WARNING: if you have not seen the film “End of Evangelion” or any of the Evangelion material then do not read this. Spoilers are ahead.
Reality and Life are touched upon a lot in Evangelion. I remember watching End of Evangelion and there being lots of absolutely random live action shots of a movie theater, a swing set, and a random street in Japan. (note: everything I say is mere speculation and is my big giant theory to finally explain Evangelion and why it’s so weird.)
I believe this is heavily important to the theme of reality.
While we watch these films, we are not in our current reality. We are in the reality that is presented in front of us. I think the live action shots really poke at the idea of reality, we are presented with our own reality in the movie that we are watching that has taken us into a different one. It carries the question “what is reality”.
So, what is reality?
Reality is the world that is presented infront of us, if we want a different reality, then all we need to is sit infront of the TV and change the channel.
Similar to how Shinji runs away from his problems, we run away from ours by entering different realities.
Remember how Shinji once said that he listens to his cassette player to drown out the cruel world because he hates it? It’s filled with the EVA he doesn’t want to pilot, the father that doesn’t even pay attention to him, and the world of angels that are trying to destroy humanity.
We are Shinji.
Shinji is the viewer.
Why are we watching entertainment and TV when we can go outside and live life?
Because we can’t do the amazing things we see on TV.
The reason we watch TV and play video games is to satisfy our wants.
We can’t pilot giant robots and save the world, nor can we become superheroes who get praise from everyone.
So what does Evangelion do?
It does the exact opposite of the reality we want.
Shinji doesn’t want to pilot the EVA, he hates himself, he basically has no friends, and he gets little to no praise from the people he wants it from (his dad).
In other words..
Shinji doesn’t want to pilot the giant badass robot, he hates his life and wishes things were normal, he distances himself from potential friends, and he gets no pat on the back from the people he wants it from. He also cries and screams a lot…
Shinji is the complete opposite of what we want to see, because we are exactly like Shinji.
Do you notice that the live action shots take place while Shinji is in his head thinking about life? Shinji is going deep into his psyche and trying to find out what he wants, what would make his life better, and what would make him happy.
That’s the reason why we are shown our world.
Shinji wishes that he was us. Shinji wishes he lived a boring life where he could be left alone and not have to be hurt ever again.
We wish we were Shinji, and Shinji wishes he were us.
Shinji is living in the opposite of what we want to see. His reality is a horrible place and his mental psyche is all sorts of fucked up.
So it really begins the question. If reality is the world that is presented in front of us, but the world of Shinji and Evangelion is presented in front of us, then what is reality?
Can we change reality?
Final note:
I didn’t use the official definition of reality, I used my personal interpretation.
The actual definition of reality is: “the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.”
itsdoilan
