COMICS CULTURE SHRAPNEL from CBEM 312
Now about the term 'geek'... well, we always seem to want to hide the fact that we read comics. I feel kind of stupid when I tell people I read comics.. mostly because they give the stupidest reactions. They're condescending. They think it's cute. It's annoying. I don't appreciate being belittled for my hobby. So I get defensive. I get belligerent. This is probably not a good thing. Because with the geek stereotype comes the image of the angry geeks.
We get mad because our favorite title has been canceled; a certain character has been killed. A writer isn't following continuity. An artist draws crappy thighs. Action figures have plastic capes. The movie was cut to be PG-13. They pick popular actor A to play superhero B. The government wants to take away our rights to steal music or books or movies. Or whatever.
I think we sound insane. Perhaps we are. But it's none of anyone's business. It's bad enough that some feel the need to hide the fact that they read comics, but do we have to be belittled for being passionate about them? Moral outrage over a comic book is not something particularly celebrated. Granted, it isn't high literature, but still...
It begs the question of what priorities we're supposed to have. Political? Social? Last time I checked, even the non-comics community was divided on these issues. My mother doesn't read comics, but neither does she complain about anything that would necessarily better the world. So why do geeks get picked on?
Because we never fight back, not properly. We yell at each other, and not at the people who need to hear it. There's the idea of preaching to the converted... we tend to condemn them too. And this doesn't do us any good. Why complain about comics not getting any respect to other comics fans? It accomplishes nothing. I say it's time to go outside and yell at the world. Let people know how you feel. If you come across as a rational person, perhaps we won't be seen so much as a group of squabbling weirdoes.