Crime Fantasy Vs. Crime Fiction

There should be a clear distinction between fantasy and fiction. I know that literally they are the same thing, but in spirit I think they are completely different.

Fiction should be something that COULD be real, even if it isn't. And fantasy should be used for anything that completely defies reality as we know it, and could never be real.

If we distinguish between fantasy and fiction in this way, then it would be easier to separate the BS from good fiction in books and on TV.

For example, so-called crime fiction shows on TV, that depict impossibly intuitive cops against ridiculously psychotic criminals, could be readably identified as FANTASY crime shows instead. Then maybe there'd be a lot of fewer people who actually believe that some people are born without emotions, and others with an innate need to "serve and protect".

What I'm saying is that most crime fiction is as close to reality as dragons and unicorns. The "monsters" are no less impossible, and the "heroes" no more likely. Of course there are real monsters in this world, even human monsters (I certainly was one, in a careful sense), and real heroes as well, (I was just as certainly a hero too). But, the only monsters real heroes fight are the ones within themselves. I'll admit that some crime shows, and books, (more books than shows) endeavor to depict this, but few can even be said to approach reality in their attempts. The characters they create invariably end up being as impossible as winged horses, and they are usually constructed in the same way; by imagining various real things, such as wings and horses, then combining them in very unreal and impossible ways.

So, the next time you see some impossibly emotionless "psychopath" on TV being hunted and captured by ridiculously intuitive cops, just try to remember that it is pure fantasy, and in the real world the worst monsters and greatest heroes are the ones inside of all of us.

(J.D. 6-1-13)