We're the new power, come to replace the old. Cameras in the head, children with microchips, spin doctors rewriting reality as it happens.
Grant MorrisonRead
Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how adults often struggle to accept fictional narratives that defy the laws of reality, in contrast to the innocent understanding of children.
Grant Morrison's quote reflects on the tendency of adults to impose logical constraints on fiction, seeking explanations rooted in reality. This conflict arises from a societal expectation that fiction must adhere to the rules of the real world, which can detract from the joy and imagination that such stories can inspire. Morrison suggests that children inherently understand that fiction operates under different rules, where the wonders of characters like Superman and Batman can exist without the burden of realism. This perspective encourages a more open-minded approach to storytelling and creativity.
Themes
FictionImaginationRealityAdultsChildren
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on creativity, I might say, 'As Grant Morrison points out, adults often limit their enjoyment of fiction by insisting it follows real-world logic.'
More from Grant Morrison
All quotes →A comic will always be more 'personal' than a DVD or CD, both of which require electronic 'players' to decode their content. With comics, the reader is the player so the engagement with the material is always more fundamental and dynamic. Reading comics is a much less passive activity than consuming CDs and DVDs.
Grant MorrisonRead
American writers often say they find it difficult to write Superman. They say he's too powerful; you can't give him problems. But Superman is a metaphor. For me, Superman has the same problems we do, but on a Paul Bunyan scale. If Superman walks the dog, he walks it around the asteroid belt because it can fly in space. When Superman's relatives visit, they come from the 31st century and bring some hellish monster conqueror from the future. But it's still a story about your relatives visiting.
Grant MorrisonRead
Gayness is built into Batman. I'm not using gay in the pejorative sense, but Batman is very, very gay. There's just no denying it. Obviously as a fictional character he's intended to be heterosexual, but the basis of the whole concept is utterly gay.
Grant MorrisonRead
I'm the evil mastermind behind the scenes. I'm the wicked puppeteer who pulls the strings and makes you dance. I'm your writer.
Grant MorrisonRead
A cannon fires only once but words detonate across centuries
Grant MorrisonRead
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