Fake Geeks, Gatekeepers and Big Bang Theories

You know what really grinds my gears? When people judge or presume things about people, without any real background or knowledge of the person. You should never presume because then you "press" "u" to "me" (and physical contact with strangers upsets my social anxiety).

Stereotypes galore! Do you realise how affected you are by media, even subconsciously?

Why do certain people have this bizarre urge to protect what they are fans of? To stop others from joining their fandoms. Why should you have to prove yourself to other people to feel accepted into liking something. There are different depths of fandom, for example: some people only see the Star Wars films, others go as far as watching the cartoons, then there's always the books and comics, even listening to podcasts or frequenting message boards to discuss theories. If you go so deep into your fandom that you live, eat and breath it, you aren't a better person for it, you aren't better than someone who just likes the basic product. At the end of the day if you buy a game without having played every game in the franchise that's a good thing isn't it? There's a bigger likelihood that more sequels will be made, thanks to it's wider audience. There's more money to the people making the product your buying, so the next release will have more money thrown at it, it will be bigger and better.

If everyone is different doesn't that make us all the same?

You see this kind of thing all the time. Are people only enjoying these fandoms because they are niche? I knew plenty of people who would worship a certain band or artist until they featured in Kerrang and then all bets were off. What they liked was now mainstream and they couldn't like it anymore. Now I've described myself as a hipster before. I have some pretty niche likes myself, both musically, in podcasts and reading material-wise. Do I get annoyed when others discover what I'm into? Hell no! I love it when I get to introduce others. I'm constantly amazed by the world I live in today. We are getting 5+ comic book movies a year and freaking Gorilla Grodd was on TV. We used to have to wait years between them when I was growing up. The more the better I say. The bigger the audience the better. Don't scare others away, get the bigger audience in. Have more people to talk to about your interests. It can be lonely being into a niche hobby.

Funny venn diagram I found by Matthew Mason. How accurate do you think it is?

The word geek has changed a lot. It used to mean a sideshow freak or act in a circus. Then when I was growing up in the 90's it was interchangeable with the word "nerd". Nowadays the word seems to have simultaneously lost all meaning and mean everything. You can be a "band geek" simply by practicing an instrument. A crafting geek simply by knitting or crocheting. Anyone who gets a (very easy to get) reference on the Big Bang Theory thinks they get the badge of honour.

When a joke on Big Bang Theory is phrased "It's as cold as the ice planet Hoth from Star Wars Empire Strikes Back" instead of just "It's as cold as Hoth in here" then your writing is bad and you should feel bad. Star Wars is referenced in pretty much every aspect of media, possibly the most influential film of all time. Spelling it out is bad writing. I'm not a fan of the show myself. It has a lot of low hanging fruit jokes. The Jew, the Indian, the special needs guy, the awkward everyman, are all very obvious and offensive stereotypes. The worst stereotype it perpetrates is that girls CANNOT be into nerdy things. I've seen more than my fair share as my girlfriend watches the show regularly. There's this drilling into everyones heads that women shouldn't be in the comic book store. For a large part of it's early seasons we didn't even have any "proven intelligent" female characters on the show, sure Penny has street smarts and day to day knowledge of things that elude the main cast, but because she's happy to have different regular sexual partners then she's lesser than the guys. If a guy has sex he's amazing and it should be celebrated, but not her, she's "slutty". I don't agree with the double standard. At least it almost got some points back when the other women with science professions came in. Some role models that show that it's not just a man's world in science.

I don't hate Big Bang Theory because it is popular. I'm not having a hipster moment myself. I just find it poorly written, offensive with it's stereotypes and damaging to geek culture as a whole. It has improved greatly to what it once was. There are female extras in the background in the comic book stores and female scientists. I can almost tolerate the more recent episodes but it still doesn't fix what it's already pumped out into the zeitgeist. Too little too late.

A couple of the many thousand of hilarious responses to a failed marketing ploy.

This view is rammed down our throughs everywhere. IBM failed recently with it's #hackahairdryer campaign. Clearly women are all idiots and play with their beauty products all day instead of doing manly science right? Surprisingly trying to get women into science by playing with their beauty products backfired spectacularly. Women everywhere in Science and Tech jobs started bombarding the company with their job titles and saying they where too busy to be playing with hairdryers.

Is being a fan a fashion statement? Plenty of band shirts are worn by people who have never heard the bands music. How many times have you seen people too young to drink wearing a Jack Daniels tee shirt? I'm sick of it myself. It can grate away at you. On the other side of that coin though, a few years ago back at University, I was wearing a Flash logo tee shirt, as in the superhero speedster, and someone came over to challenge my knowledge of Flash freaking Gordon! Firstly I've not actually got that much Flash superhero knowledge myself, I simply liked the design, I'm an artist myself and I can appreciate things aesthetically. I haven't started watching the show myself. I've heard good things and intend to start at some point. I have read a fair share of the comics but nothing in comparison to other comics I'm a fan of. I've seen the Flash Gordon movie, it's a classic. I was roughly aware of the recent TV series of Flash Gordon, but there I am getting challenged about someone else's like of a franchise and he's the one with the lack of knowledge about something else. I politely corrected him, said I loved the classic movie and even how the film Ted had a lot of fun with it and he wondered off with his tail between his legs.

Big Bang Theory star goes over to great a fan who is wearing
show merchandise and isn't recognised at all.

Why is it now fashionable to try to be into the more geeky aspects of life? Well we should take it as a compliment. No really. Look at the highest grossing films of the year, there's a lot of comic book adaptations and sci-fi in there. How many mainstream comic book TV shows do we now have? Loads! It's everywhere. If someone poses for a sexy selfie with a X-box controller dangling out of their mouth and says they are about to play some PS4 because they aren't like other girls, than they are greatly mistaken as much as their target audience. There are almost as many Female gamers as there are Male now. Simply put it's the same as my argument about comics, gaming is a medium not a genre, even down to app's and mobile games. There's something for everyone out there. Different levels of fandom don't make you better than other people. As I said above, it's simply a product you are both buying into. That girl in the photo was a model, she was possibly even at a professional shoot or maybe just at home and wanted to widen her audience on whatever feed she was using.

Surprisingly as over half the population Women also have likes and dislikes...
almost like real people?!

Sadly there are companies that still use "booth babes" in other words, they use attractive models to lure the typical lonely male's into buying things. They are eye candy. They aren't needed. In a reverse stereotype: didn't need a sexy female chef to start me off cooking. I simply went out and did basic research to inform my choices. Do I have a michelin star? No. I'm enjoying myself though and creating tasty food. The "booth babes" are hired and possibly have very little or basic knowledge of what they are selling, it's because one week they could be selling a car, the next, comics or games. It's a living. They do however have a presence at conventions and do perpetrate other women at the conventions being targets for the whole geek shaming/ testing. Everyone has an entry point somewhere, and everyone has different levels of enjoyment. Perhaps someone made a really obscure character they simply liked the look of into a costume without knowing their backstory. So what, they are clearly creative geniuses in their own right and perhaps need as much praise as creators of characters themselves for bringing it to life.

These things are bigger than us. If I died today, or in 60 years time, I imagine Marvel comics will still be churning out their product in some capacity. I aren't the be all and end all of their products. They are there to make money. Some creators, the cogs in the machine, were fans before joining the machine itself, there's a lot of care and attention involved. The machine itself is there to make money however. Marvel will be on tee shirts, in Asda and Walmart when it comes to fathers day, I don't expect 90% of the recipients to have more than a casual idea about the characters on it. They'll have seen the films not the thousands of comics they feature in. I'm okay with that.

Escusem me can I squeeze by, I'm busting for the loo.

There are lots of different ways people express their fandoms. A fast growing one of those is Cosplaying. Making costumes and dressing up at events or conventions. Sure there are some legitimate complaints about the practicality of some of these costumes: I'm thinking more along the lines of carrying around a busy hall a humongous anime/ manga character sword, or a giant Harley Quinn hammer, when it's oh so busy, not the revealing nature. That's not my point though. When someone expresses their fandom differently to you, it's not a cause for alarm, you both like the same thing. Some people have a simple tee shirt and go to throw money away on purchases at cons, perhaps meet stars or creators and thank them. Others will blow large sums of money on costume making, and wow do they look impressive. I've attended a fair few conventions in the North of England, so I'm sure they don't compare to what you have in London let alone any of the giant cons in the US of A. I've been behind tables selling my own comics, art and zines as well as a visitor. I love when there is a true wide age group and both genders present. It's not an elite club. It's for all and I've genuinely teared up a little, with happiness when I've seen the crowds for Thoughtbubble Leeds Sequential Arts Festival before. It's a wonderful thing to behold.

This is one of my favourite things online ever. I'll be honest I had only the briefest knowledge of Duela Dent,
the difference being that I didn't try to shame someone publicly because they liked what I like.
Show some tolerance and respect people, please.

I've never encountered extreme cases of what I'm about to touch on but, the objectification of women who choose to dress up is disgusting. You don't touch or photograph anyone inappropriately irregardless their clothing choice. It's disgusting of people to do or think that. Professional models may have been hired to draw you in to a booth, and they are not the same as visitors or guests that dress up and express their fandom that way. I don't agree with the objectification of women full stop. There is a line that you don't cross with the general public that the is the allusion of the model being there as part of the sale, keeps fuelling. Do not confuse the two. There are many articles about Cosplay is Not Consent around the internet, go educate yourself if you feel otherwise.

In summary I can't understand why you wouldn't want your fictional worlds or fandom to reflect the real world around you. Diversity is good. More fans in general is good. Being a fan of a niche thing is great but so is sharing it with the world. Don't hide your fandoms, celebrate them, and be kind to everyone. We all started out somewhere. Imagine if you'd had a helping hand exploring when you'd first started out. Don't be a gatekeeper to your fandom. Sure fake geeks exist, but don't buy into it, don't rise to that bait in any capacity. Don't believe the media, everyone has the right to enjoy whatever they want.