It might be asserted that science-fiction plays much the same role as the Pan story - for adults as well. It imagines impossible things (beyond the reach of current science models at least) to deliver potential wonders that might be encountered.

I appreciated the Campbell quote in the article ... "I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive ... so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive." Campbell embraced Star Wars for this reason.

Life is a rare and brief thing - and to an extent, It (if not the universe) needs an audience to appreciate It. Woes and the rat-race and buying meaning from vending-machines are a cheezy substitute for 'Drinking life to the lees' as Omar so sagely puts it. More wing-suits please.