Escapism

[15] Freud considers a quota of escapist fantasy a necessary element in the life of humans: "[T]hey cannot subsist on the scanty satisfaction they can extort from reality.

'We simply cannot do without auxiliary constructions', Theodor Fontane once said,[16] "His followers saw rest and wish fulfilment (in small measures) as useful tools in adjusting to traumatic upset";[17] while later psychologists have highlighted the role of vicarious distractions in shifting unwanted moods, especially anger and sadness.

[22][23] Some social critics warn of attempts by the powers that control society to provide means of escapism instead of bettering the condition of the people – what Juvenal called "bread and the games".

Something that is mere "daydreaming" or "escapism" from the viewpoint of a technological-rational society might be a seed for a new and more humane social order, as it can be seen as an "immature, but honest substitute for revolution".

The Norwegian psychologist Frode Stenseng has presented a dualistic model of escapism in relation to different types of activity engagements.

Stenseng argues that there exist two forms of escapism with different affective outcomes dependent on the motivational focus that lies behind the immersion in the activity.

[26] The film ends with a group of poor destitute men in jail watching a comedic Mickey Mouse cartoon that ultimately lifts their spirits.