There’s A Fun Reason People Had Imaginary Friends As A Kid

PEDESTRIAN.TV have teamed up with Paramount Pictures Australia to celebrate the release of the new movie IF, hitting cinemas from May 16.

With wallets tightening and cold weather creeping in, there’s nothing more I want than to pretend I’m a kid again and have my mum make me some soup. 

I grew up with my nose in a book and creating imaginary worlds around me at home. As embarrassing as it is, my treasured companion was a stuffed bunny called Mildy. Yes, that’s Mildy, not Mouldy, okay!

With the new Ryan Reynolds film IF hitting cinemas in May – a whimsical film packed full of nostalgia and imagination –  it got me thinking: just how common is it for Aussie kids to have imaginary friends? And is it… bad?

Turns out, there’s an Aussie psychologist who is obsessed with imaginary friends, and he’s been researching the playful topic. 

Professor Evan Kidd, a lecturer at Australian National University, tells PEDESTRIAN.TV that having an imaginary friend is totally normal. Phew!

According to Evan, the “high season” for kids to have imaginary friends is from preschool to the early years of primary school, with only children or the eldest children the most likely to be playing with Mr. Imaginary. 

“The most important thing to remember here is that [this] is a positive behaviour that manifests itself as an imaginary friend… these children are often prone to fantasy, they love playing, they love inhabiting imaginary worlds,” he says.

“These children might become more artistic or write stories and things like that.”

One child even created an imaginary wife, who he later imaginary divorced because she “spoke too much”, according to Evan. How’s that for imagination?

The oldest person with an imaginary friend Evan has encountered was a 46-year-old woman. And you know what? That’s also totally fine. 

“People can continue to have them all throughout their lives. If it’s functional for them, it’s not getting in the way of their lives, then having a fantasy life is completely and utterly normal,” the lecturer says.

Imaginary Friends in Pop Culture

Imaginary friends have been part of pop culture for years, with iconic comic strip Calvin and Hobbes being one of the more well-known examples (Hobbes was a stuffed tiger to everyone except Calvin). Paramount Pictures Australia’s film IF revolves around the idea of deserted Imaginary Friends – a movie Evan is keen to watch – and the film is not only filled with fun and fantasy, but it’s also important.

“Often when you talk to parents who have children with imaginary friends, they kind of get worried about it. There’s often this link that they make between having an imaginary friend and hearing voices,” Evan says

He continues: “It’s something that they might not talk about, or they’ll talk about in hushed tones… I guess not everyone knows that it’s relatively normal and relatively positive.”

“Whenever there’s examples of it in popular culture, then it’s really great because it can create a discussion and create awareness amongst parents in particular, that it’s completely okay to have imaginary friends.”

So, if you’ve got siblings who won’t stop ribbing you for the time you made pancakes with a made-up person, feel free to hit them with these quotes. 

What is IF about? 

IF is the brainchild of director / producer / writer John Krasinski, and asks the existential question: what if imaginary friends were real? And if they are, what happens to them when the children who played with them grow up?

It follows a young girl, Bea (Cailey Fleming), who discovers she can see other people’s imaginary friends (also known as IFs) after experiencing a traumatic event. After realising those IFs were abandoned by their humans as they grew up, she takes it upon herself to try and reconnect them with their missing friends.

She finds an unlikely ally in the form of Ryan Reynolds’ character Cal, who can also see the IFs. The trailer looks wholesome with a dash of emotion, and it’s peppered with some famous voices, including Steve Carell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Awkwafina and Matt Damon. 

It seems like the perfect escape if life is getting a little too real, because let’s face it, everything’s better in an imaginary world. 

Catch IF on the big screen exclusively in cinemas from May 16.