I almost feel like a fangirl hypocrite admitting this, but this blog post is about a book I never finished. I started the famed graphic novel Fables: Legends in Exile months ago and stopped after only a couple chapters. Usually, my heart sings for any kind of fairy tale reimagining, but this one just weighed me down. The realism smacked you in the face without apology. I hated what I call the "unrealistically dark reality." After all, statistically, something has to be happy somewhere in this world of ours! In Fables, everyone was unhappy, everything sucked, and life never seemed to be worth living for anyone. Beauty and the Beast were unhappily married. Snow White's dashing prince had run off with whichever beauty was nearby at the time. Many of the nonhuman characters were exiled to a farm while their humanoid counterparts roamed the outside world. Nothing went well for anyone, and I felt this was a grossly unfair assessment of the human condition.
This was until my husband picked up the book. He had been playing the game Wolf Among Us (based on the series) and had listened to me rail about how horrible the book was. Despite my protests, he read it and loved it. He found the characters intriguing and the world worth investigating. On occasion, he would elbow me to show me something or comment on a particular part he was enjoying. The darkness never bothered him.
When I finished my rant about all the sadness, he just looked at me and said, "Well, honey, there is no hope without God."
I just stopped.
Fables, to me, was about escape from reality. To him, it was highlighting reality. Romans 3:10 and 22 say, "As the Scriptures say, 'No one is righteous - not even one.' ... We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are." Without Christ, those Fables had no chance at hope or a future. Like the song I wrote about a few months ago, there is nothing for them. No way to find peace. No reason to live. Only through Christ is there true hope, peace, and salvation. He is the One who grants joy and everlasting blessing. Without Him, there can be no happily ever after.
This was until my husband picked up the book. He had been playing the game Wolf Among Us (based on the series) and had listened to me rail about how horrible the book was. Despite my protests, he read it and loved it. He found the characters intriguing and the world worth investigating. On occasion, he would elbow me to show me something or comment on a particular part he was enjoying. The darkness never bothered him.
When I finished my rant about all the sadness, he just looked at me and said, "Well, honey, there is no hope without God."
I just stopped.
Fables, to me, was about escape from reality. To him, it was highlighting reality. Romans 3:10 and 22 say, "As the Scriptures say, 'No one is righteous - not even one.' ... We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are." Without Christ, those Fables had no chance at hope or a future. Like the song I wrote about a few months ago, there is nothing for them. No way to find peace. No reason to live. Only through Christ is there true hope, peace, and salvation. He is the One who grants joy and everlasting blessing. Without Him, there can be no happily ever after.