Why does the fantasy genre have such a bad reputation?

[redchild]

But anyway, digress if I go that way. (There's a whole rant bubbling under the surface about how humanity would never advance on anything if we didn't imagine "impossible" things.)

Reminds me of Arthur O'Shaughnessy's Ode:

We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams.
World-losers and world-forsakers,
Upon whom the pale moon gleams;
Yet we are the movers and shakers,
Of the world forever, it seems.

And I believe many readers take some of those things with them when they close the book after the final page, so that they always carry with them parts of the imagined reality and especially what they learned of themselves and other humans while visiting it.I guess this is actually the very thing that some people find problematic or even dangerous - I just think it shows that we humans still have a hunger for the such things.

Absolutely. Without such a hunger to push the boundaries, people would just stagnate; individually and as a collective whole. The greatest thinkers, artists, scientists in the world pursued their thoughts, even if they were deemed 'dangerous' or 'outrageous;' yet they illuminated so much insight into the human condition and the universe around us. A lot of people consider such pursuits to be trivial and impractical to present reality, but really the process and the discoveries made enhance our lives so much, in every aspect.

I feel as if the world is slowly leaning towards a healthier attitude of openly exploring and sharing ideas. But there are still many people who would prefer to (or are pressured to) stick with whatever they feel comfortable with.

I spend ten years in art school and if there's one thing that is left with me from that time, it's a hatred of Art. That blasé attitude of being better and higher then anything else, something that must be revered and worshipped... bah. So I think that when these Arty people have to consider something like romance or fantasy to be part of their branch of Art, it makes them shiver in their shoes, and they'd much rather pretend it was beneath themselves.

What school did you go to that left such a negative impression on you? Although I understand how you would stereotype fine artists as snobs, that's quite an overreaching generalization. There are many people in completely different professions who have that same sense of arrogance and cynicism. The elitist attitude is illusory: a mask to hide their own insecurities and their wish to keep their special social circle exclusive in order to feel self-important. Anyone like that obviously has no respect for themselves or for their profession because they are the ones who are in the job for prestige and not out of love of art. They don't produce anything of value and neither do they contribute anything but snarky comments on the sidelines.

There are actually many, many artists trying to destroy the stereotype that art is not for regular people; but breaking that stereotype also requires that non-artists let go of the notion that art is the exclusive domain of rich, intellectual snobs who "get" art.