Defending Fanboys Everywhere

I am a fanboy. A geek. A nerd. A dweeb. I’ve heard every single label one can give to a sci-fi fan applied to myself at one point or another. And deservedly so. I have collected comic books for more than twenty years. My wardrobe consists mainly of T-shirts with all manner of comic book symbols and emblems on them. I get thrilled and excited for all manner of sci-fi and fantasy. I am a geek. But when I call myself a geek, I am not using it as an insult as those who decide to call me geek do. For me it is a badge of honor. But it seems people everywhere feel the need to demean those who are passionate about the very things I am passionate about. And I find the stigma wholly unnecessary and in many cases a bit hypocritical.

Think of your average sports fan. In our society it is perfectly acceptable to wear the jersey of your favorite team as everyday clothing. No matter how unathletic you may be, you can wear the colors of your favorite team and number of your favorite player. But you’re not on the team. You’re not that player. When a fan screams at their TV, the coach cannot hear them. Why is this not as ridiculous as someone who goes to a convention in  Cosplay? Why is attending a sports game with face paint any less ridiculous than attending a convention in costume? How is fantasy baseball any less delusional than Dungeons and Dragons? It is exactly the same. But when the news reports about a sports game there is little to no commentary on the absurdity of fans. Every story done about comic conventions seems to have some reporter commenting about the people in costume, usually commenting in a mocking tone. Which is somewhat insulting considering the amount of riots and violence associated with sports. As I have witnessed personally in LA, sports fans will riot when their team wins or loses, yet as a fan I have never witnessed a group of Trek fans go nuts on Star Wars fans. It just doesn't happen.

Further showing the hypocrisy is the massive profits made by super hero films. This past summer The Avengers made more than 1.5 billion dollars at the box office. Obviously more than just comic book fans went to see this film. Yet if it weren’t for the fans nurturing these properties for so many years there would have been no Avengers film. Nor Batman. Nor Amazing Spider-Man. These characters are sustained by the fans. It is their desire for a film that causes the studios to move forward with cinematic adaptations. But it is then the non-fan who feels the need to watch these adaptations and belittle the fan culture that birthed them. And as a comic book fan I feel as if these people are invading my territory. These films were made for us, in many cases BY us, and the rest of you are just along for the ride.

"Shiny"

Fanculture is more than just a loose association of people with similar interests. There is a shorthand and shared identity of fans of any sort of genre entertainment. If you use the term “browncoat”, “red shirt”, or “Schumacher” with a regular person, they probably have no idea what they mean. But to a geek, those words are instantly recognizable and have clear and definite meanings that all fans enjoy.  People who are fans of the same TV show can have the same sort of shared cultural background as people who grew up in the same town together. There are references and inside jokes that only someone who shared the experience you did will understand.

 

Deep down everyone is a geek. The term geek is usually used to describe a fan of sci-fi, comics or fantasy but in reality it can just be a term for anyone who is passionate about a certain subject. There are film geeks, TV geeks, music geeks and even sports geeks. Certainly people who watched Lost were just as big a geek as anyone who watched Star Trek. You should acknowledge your geek habits and be proud of them.