You don’t have to be one of my best friends to know that I’m a rather cynical person. The guy almost always never gets the girl. Good won’t always win out over evil. There’s no such thing as fairy tale romance and happily ever afters. True love won’t conquer all, mostly because it doesn’t exist. I know this makes me sound jaded and dare I say, almost heartless. But bear with me. Despite all of this, there is something that proves that there is hope for me yet: I love mostly all things whimsical.

Whimsical is described “given to whimsy or fanciful notions; capricious; playful.” Basically, I only enjoy love stories if they’re unusual and unpredictable. I think the best stories of good versus evil are fantastic and weird.

I discovered my love of whimsy at an early age when by age 7, I declared Edward Scissorhands to be my favorite movie of all time. It’s a bold statement but something that’s held up because I still love it to this day. The tagline says it all: “The story of an uncommonly gentle man.” That, plus the music, the love story and of course, the elaborate ice sculptures, and I was hooked. There was just something about the beauty and tragedy (with a touch of whimsy, of course) that I couldn’t get enough of.

And no one does whimsical tragedies and/or comedies better than Tim Burton. So obviously, I have come to enjoy practically every movie he’s has done (one exception being Batman Returns, which was just tragic. No whimsy there). From the touching, beautiful tale of Big Fish to the amazing and strange animation The Nightmare Before Christmas, I love it all.

Not that I’m limited to all things Burton, though. One of my new favorite TV shows, Pushing Daisies, is the epitome of whimsy. What’s better than a story about a pie maker that can bring the dead back to life just by touching them, ends up bringing back his childhood sweetheart who he’s still in love with only to not be able to ever touch her or she’ll die permanently? Plus, they solve murders and mysteries. And still have time for pie. It doesn’t get any more awesome than that, people.

And what is it, you may ask, do I find so appealing about whimsy? Maybe because behind all the cynicism hides a hint of optimism? (Or not.) Maybe because it’s all so fantastically impossible, amazingly improbable and tragically sweet. Whimsical worlds are always bright and cheery, visually or musically, despite how sad or funny the story may be. And the story itself, be it about love or adventure or epic battles, can be just as great.

Some people might prefer more “realistic” stories. Others would rather see stories unfold without magic or people randomly bursting into song. Truth is, reality can be rather depressing. I would know. I’m pretty cynical for a reason.

Medill senior Dani Garcia is the PLAY editor. She can be reached at [email protected].