I speak for all those long-suffering realists, for whom magic and fantasy spell nothing but tedious, unsatisfying departures from the believable. Of these, the revenge fantasy seems to provide a catharsis like no other. The rock ‘n’ roll fantasy catches you early – in that numinous adolescent space, where the mind is without fear and the soul without direction. Outrageous and androgynous, the genre mixed materials like a pav-bhaji vendor does ingredients (lockdown fantasies die hard). From ABBA’s sweetness to David Bowie’s weirdness, and from Prince’s mystique to Kiss’ masala, its avatars all flaunt a kind of magic that’s hard to resist and way more satisfying than even the revenge fantasy.

Source: Hindustan Times August 30, 2020 00:58 UTC