful evangel of sentiment, of beauty,
the cult of a higher life?….We must seek the solution of it in a process analogous to its own evolution,-indeed, a continuation of it.

TLDR: buildings are functional but ugly, and we need to fix them in a way that continues their evolution.

“OK Lucy,” you say. “That was a lot. Why do I care?”

I know, I know.

But it’s important we’re on the same page, don’t you think?

Because this doesn’t just apply to buildings. It’s also a problem in storytelling.

Fantasy TV is so un-whimsical.

Raise your hand if you think modern fantasy is too dark.

I mean, like, you can’t see. You can’t see the movie—all you can see is your chinny reflection staring dead-eyed back at you and the fingerprint smudges on your laptop screen.

And it’s funny, because dark screens and dark themes seem to go hand-in-hand nowadays. And it seems clear to me that one is a symptom of the other.

I heard once that Elijah Wood brought this up during one of the Lord of the Rings movies. Apparently he asked the cinematographer, Andrew Lesnie, where the lighting was coming from during a particular scene.

Lesnie replied, with a smile, “The same place as the music.”

What a perfect, whimsical, brilliant answer.

Isn’t that what fantasy is all about? The feeling of wonder and awe. Seeing awesome imagery while epic music plays. Beauty and grit and mystery all in one.

But we’re losing hold of that. Fantasy is slipping through our fingers.

I understand the appeal of “dark, gritty fantasy.” I’m a fan of the Witcher books, and I’ve spent countless hours playing The Witcher III.

But our obsession with darkness and grit is such a reflection of how we live our lives.

It’s so easy to walk around with a negative outlook. To think “Screw it, I’m not going to be here forever anyway, let’s just grit our teeth and push through each day.”

Conflict is our lighthouse. Especially in modern America. We seek it out like a lost ship, except it pulls us straight into the rocks. And our bleak way of life is so clear to me, because our escapisms are growing darker. And if our escapisms are turning to inky, gooey pitch, then what’s the point? How will we ever escape? There must be light. There’s a reason fantasy fans cling to The Lord of the Rings.

“It’s like the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it’ll shine out the clearer. I know now folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.”

Samwise Gamgee

5 whimsical movies picks

My gift to you is this: Five whimsical fantasy movies filled with action, romance, whimsy, and wonder. If you want to sit back and relax and put on a whimsical tale that isn’t Lord of the Rings or The Princess Bride, I’ve got you.

BONUS: If you’re looking for a TV show that hits all the fantasy cliches while making fun of itself, while also being a musical comedy, check out Galavant. It’s two seasons of satirical chaos, with music written by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, the brilliant musical minds behind Tangled and Beauty and the Beast.

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What are your go-to fantasy movies?

I could go on and on about movies, but I’ll pass the mic to you. What are your favorites? Have you seen any of these? Leave a comment below!

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