Right now is a great time to be a geek, especially if it’s one for movies. Over the last few years, popularity in comic book movies or other franchises that had a limited following has grown dramatically. It’s now one of the biggest money-makers in Hollywood (The Avengers broke a ridiculous amount of box office records, and now stands as the third-highest grossing movie ever, right behind James Cameron’s box office monsters Avatar and Titanic. You would think with all of this newfound public love of comics that geeks would be more excited. I mean, Old Navy and American Eagle make shirts that don superhero emblems on them, that’s how popular these have become. However, many geeks are acting like a bunch of whining hipsters when it comes to this popularity in what they love.
So why the backlash from hardcore geeks? One of the reasons could be that they have become defensive of their properties. They have loved them since the beginning when they were obscure, and that was what made them love them. Simply because they were so obscure and they could act all self-righteous and in-your-face when talking about their franchises (“Oh, have you heard of Captain Planet? No, you probably haven’t, he’s really underground”). It’s as if the geeks are overprotective mothers and they refuse to let their beloved franchises fly the coop.
A perfect example is comic book illustrator Tony Harris ranting about girls dressed as sexy versions of women in geek culture. He recently went on a tirade directed at cosplay girls which included, “You have this really awful need for attention, for people to tell you you’re pretty, or hot, and the thought of guys pleasuring themselves to the memory of you hanging on them with your glossy open lips, promising them the Moon and the Stars of pleasure, just makes your head vibrate.”
Members of geek culture that act this way bother me to no end. Harris has a point, but the majority of his argument is just chastising people who don’t know every possible thing about the franchises he loves. It’s people like him who would have us take tests before being accepted into geek culture. So grow up you geeks who are intolerant, because you have no idea how lucky you have it right now, and you don’t deserve any of it if you’re just going to act like a bunch of squabbling babies.
