Mama Let Your Children Grow Up
to be Monster Slayers
Over the years, there has been
a lot of discussion in the media about children and their relationship to
play-fighting, whether it be watching pro wrestling, violent video games, or
toy guns. Let me be upfront and say that I thinks it's important for all of us
to engage in this discussion. I'm a dad myself, and I think our children's
health is of vital interest to us all. We want to keep our kids safe, and a lot
of us are considering how far we want to let fantasy violence go, and what kind
of rules to apply.
So let me just start by saying
that I've killed thousands. Possibly tens of thousands. I've killed robbers,
murderers, Nazis, KKK members, Cobra soldiers, Decipticons, terrorists,
skeletons, skeleton-kings, goblins, ghosts, dragons, giants and- well- the list
goes on and on. It also started in fantasy play when I was six or seven.
Gradually I moved from action figures, to board games, to role playing games
(like Dungeons & Dragons) and video games. So yes, all my killing was
fantasy-killing, but as fantasy killers go, I'm up there.
My parents were amazingly
tolerant off all the fantasy violence, and as for myself, I didn't even really think about it. It was
just there, like air or water. Just there.
I can also tell you this: that
I'm an amazingly gentle and easy-going adult. In my entire life (not including
karate class) I've been in one angry fistfight and a few lamo shoving matches,
and I've never seriously hurt anyone. I don't even like hurting tiny animals.
I'm the kind of guy who will pick up a worm instead of stepping on it.
(confession: I do kill mosquitos, spiders and centipedes in my house)
Anyway, I really didn't think
much of any of this until I stumbled onto an interesting book called "Killing Monsters" by Gerald Jones. The book took the conventional wisdom of
banning toy guns and turned it on its head. Gerald Jones suggested that fantasy
violence, the killing of monsters, is a coping mechanism for a cruel and
difficult world.
We all know the real world can
be a monster. Every day people die under terrible circumstances. Corrupt
governments and terrorist groups murder helpless men, women, and children with
near-impunity. Gang violence harms (and kills) innocent bystanders. Wars, food
shortages, and corrupt regimes take far too many lives. The world is painfully
unfair, and most children become aware of this at an early age.
One way that children can
process this is through fantasy. In books and movies, heroes are permitted to
exist, and the complex evils of the real world are simplified into monsters. In
fantasy play and fantasy novels, good and evil are boiled down to their purest
essence.
When many children use toys
guns/ swords/ wands to kill monsters or aliens or even human villains, they are
expressing a form a release, a
subconscious, mini-protest against the cruelty that exists in far too
many corners of our world.
When it comes to our own kids,
my wife and I have engaged in some deep discussions about fantasy violence.
Generally we have arrived at the following conclusions: 1. We do not allow any
realistic toy guns. 2. Fantasy guns (like orange "laser" guns) are
okay. 3. It's generally okay to kill robots. 4. It is not okay to pretend to
kill people that we know! 5. No fantasy killing in the kitchen! It seems to be
working for now.
So moms and dads out there
across the land, please do think about your children and fantasy violence.
Please talk about it, and read about it, and debate it, but at the end of the
day, remember that there are two sides to this issue, and that slaying monsters
can sometimes be a cathartic activity.
~Armand Inezian is the author of VampCon, a dark fantasy thriller
containing thousands of bullets, hundreds of vampires, two portals to
damnation, and one bloody chance at redemption. Available now on Amazon, for Kindle, and for Nook.
VampCon
Armand Inezian
Armand Inezian
Genre: Fantasy, Fantasy Thriller, or Dark Fantasy Thriller.
Publisher: Greyhart Press, Bromham UK.
ISBN: 978-1478279525
ASIN: B009FMWCF0
Number of pages: 310
Word Count: approximately 95,000
Cover Artist: Banchick Illustration.
Print editions through Amazon, Amazon UK., ebooks at B&N Nook Reader Kindle. Diesel eBooks (for iPad and Android Tablets)
Smashwords eBooks (for Nook, iPad, and Kobo) and at the Kobo store (for Kobo!)
Smashwords eBooks (for Nook, iPad, and Kobo) and at the Kobo store (for Kobo!)
Book Description:
Jonathan Stoker is a reluctant vampire who wants nothing to do with the dark world that turned him. He isolates himself, sucking nonlethal quantities of blood from helpless drunks and making a marginal living. However after he learns that someone he holds dear has been lured to the VampCon, a cut-throat vampire summit, Jonathan is forced to deal with his kind again.
But Jonathan and company quickly discover that the VampCon is much more than a meeting. It’s a conspiracy that holds the key to both the creation and possible extinction of all vampires.
Now Jonathan has no choice but to come to terms with his own dark side while working with a small band of troublemakers to stop a nightmare from coming true.
About the Author :
Armand Inezian resides in Boston with his wife, two children, and three cats. In addition to writing, he also works two day jobs, one in grants administration and the other in teaching English, and he is grateful for both. He graduated from Emerson College with an MFA in Creative Writing. His short stories have appeared in various literary journals including The Missouri Review and Glimmer Train. In 2003, his short story, Baer, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Another of his shorts, See Me, won the Glimmer Train Story Open in 2008. VampCon is his first completed novel.
Amazon Author Profile: http://www.amazon.com/Armand-Inezian/e/B009FRASC4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/armand.inezian
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArmandInezian
give away is 1 print edition AND 1 eBook edition to randomly selected winners.
Print editions ONLY available to winners in the Continental USA (aka “lower 48”). eBook editions available to winners anywhere. Print edition winners may substitute eBook versions.
If you would like to enter to win please leave a comment with your email and preferred book format
Posts
