I was looking a couple of my personal favorite fandoms, and realized that in a lot of ways the set up for the characters is not too far off from a bunch of college friends living in a dorm. Specifically, Stargate Atlantis and Avengers, but this is something I see in a lot of show/movies. Even if the characters are not particularly living together, circumstances have forced them to spend an unusual amount of time together “on missions” or such like.
And, of course, the popular fanfic trope “the college!AU” takes that to its logical conclusion.
I wondered about the appeal and then came across this article in the NYTimes: Friends of a Certain Age. It really resonated with me, a 42 year old divorced professional, in its discussion of how damn difficult it is to make and spend time with and keep close friends when you leave college behind.
I’m wondering if these shows don’t play a form of wish fulfillment not just for romance or adventure but, simply, friendship.
I’m not taking this idea anywhere in particular, it’s mostly an observation and a personal one at that. Even going back to grad school, I was not locked into one social group based on a mutual goal, and I’m hard pressed to think of a place or situation where I would be, outside of the military (which I’m too old to join anyway). Finding new friends I would consider close is next to impossible, if not based on my own schedule restrictions then on theirs’. The NYTimes’ article hits that nail on the head.
Of course these shows are idealistic escapism but to me that is the crux of the matter: this is what people are wishing their friendships could be like. I know I certainly dream of that kind of scenario, where the people I work with/live with are important to me, and we all pretty much get along with only predictably dramatic tension, and we share a worthy goal (exploring the universe, fighting crime, saving the world, etc.)
Not all shows/movies fit into that paradigm of course, but for the ones that do, I think “enforced friendship” is a critically understudied component. At least, I’m not aware of any studies about it?
