Monday, August 19, 2013

Comic-CON or how Mindlessness has Influenced Geek Culture

Preface: I began this article over a year ago, and of course I was busy at that time as well.  I feel like this is an important topic, so I'm going to develop it a bit more.

It's been a while, I know.  Predominantly I've gotten caught up in school, work, exams, etc..  However, underlying this has been what I guess we could refer to as a crisis of faith.
In order to understand how fall I have fallen, let's first establish where I was three years ago as a geek.  I'm pretty confident that when I left America for Poland I was at the top of what was and is considered the hierarchy of the typical pop culture geekdom.  I had believed unquestioningly that Joss Whedon was brilliant, Doctor Who was great, and that I would believe this for my entire life.
Kind of funnily, my foreign classmates initially couldn't believe that I actually existed.  International schools are not such a breeding ground for geek culture for the most part.
The problem back then was that I was unquestioningly accepting everything that the "Geek Machine" of culture was throwing out.  If I'm told to like The Dark Knight Rises, I will like it.  If I'm told to like The Avengers, I will like it.  This blind acceptance of film, comics, television has resulted in the opposite of the foundation of a geek.  Geeks were (and still are) those who discover what they love, and usually for personal reasons.
Having left Poland, I feel more of a geek than when I came.  I collect stamps for example.  It's not something that everyone can love.  It's about a particular love for something because you find it interesting, not because the 130,000 people who  attended comic-con loved it.  It's something that I discovered that I loved, not something that I tried because everyone else was doing it.
Studying psychology for two years in IB we learned about conformism and the need to feel part of the in-group.  Because one of the selling points of being a geek is this individualism it's become a marketable commodity.  (Just step into Hot Topic for two seconds)  It's an easy way to feel accepted with a larger group of people.
My challenge to you is to look at what you love, and then evaluate why you love it.  If you can come up with 5 concrete and well-thought-out reasons why it holds up, then I think you can continue endorsing your show.
We need to move away from being a society of mindless consumers of marketable culture and instead start evaluating the reasons why we like the particular television show or movie.

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