Reality... Can game be the escpae route?

           When people think their lives are harsh, they imagine of escaping reality. People imagine of their ideal lives and take a rest from those imaginations. In some cases, people just take in lives as if they are living in their imaginations. One of those people would be the main character in the film Ben X, Ben. Ben takes in his life as if he is playing games. In his cyber life, he is strong and powerful. On the contrary, in real life, he is just a weak student who gets bullied by other students. I thought that this dissonance in real life and game caused him to see the matters around him as a game because he wants to be as strong as he is in game.

           Can we say that the type of action Ben has taken is wrong? I believe we cannot. What I have realized during the movie is that it would be too harsh to take in the hard reality just as it is. In Ben’s case, Ben’s reality of being disabled and bullying make Ben suffer. Ben, in retaliation, makes his weapon, which unfortunately he never gets to use for real, and makes up an imaginary girlfriend Scarlet. Before his imaginary friend arrives, Ben tries to suicide but at the moment he tries to, his imaginary friend saves him. I viewed this scene as Ben’s rebirth and beginning of his revenge towards the bullies. With his imaginary friend, he starts on a project which he films. He shows the fake scene which looks as if he jumped into the sea. Then, he shows the bullying scene he has gone through. When everybody is shocked, he reappears from the back of the stage, enjoying his revenge. His imaginary girlfriend Scarlet stays with him until the end of the film.

           I have imagined about what I would do if I were in the situation similar to Ben. Maybe I could have just run away or maybe I could have confronted the bullies. I do not really know. However, what is sure is that I really need a lot of courage to stand up against the society. Since such is the case, I believe that using imagination to make the reality look a little bit easier or less harsh is not wrong. Rather, I would say it is clever to do so. If the reality is harsh, people do not have to take the reality as it is. Rather it would be easier to take in sweeter reality mixed with imagination.

           In film Ben X, Ben uses his imagination as a shield against the ugly society which bullies him. Using his imagination, he takes his revenge on bullies and lives a happy life later with his imaginary girlfriend. With use of imagination, people can take in the twisted reality less ugly. It is clearly not wrong to do such an action since people have the right to take in the reality as they want to.