Magic Realism: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Da Capo]]''. The main character is a mage who jumps into people's dreams, there's also a magical cherry tree that grants wishes, a reality altering witch, mind readers, cats becoming human, a human sized cat that the girls see around town, and ever blooming cherry trees, and although it's a bit odd, nobody ever questions their reality.

* ''[[Mawaru Penguindrum]]'', where the main characters' souls are represented by penguins only they can see, aphrodisiac potions brewed from frogs really work, and key scenes take place on a strange, alternate version of the Tokyo subway all pass without much comment. For extra credit, the show makes several references to other examples of Magic Realism, such as ''[[Night on the Galactic Railroad]]'' and [[Haruki Murakami]]'s works.

 

== Film ==

* The revenge western ''[[Seraphim Falls]]'' verges into magic realism in the third act, when a [[Magical Native American]] and a snake oil saleswoman appear out of nowhere to each of the two main characters and engineer a final confrontation between the nemeses. The Native American is named Charon in the credits and the saleswoman's name is revealed to be [[Louis Cypher|Louise C. Fair]].

* Take "magic realism," replace "magic" with "video game," and that's ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]''. Enemies have unique mystical powers, video game graphics show up and may even be interacted with by characters, and people explode into coins once bested in a duel. But otherwise, you know, just the normal lives of twenty-something Canadians. While these elements appeared in the graphic novel source material, the film revels in it all, maybe just because we see it all in motion.

* ''[[The Tin Drum]]'' is both a novel and a film about a boy who [[Never Grew Up]], [[No Infantile Amnesia|was perfectly aware while in the womb]], and can [[Make Me Wanna Shout|create destructive screams]]. While the book version of the character is [[Unreliable Narrator|likely insane]], the movie plays it straight. It's a historical/political drama.

* ''[[Don Juan Demarco]]'': The [[Johnny Depp|title character]] is a mental patient, with delusions of living in a wonderful world full of romance and adventure. In the movie's final sequence, {{spoiler|he and a couple friends hop on a plane and go to that world.}}

* Several sequences in ''[[Come and See]]'' are implausible and downright surreal, and intentionally so.

* The 1948 film ''The Boy With Green Hair'' about a war orphan who wakes up one morning to find that he has green hair.

* ''[[Enchanted]]'': While there are fairy tale elements (honorary princess Giselle is our heroine after all), there are also realistic elements as well. Nathaniel and Narissa are on the fairy tale side, but it’s not unrealistic for Nathaniel to end up in an abusive relationship because a woman decided to use her good looks to her advantage. Unfortunately for Nathaniel, Narissa doesn’t see him as a friend (or a love interest). She considers him to be a slave.

* ''[[Indiana Jones]]'': While the deaths in Indiana Jones are supernatural a lot of the time, it's because the villains simply weren't careful about what they wished for, which is fairly realistic. Either that, or because they chose to be careless, as with the case of Donovan (he chose the wrong grail, and suffered the consequences). Though in the case of Mola Ram (the main villain of ''Temple of Doom''), he more or less died because Indiana Jones ended up outsmarting him... and because he fell into crocodile-infested water.

 

== Literature ==

== Other Media ==

* The ''[[Everything2]]'' short story, [http://everything2.com/user/Ignis/writeups/How+to+spot+a+powerful+mage?author=Ignis How to spot a powerful mage].

 

{{reflist}}