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General Articles

Imagine That: Creepy Pals

By Julia Moore

An imaginary friend must be fun, if risky. This phenomenon is commonly associated with only children, but not exclusively so. Surely, enduring the irritations of siblinghood, a personal pal would be the obvious escape? Observing those peers who did have them, I think mine would have been just another irritation to overcome. They seem troublesome, to say the least.

My godchild had one. It conformed to the usual pattern - it was naughty, and therefore useful as a scapegoat. It didn’t want to go to bed, which was convenient, as neither did my godchild, it was fussy with its food, untidy, unruly and had problems with the concept of school. Now, if I had a translucent pal, I’d like to think that it could have been kept under some form of control - a bit like a pet, but ‘tis a foolhardy wish. We know from research that their ‘existence’ is usually short-lived, due to the natural short-attention span of infants, but this particular being outstayed its welcome. Things came to a head when ‘it’ was being truculent during a car journey (I always wanted to ask if ‘it’ was ever car-sick, but the question seems facile). The fast-thinking parent stopped the car and asked ‘it’ to get out, stay safely on the side of the road, and reflect on its behaviour - and then drove off. It was an alarming and  engrossing scenario to watch unfold. We all expected its host-child to develop rapid hysteria, but (staying true to type), she reacted quite differently - she urged her father to drive on and leave ‘it’ behind? Despite checking that no return was required, the sudden separation -  which seemed brutal in the extreme - seemed to be what was required, but unable to be articulated by the child.

In fiction IFs tend to be ‘other worldly’ - in Wyndham's ‘Chocky’ the IF was actually an alien and Hollywood’s ‘Harvey’, the rabbit a ‘pooka’ (ghostly spirit)- neither IFs in the strictest sense. Shakespeare’s Caliban in The Tempest had them. This association with evil and madness contrasts with our modern psychiatry which treats IFs as useful media for young children.

The parallel with social media ‘friends’ is an obvious one. Online friends fall into 2 distinct categories (real people whom you know and those you have never met), but the 3rd category - avatars, are modern forms of IF, minus the imagination. Of ensuring interest to psychologists is the interaction with the IF - upgraded to an ‘imaginary companion’, to delineate. Who is seemingly in control of the relationship? Who communicates with whom? Significantly, the IF is imaginary - as defined - non-existent to others, whilst being very real to the host. Avatars have similar characteristics - they are created by the host and therefore under their tutelage, but the visual element changes their status somewhat.

Even in fiction, few canons have exploited the potential of IFs. They seem to be pandered to, revered, feared or respected. Why not treat them as staff? Send them on errands, make them do homework. I suspect my IF would have been quite dull - it would have tidied the sock-drawer, put out the rubbish and fed the cat. My parents would have loved it and it would have probably been given the best bedroom, best toys and taken to the pantomime at Christmas. I really hate that imaginary friend already, so lucky escape there.

Saturday, 1 August 2015    Section: General Articles    Author: Julia Moore
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