Of Geeks and Things.
Little uproar over Miss USA calling herself a geek... from geeks, of course, who are offended that their unique and beautiful snowflake subculture is being trespassed against by pretty people, because it was those people who made their lives hell in high school and HOW DARE THEY?
I once posited this argument in much different form in another place, and I figured it was time to rehash it.
What would you call someone who:
* Spends hours -- sometimes more hours than they spend actually working for a living -- engaged in their hobby and constantly trying to draw others in?
* Several times a year dresses up in a costume, whether it be a simple off-the-rack garment (maybe even just a shirt denoting their fandom), a more complicated and expensive outfit, or an outlandish getup, and attends events with thousands of other sweaty people who share their obsession?
* Sometimes even spends lots of money and/or crafting time on these costumes?
* Absolutely cannot miss the latest installment of their favorite thing?
* Memorizes absolutely ridiculous volumes of information about the thing they're interested in, able to spew these details whenever they deem it necessary -- whether it's relevant to anyone around them or not?
* Collects all manner of wacky gewgaws related to their fandom... figurines, trading cards, pins, buttons, license plate holders, wall decorations, whatever?
* Gets in long drawn-out arguments over whether their favorite can beat someone else's favorite, citing some of the most obscure details in order to support their belief?
* Writes message board posts in which they get different characters in their fandom to hook up with people they aren't hooked up with already, just because they think it would be a good idea?1
* Expounds at length about what the creator of their favorite thing should do to make it better?2
* Regularly looks for hidden clues to explain why something didn't happen the way they expected it to, and tries to convince everyone else?3
* Will explain to anyone who will listen why not only is HIS little segment of the overall fandom better than YOUR segment, but he's better than you because he likes what he likes and you like what you like?
Well, the answer, of course, is obvious. Who behaves this way other than hardcore sports fans?
If you're a geek and you're irked at Miss USA trying to claim kinship, just remember: the same assholes who beat you up in high school are just as geeky as you. They're just in a different fandom.
'course, I guess there is one thing the sports fan does that the garden-variety geek doesn't. Your average obsessive Harry Potter fan doesn't pick up the phone and call the local radio station hoping to get on the air and spread their half-baked message over the airwaves, hoping that the even more obsessive Harry Potter fan running the program agrees with them and thinks they're cool. Maybe they're even bigger geeks than the "real" geeks, eh?
1 - referring, of course, to discussing potential trades and free-agent signings.
2 - criticizing his team's manager or general manager for not running the team the way he thinks it should be run.
3 - "The referees were calling fouls on Dallas because they wanted Los Angeles to win/make sure the series went seven games/they hate Dallas!"
I once posited this argument in much different form in another place, and I figured it was time to rehash it.
What would you call someone who:
* Spends hours -- sometimes more hours than they spend actually working for a living -- engaged in their hobby and constantly trying to draw others in?
* Several times a year dresses up in a costume, whether it be a simple off-the-rack garment (maybe even just a shirt denoting their fandom), a more complicated and expensive outfit, or an outlandish getup, and attends events with thousands of other sweaty people who share their obsession?
* Sometimes even spends lots of money and/or crafting time on these costumes?
* Absolutely cannot miss the latest installment of their favorite thing?
* Memorizes absolutely ridiculous volumes of information about the thing they're interested in, able to spew these details whenever they deem it necessary -- whether it's relevant to anyone around them or not?
* Collects all manner of wacky gewgaws related to their fandom... figurines, trading cards, pins, buttons, license plate holders, wall decorations, whatever?
* Gets in long drawn-out arguments over whether their favorite can beat someone else's favorite, citing some of the most obscure details in order to support their belief?
* Writes message board posts in which they get different characters in their fandom to hook up with people they aren't hooked up with already, just because they think it would be a good idea?1
* Expounds at length about what the creator of their favorite thing should do to make it better?2
* Regularly looks for hidden clues to explain why something didn't happen the way they expected it to, and tries to convince everyone else?3
* Will explain to anyone who will listen why not only is HIS little segment of the overall fandom better than YOUR segment, but he's better than you because he likes what he likes and you like what you like?
Well, the answer, of course, is obvious. Who behaves this way other than hardcore sports fans?
If you're a geek and you're irked at Miss USA trying to claim kinship, just remember: the same assholes who beat you up in high school are just as geeky as you. They're just in a different fandom.
'course, I guess there is one thing the sports fan does that the garden-variety geek doesn't. Your average obsessive Harry Potter fan doesn't pick up the phone and call the local radio station hoping to get on the air and spread their half-baked message over the airwaves, hoping that the even more obsessive Harry Potter fan running the program agrees with them and thinks they're cool. Maybe they're even bigger geeks than the "real" geeks, eh?
1 - referring, of course, to discussing potential trades and free-agent signings.
2 - criticizing his team's manager or general manager for not running the team the way he thinks it should be run.
3 - "The referees were calling fouls on Dallas because they wanted Los Angeles to win/make sure the series went seven games/they hate Dallas!"