The focus of my research is the idea of escapism portrayed in TV shows that society watches. Escapism is the tendency to drift off and imagine what your life would be like if one was in that decade. People tend to fantasize about a different when life is not so smooth and want to escape their problems. Escapism is most common when reading books but it could happen when watching a TV show based in the 80’s. With that being explained I am basing my theory on escapism on a popular TV show based on the 80’s called A Different World. I chose to do this show because it has a lot of episodes that are focused on important issues that were enforced in that era. I can relate to the show because they are college students but also same race and relatable teenage issues.

Sources:

Ponsignon, Frédéric, et al. “Why Are International Visitors More Satisfied with the Tourism Experience? The Role of Hedonic Value, Escapism, and Psychic Distance.” Journal of Travel Research, vol. 60, no. 8, 2021, pp. 1771–86, https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520961175

Background: The article discusses how people from different countries like to tour as foreigners compared to people who live there but still act like tourists. The article calls the tourist who is not familiar with the scenery foreigners. Domestic tourists are familiar with the scenery and are familiar with the ins and outs and do not see the beauty of their country anymore.

How I intend to use it: I intend to use this article to further explain the idea of escapism. When watching or reading a book we prefer to watch something unfamiliar. For example, the eighties is an unfamiliar decade I know nothing of except the stories my family tell me about. I think it’s better to see what it was like than to actually live in that decade.

Hartz, Taylor. “Get Real? Viewers Weigh in on Whether TV Shows Should Reflect COVID and BLM Reality or Should Offer an Escape.” TCA Regional News, Tribune Content Agency LLC, 2020

Background: This article discusses whether to showcase the Pandemic and BLM matters portrayed in TV shows. Writers were having a debate about showing what exactly is going on in the world. In the end, writers decided to show the pandemic in “Grey’s Anatomy”. In the show, Law & Order showed how a caucasian woman called the police on an African-American man bird-watching.

How I intend to use it: I intend to use this article to further explain how escapism can be shown in different ways. Escapism is not only about escaping reality but also showing some part of reality.

Allan, P. (2015, August 10). How to Snap Back to Reality when. Lifehacker. https://lifehacker.com/how-to-snap-back-to-reality-when-escapism-becomes-av-1723091630#:~:text=Escapism%20doesn

Background: This article discusses the idea of escapism being a good thing to a certain extent. Also, the article talks about the opposite of escapism which is realism. Patrick’s main idea of idea is for his audience not to be trapped in the mindset of escapism but to become free. Snapback to reality instead of living thinking that life is gumdrops and rainbows.

How I intend to use it: I used this article as a rebuttal to escapism. For example, another word for escapism could be rephrased as refueling. Refueling is a positive way to look at taking a break from life instead of completely detaching from life.

Hastall, M. R. (2017). Escapism. The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0154

Background: This article is about the effects of social media being a part of escapism. It discusses how features of Instagram contribute to falling into a stagnant state of mind. The article mentioned some causes of escapism like exhaustion or depression.

How I intend to use it: I used this article to help me state the causes of escapism.

Siricharoen, W. (2019). Association for Information Systems AIS Electronic Library (AISeL) The Effect of Virtual Reality as a form of Escapism The Effect of Virtual Reality as a form of Escapism (pp. 5–2019). https://aisel.aisnet.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=confirm2019

Luttrull, G. (2023). Embodied Escapism: Liberation Within Incarceration. Dance/Movement Therapy Theses. https://digitalcommons.slc.edu/dmt_etd/88/