Daydreamers and escapists in books, TV, movies?

[Sarah]

I just caught an episode of Star Trek Voyager that I've seen a few times before and think has some interesting parallels for daydreamers...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8AqTYf31Fo

In it the eccentric and socially awkward Reg Barclay is dealing with 'holoaddiction', spending most of his waking hours in a fantasy world. The time he's spending there is causing him to cut off all social contact and putting him in danger of losing his job. Instead of seeing the harm this is doing Reg is convinced that it is beneficial and sets about trying to bring his fantasy world into the real world.

The details of the plot probably aren't important but what this character is going through really struck a chord with me and I wondered if anyone knows any other characters from fiction whose behaviour reminds them of their own?

Sarah

[Sarah]

I love Catcher in the Rye and I can definitely see how there are similarities. The Bell Jar quote definitely describes one of the types of daydream I have too: replaying a situation and having it turn out right.

[Katherine]

Sarah, I've seen that episode.  I'm a big Trekkie - a lot of my fantasy world was based on Star Trek in my teens and early twenties.  There's also a Star Trek Next Generation episode with Barclay in it that first explored his fantasy life on the holodeck.  Yes, it rang true for me a lot.

 

Also there was an x-files episode about a guy who could manipulate matter and he created the Brady Bunch house for himself and the characters in it - he was the dad.

 

A Beautiful Mind is an amazing film.  John Nash hallucinated the characters, he actually saw them.  I'm glad I don't have to deal with that, fortuantely my fantasy is all in my mind.

[roxanne]

The movie Amelie is about a wonderful young girl who daydreams through life.  It's on regularly.  It's well worth checking out for anyone on this site.

 

[roxanne]

This is one of my favorite paintings, DayDream:

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/r/rossetti/rossetti_day_dream.jpg

[Sarah]

Thanks. I'll check those episodes/movies out!

[Julie]

Breakfast on Pluto would be my favourite one, as optimistic as Amelie but with stronger message. It's actually showing, how escapism and pink glasses attitude make us mentally strong and able to survive lack of society acceptance, terrorist attacts, jail and other unpleasant things. Brilliantly light and deadly serious.

[roxanne]

Will definitely have to try that one.