So Kathleen happened to have the radio on this morning, tuned to a sports radio talk show. And it seemed that the volume and intensity of the discussion was inversely proportional to the degree of importance-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things that the subject matter had.
And all I could think of was how grotesquely unfair it is that science fiction and comics fans are tagged as nerds and dweebs and treated in a condescending manner when sports fans are just as “bad” if not “worse.” I mean, where the hëll does the media get off being snotty about fans who are dressed as Klingons when you can go to any Yankees game and see 1800 guys wearing jerseys that say “Jeter” on the back. The Klingon language may be incomprehensible, but no less so than watching two sports fanatics tossing around stats, names and abbreviations (“When he wasn’t able to DH he was HBP and wound up on the DL when his ERA was 0.73, or else he would have been MVP.”) How is it 1500 people, mostly sober, spending a weekend enjoying a mutual interest at a hotel and talking about space exploration, how to avoid global warming, and whether the Hulk can beat Superman…how is that automatically inferior to 43,000, mostly drunkly drunk, spending a day enjoying a mutual interest at a stadium and talking about playoffs, how to avoid the line at the bathroom, and whether the 1953 Dodgers could beat the 1962 Yankees?
Plus science fiction fans have only the Sci-Fi Channel. Sports fans have ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN Classic. Golf. There’s a golf channel. A whole channel dedicated to Golf, for God’s sake. That’s like having a whole channel devoted to “Voyager.” And how are fantasy baseball leagues any weirder than local chapters of Starfleet? And where do people get off being snotty about Renfaires when there are those fantasy baseball camps that some organizations offer, where you pay big bucks to dress up like a baseball player for a week? At least Renfaire’s don’t set you back a few thousand bucks.
So what makes us nerdy and them “mainstream? Because it’s “big business?” Maybe the only way science fiction and comic book conventions will gain genuine respectability is if they become designed, not for socialization or debate, but about being as aggressive as possible about separating fans from their money. You know: LIke pro sports.
PAD
• 
The solution, obviously, is to stage and televise Bat’leth battles and Quidditch matches.
Bravo PAD! I’ve made that point on many an occasion when someone ridiculed me for knowing obscure Star Trek or soap facts. I simply ask the person some sports trivia question, like “Who won the Superbowl in 1973 and what were the names of the quarterbacks for both teams?” If they can answer even part of that question, I’ve proved my point.
Well, what does that say about me?
I’m a big sports fan, (I can rattle off obscure stats and trivia) and a big comic/sci-fi fan (I can cite issue numbers and actors’ movie roles).
I’ve heard the sports fans make fun of the comic/sci-fi fans AND have heard the comic/sci-fi fans ridicule the sports fans. Both have disdain for the other.
Why? I’ve NEVER understood that. I have and always will enjoy both.
“When he wasn’t able to DH he was HBP and wound up on the DL when his ERA was 0.73, or else he would have been MVP.”
DH= Designated hitter
HBP= Hit by pitch
DL= Disabled list
ERA= Earned runs average
MVP= Most valuable player
So yeah, your comment is VERY confusing since it makes no sense. You should have said: “When he wasn’t able to DH BECAUSE he was HBP and wound up on the DL, or else he would have been MVP.”
There, that’s better. 😉
As someone who enjoys both sports and comic books (yes, we do exist), and has been a pro sporting events and sci-fi/comic shows in several states, here’s my perspective:
1. There is a comparable phenomenon to comic “fans who are dressed as Klingons” in the sports world: body painters. Often, they are mercilessly ridiculed (and some, like the Washington R*dskins Hogetts thankfully don’t take themselves seriously). Remember the Seinfield “Puddy face-painting episode”?
2. As for sports fans who memorize useless statistics, there are two types: a) fans who memorize sports facts just because they can – they are ridiculed as much, if not more than, comic geeks (remember Al Bundy?); and b) people who use their knowledge of sports facts to make lots of money gambling – they too are ridiculed, right up until to moment when they pull up in their new Ferrari.
As for “43,000, mostly drunkly drunk” patrons, I find that statement to be an example of a grossly and offensively stereotyping sports fans – unless you’re talking about fans in any football/baseball stadium in NY, Boston or Oakland, in which case you’re right on. 😉
Yeah anyway! ::pulling my Princess Leia costume out of the closet::
But what about the combination of sports and Star Trek?
You haven’t lived until you’ve heard the “Who’s on First” skit done in Klingon.
Actually it was a slight adaptation. Instead of a baseball game, the premise was two Klingon warriors talking about how one of them received a new ship to command, but how his crew had unusail names…
The audience had no idea what was going to happen, they were just expecting a Star Trek themed skit. For those who didn’t know Klingon, a sheet was handed out to all containing a the key words used.
Before too long, everyone, no matter how well they knew Klingon (and even if they didn’t) understood what was happening, recognizing the all-too familiar cadences of the bit.
“Who’s the Navigator”, “Exactly”
“I Don’t know…”, “Weapons Control”
There shouldn’t be enmity at all. We are all fanatics, just fanatical about different things.
It is possible to be a sports fan and a sci-fi fan! It is possible to love both cats and dogs! It is possible to love both Star Trek and Star Wars! Okay, I’ll stop now.
I really wouldn’t count the Sci-fi channel as *ours*. I mean, Mansquito killed their credibility for me, that and the fifty million other so-bad-it-hurts Sci-Fi channel originals.
Kill Farscape, will you? Fine. You’re dead to me… except when Battlestar Galactica airs.
As for the sports/sci-fi fandom comparison, I’ll go you one further. Compare the mainstream, accepted customs of Christianity (gathering in churches, reading and discussing chapters of the bible, singing songs about the main characters of the book) with the fandom of a book series like Harry Potter.
I know, I know. Christianity is religion and religion is sacrosanct–but the entire basis of the religion is based on the worship of figures who only exist now in the pages of a very old book. This isn’t an attack on organized religion, mind you, although there would be some irony there since organized religion sometimes likes to organize protests and book-burnings of the aforementioned Harry Potter. I’m merely making an observation about how society tends to marginalize the behavior of some fans, while making other fans, no matter how bizarre their behavior and beliefs may seem to the uniniatiated, a cultural institution.
Here’s a thought that’s been perculating in my head. Please don’t call me a homophobe for it’s just a harmless rumination. Here goes: comic book/Star Trek/fantasy fans are often mocked by being weak and picked upon by jocks. Jocks represent sports. Nerds, following this train of thought, are considered effeminate, read: gay. Jocks/sports fans, then, are masculine, read: straight. But, sports fans are sooooo obsessed with facts and minutia that stems from the activities of too much testosterone and men with much better bodies than they’ll ever have that the whole is turned inside out as kind of being gay.
Again, just a spitballed thought…
Personally, fanatics of any sort freak me out. I make fun of sports nuts and sci-fi/comics geeks with equal vigor.
Hmmm…Nerds vs. Jocks. The age old struggle that has plague humanity for thousands of years. Just picture the lonely cave man scratching away at his cave wall drawing pictures of heroic cave men fighting off montrous dino’s while the other neanderthals are off playing a rousing game of chase the rock. Not much in common there. I think the real picture here is fiction vs. fact. There are groups of people who love to tell stories of fictious adventures, or theroize on any number of “out of this world” concepts, or draw fantastic pictures of far away lands and then there are groups of people who love to tell the story of where their family went on vacation, or talk about the lastest football game, or study pictures in National Geographic. One group likes to think about “what could be” while the other focuses on “what is”. Most times it seems that these groups don’t get along and both have a tendency to point out each others downfalls but, what’s really great is when people from these groups work together. The dreamer and the doer. I think this is the nature of alot of things. In almost every project there’s a person who works up a concept and then a person who brings it to life. Now this could be just one person who likes to dabble in both groups or it could be a hundred people from each. Anywho, we all have a part of ourselves that’s jock and a part of ourselves that’s nerds. It just depends on how big that part is and whether or not you can see the good in both. Besides neither type would be much good without the other in this world. Anywho that’s my rant.
Oh yeah, “Almighty Peter”, I enjoyed last years Texas Wizard World where you did the wizard school and enjoyed the scripts I purchased from ya. Thanks.
Regarding costuming: we’re not talking about someone walking around wearing a Federation tunic over jeans and sneakers, and answering to the name “Keith.” We’re talking about the Full Monty, here. Or the Full Qu’o’Reth. I’m not terribly hip on the Klingon lingo.
Civilians ought to be more tolerant and less judgmental of such sights and sounds. But I think fandom ought to be more patient and indulgent towards a society in which you just don’t meet a whole lot of people who spend their weekends pretending to be someone or something else. Ignorance is natural and forgivable. Intolerance isn’t. The words aren’t interchangeable and when someone says “Wow! What’s the deal with that guy in the cardboard robot costume?” it’s probably not said out of hostility.
I’m fascinated by the costuming hobby. I have a sincere admiration for people who have a hobby that they’re passionate about and that they invest lots of time, care, and creativity into. The Imperial Stormtrooper 501st legion deserves a great deal of respect. Not only do they put enough pride into their hobby to ensure that their costumes are movie-perfect, but they also mate this to a commitment to community service.
You see this sort of passion in every aisle of a good con. Part of the fun is seeing what sort of character has suddenly caught people’s attention. Ghostbusters, Rocketeers, Robot Monsters…all done with a huge amount of care and love. I love to see it, I love to photograph it, I love to meet the people who do it.
At the other side of the spectrum, you have those people who look…well, tragic.
Let’s come out and say it. There’s a weight limit on a set of Superman leotards, and even if you’ve got the physique to pull it off, you’ve got to make a commitment that goes beyond spending $10 in the underwear section at Wal*Mart, followed by fifteen minutes of work with a black magic marker in the con parking lot.
And as for the “rubber Klingon forehead with attached wig”…when it’s applied properly (affix it with glue, use makeup to blend it into the rest of the face) it’s a nifty little piece of costuming. When it’s just plopped on top of the head like a hat, we can officially declare it the Mullet of the fan community.
There’s never any justification for rude behavior. I don’t take pictures of the bad and sad costumes any more because I realized that the only reason to have such a photo is to say “Get a load of that guy!” and that’s uncharitable.
But why do so many people over-react when you suggest — politely, intellectually, miles away from the convention floor and the fellow in question, in a venue such as this one — that you think this person looks foolish?
Returning to the Tragic Costume, what’s the attitude of the guy in the bad Sharpie-markered leotard? I can’t imagine. Guesses:
(a) “Oh, I realize that I look kind of silly. But I’m out here having good, harmless fun. And at least I’m out making stuff and enjoying a hobby — a hobby that connects me to a community and allows me to meet new people all the time — instead of spending all my weekends in front of a TV set.”
Terrific. I applaud this. No delusions whatsoever; this is somebody I’d happily elect to my school board because here we have a mature, rounded individual. Seriously.
(b) “I don’t know what anyone’s talking about. I look fantastic.“
Mmm…okay. I don’t get it myself, but it’s not my place to convince the guy that he’s wrong.
(When I do come home with a Tragic photo on my memory card, it’s usually due to this sort of delusional attitude from a costumer. I’m trying to shoot around Skid Row Spidey, but he keeps leaping in front of me and striking a pose. No joke; the only way to get rid of him was to take a picture. Odd.)
(c) “You know,” (theatrical pause) “It’s a shame that there are so many mean, closed-minded people, who live only to snuff out the creative flame that drives all of Humanity, who seem incapable of dealing with people who are just a little bit different…” (etc.)
Now this, I can mock. If someone’s pointing and laughing at a costumer and clearly trying to cut them down, it doesn’t matter how bad thr costume is. That’s inappropriate and the person ought to be challenged.
But that’s not usually the case, is it? Is it necessary to put on that sort of an air, when someone’s just offering their personal opinion of a random photo on a random message board?
Truly, is the only acceptable comment on costuming “God Bless you, sir or madam; God bless you, and God bless your spirit, and God bless the country in which such a thrilling endorsement of creativity and individuality is possible”?
I mean, aren’t you allowed to say “Holy cats! He’d have been less naked if he were actually naked! Didn’t he understand that you’re meant to wear something underneath a skintight white leotard?!?”
Are costumers’ egos really made out of marzipan?
Naw. It’s disrespectful to think that the average costumer has the fragile emotional core of a pre-teen and needs to be shielded from anything that’s not clear, unrestricted praise.
And even when you praise a costume, it’s hard to get out of the encounter safely!
One of my favorite costumes from the Boston WizWorld last year was a guy dressed as a character from “Sean of the Dead.” I praised it in my photoblog, citing the wearer’s ability to unflinchingly evaluate his own body type and then choose an appropriate character. Not just that, but to choose a costume that he was capable of executing perfectly. “He looks like a million,” I said, and I meant it.
(the photo in question.)
And a week or so later, I got a rather angry response from him. He was a pudgy guy. I sort of assumed that of the two zombie-fighters in the movie, we was dressed as the pudgy one.
No, he saw himself as the trim, athletic one.
Ah.
I confess that the necktie should have tipped me off (I haven’t seen the flick) but isn’t that an understandable mistake for an observer to make?
Well, anyway. The true power of the freak flag is that you fly it openly and proudly and you don’t care what people think. If you’re walking around in a Klingon costume and you’re not willing to accept all of the attention you get, good and bad…maybe the freak flag isn’t for you.
To be fair, you don’t ever see male soccer fans dressed up as Mia Hamm. And you DO see an awful lot of Sailor Steves and ManFayes at cons.
I’ve been saying this same thing for years!
Even though I am a HUGE Yankees fan, and do indeed have a Derek Jeter jersey.
And hat…
And bobblehead…
🙂
I just mailed one of my favourite unjustly obscure films back to NetFlix.
It’s called “My Name is Nobody”, and respectfully spoofs Westerns in general and those of Sergio “I-didn’t-direct-and-you-can’t-prove-i-did” Leone, the producer, in particular.[1]
Henry Fonda, in his last Western role, plays jack Beauregard, an aging gunfighter who wants to retire. Terence Hill (who was 33 at the time, but playing a younger character very well) plays a kid who insists he’s nobody — but he can quote you the dates, locations and the nam,es of the losersfor every gunfight Fonda’s Jack ever had.
Remembering hearing some of my sports fan friends ratling off the stats of every second-string waterboy on some 2A baseball team, i found that hilarious.
[1]According to friends who were on the set during filming in New Orleans (where they did an amazing job of backdating a large chunk of the French Quarter to 1899) the guy who is listed as director would outline how he thought the next setup/shot should go, and then look at Sergio, who would go either “Si” or “No” — if it was “No”, the “director” would start all over.
Everything has extremes. Some people wear body paint to the football games, some people wear Klingon makeup. If that was all there was, I think everyone would just lump those people together.
So why does Sci-Fi and Fantasy seem less mainstream? The crap. Look at low end football. A high school game, for example. The players aren’t nearly as good as professionals, but it’s still enjoyable to watch to almost anyone who likes football.
Now look at acting in general. In a high school production of “Death of a Salesman”, the acting is usually pretty sucky. However, it’s still a well written play. So it’s nothing to get embarrassed about watching.
Now turn on Sci-Fi network and watch “Mansquito”.
Even grade school football doesn’t make football fans look bad, but “Mansquito” makes the entire human race look bad.
There’s more that can go wrong with Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Even if the acting and script are good, the special effects and sets may be cruddy. So a bad recreation of 4 people talking in a coffe shop might make you change the channel. A bad recreation of laser blasters and aliens with toilet brushes for arms makes people embarrassed to have every known it existed.
Because sports are manly, sci fi is nerdy. Society’s always going to place physical achievement over creative expression.
It’s obvious why they’re “cool” and we’re “dweebs.” They can beat (have beaten and will continue to beat) the snot out of us.
I asked the same question years ago when Mitch Albom wrote a very mean-spirited editorial trashing Star Wars fans for their excitement over the opening of The Phantom Menace. He basically ripped on them (us) for getting all worked up over something that didn’t matter, sitting in line for hours or days, and for essentially worshipping George Lucas, who “only cares about your 10 bucks” (that’s not an exact quote).
I’ve had trouble respecting Albom ever since he wrote that, but it really was the pot calling the kettle black.
Eric
Funny enough, I’d have to say certain producers of sci-fi could be accused of “separating fans from their money,” like certain producers or studios that release multiple versions of the same movie… and many toys (I’m sorry, *action figures*) of the same character with different clothing or heads… and reference books and magazines… and comic books that might not always be of good quality… and collectibles in different forms: cards, lithographs, plates, chess sets, et cetera and ad nauseaum…
and then some of the bigger fish get very protective over their copyrights and get aggressive when fans produce similar material for free, such as informative websites and encyclopedic databases…
hm. Still, yeah attending the Superbowl costs a lot more than attending SD ComicCon… (but will an sports attendee spend more once in the stadium? or will the scifi fan spend more inside the con center? hmmm)
I have a simple response to people who make such silly comments: how many city centers have SF/comics fans (even HULK fans) trashed? How many city centers have sports fans trashed when their favourite team won/lost The Big Game?
The defense rests.
Here’s another one: while PAD can surely mention a good hundred or so all time dumbest questions he’s ever been asked by fans at a con, can they truly compare to the routinely stupid questions asked by professional journalists of sports figures? Some of these athletes are dumber than bags of fog but even they have to roll their eyes when some dope asks them, after they’ve just lost the championship by 1 point in overtime, “How does it feel to lose a close one?” It feels GREAT, you moron! I’ll need PLASTIC SURGERY to get the smile off my face!
Hey, why all the hate for MANSQUITO? Sure, it’s no MANT (“half man, half ant – all terror!”) but the Sci Fi channel has done worse. Way worse. RAPTER ISLAND worse.
The sports vs. nerds/geeks difference reminds me of a quote from THE 4400: “A cult is what the big congregation calls the little congregation.” If something is generally popular or socially acceptable (like sports), knowing an amazing about of information about it is considered fine, even a detailed interest in that area. If something is less popular (we all know who Harlan Ellison is here, but I’ve had to tell innumerable people who he is) or socially odd, knwoing a lot about it is considered weird (“why would someone want to know so much bout *that*?) or obsessive.
Of course, things get really odd when traditionally geeky things become really popular, like STAR WARS, LORD OF THE RINGS, and many of the current comic books being made into films. Then all that geeky knowledge becomes… well, not cool, but useful 🙂
A year or two ago, Bob & Tom (radio show out of Indy) had Timothy Zahn, of all people, as a guest, and they made the point that EVERYBODY’S a nerd. It’s just a question of what they’re a nerd about. I believe the question that was asked was something along the lines of, when was the last time you actually saw somebody throw a punch over whether Star Trek or Star Wars is better?
-Rex Hondo-
My Husband and I say the same things that are being said here.
When was the last time you heard of a convention center being trashed due to a SF con?
For some reason SF fans are the only group the PC crowd seems to feel its ok to bash.
A person is told that they are not being “sensitive” if they put down any other group (racial, disabled, old, young, etc.) and heaven help you if you are upset when your favorite SF show is shuttled to late night or preempted completely for a sporting event.
SF is obviously big business or companies like Creation Entertainment or GenCon would not put on large conventions like the Star Trek 40th in Las Vegas or the Star Wars Celebrations in Indianpolis.
Of course, the media never mentions the charities supported by almost every convention pro or fan, and by the celebrities who appear.
I hate sports and sports fans, but what makes them more legitimate fans and fanatics? Because the stuff they rave and rant about is grounded in reality.
It’s like asking why people who discuss the politics of the Middle East are taken more seriously (regardless of their professionalism) than people who discuss the politics of Middle Earth.
I personally am tired of the stereotypes of either. I hate it when anyone intelligent – National Spelling Bee Contestants, Bill Gates, Lord Of The Rings Fans – are classified as “geeks” or “nerds”. Of course, the participants in each of these endeavors are at least considered intelligent and never have to worry about the “dumb jocks” label.
One other point, I do feel more effort should be made by many of those who love comics to separate more people from their money and buy more of them.
Then more comic books would survive and the companies would take more chances.
Finally, as far as the stereotype of sports fans being drunk…well, a friend of mine and I were once tossing a few back at a local pub and he then proceeded to tell me that “Voyager” was “way better” than either “Next Generation” or “Deep Space Nine”.
That boy has GOT to start cutting himself off earlier:)
Seperating fans from their money? Have you forgotten the last time you were in a dealer room? Much as I like “Powers,” for instance, I’d never buy a bust of Christian Walker, no matter how beautiful it is, for $150. That’s almost a day in the hotel room, or the cost of three MiniDisc recorders.
The trick is that sports teams have conned civic organizations into believing that supporting sports is a great civic activity. Sports stadiums may be used only 20 days a year and lay empty the rest of the year, but cities go bankrupt building them to attract sports teams.
But then again, you couldn’t get the City of Orlando to spend a dime to build a comic book store…
For Jason M Bryant’s Death Of A Salesman analogy–part of the problem with a lot of high school productions that I’ve found as a former high school thespian who also worked in the biz in the real world wasn’t really a lack of talent on the part of the performers usually. Well, not TOTALLY. But the bigger problem was people that had no business directing anything being placed in charge of these productions. Like the math teacher who thought she was God’s Gift To The Boards who couldn’t direct herself out of the bathroom.
Now, the costuming thing is just as capable as anything sporting-wise of being taken too far. A buddy of mine in high school put a Swiss Army knife(as an aside, why don’t Swiss Army knives have holes in them?) through his hand because I made a crack about how far his Klingon character had fallen after he couldn’t do something in our advanced programming class. Dude had some problems, methinks. But then, he HAD just spent twenty five hundred bucks on a head and a costume, so maybe it was a sore spot. And actually, now that I think of it, my ex-girlfriend did punch a friend of ours for saying that Star Wars was better than Trek. But then, we ALL punched him for one thing or another.
Funny thing about this is, Stace and I were just going through the Trek trivia book and I showed why I’ve been banned from trivia games by her family in four states. I’m just proof of the whole nature-abhors-a-vacuum thing. Perfectly meaningless stuff goes IN, really annoying trivia comes out. Sports-wise, though, hey, I’m still trying to figger out why New York let Hostettler be QB for a season after he went in for ONE PLAY in the Super Bowl and didn’t blow it. But, hey, what do I know?
One year at a public affairs conference, I was on a panel entitled “Nerds vs. Jocks.” You’d think that it’d be immediately obvious who was who. But the funny thing was that all of the panelists with “jock” credentials considered themselves nerds: Nerds for their sport.
It was just like that “Ebony And Ivory” video, I swear…
Here’s another problem: we *expect* to be treated like lower class citizens. The worst thing you can do is take the word “nerd” as an insult.
I used to, but that was a long time ago. These days I’m proud to call myself a geek!
Another major difference between SciFi/Fantasy and sports is that in SF and Fantasy, rapists and murderers are usually villains.
there was a great quote on npr a few weeks ago saying that fantasy sports was dungeons and dragons for people who used to beat up people who played dungeons and dragons.
“George Lucas, who “only cares about your 10 bucks” (that’s not an exact quote).”
I hate this statement, and it just shows people’s ignorance when they use it. Why do they assume that if someone is rich, it automatically means they are only interested in making money? It’s the truly wealthy, successful people who AREN’T all about making money, and who are simply passionate about what they do.
What does Lucas have to do to convince people that he’s not in the movie business for the money, short of, you know, giving all his money away?
Robert, poor people want money because they deserve it, rich people want money because they’re evil. No amount of logic will ever change that.
Robert, poor people want money because they deserve it, rich people want money because they’re evil. No amount of logic will ever change that.
Oddly enough, I’ve been saying the exact same thing for years. I get jocks and their need to know everything, I don’t get why they have to put us down. It’s just two sides of the same coin; just try explaining that to THEM.
Interestingly enough, jocks aren’t the only ones. One year I attended a Con that shared space with a Church Youth Group Con. If you think jocks put SF/Fantasy nerds down, you hear what the “chosen of God” (direct quote) call us.
Joke was on them. At least a dozen of their Youth group now attend SF/Fantasy Cons. *grins*
I hate sports and sports fans, but what makes them more legitimate fans and fanatics? Because the stuff they rave and rant about is grounded in reality. It’s like asking why people who discuss the politics of the Middle East are taken more seriously (regardless of their professionalism) than people who discuss the politics of Middle Earth.
Well, it’s hardly accurate to put sports on the same level of importance as Middle East politics. Nobody lives or dies based on the outcome of a game. Well, unless the losing team’s fans react REALLY poorly.
While sports may be “real,” that can hardly be a measure of how socially important they should be. While a well played sporting event may be exciting, it is utterly incapable of presenting an actual message, while art of any medium or genre (SF and Fantasy included) is.
Look at low end football. A high school game, for example. The players aren’t nearly as good as professionals, but it’s still enjoyable to watch to almost anyone who likes football.
You obviously never went to a football game where I went to high school. More people went to see the band than actually wanted to see the game. And anyone who’s spent any time in central Indiana knows how serious a blow to a football team’s ego THAT can be.
When all’s said and done, I have no complaints about being a proud geek. Meeting one’s future wife at a D&D game can go a long way towards eliminating any potential shame at having it as a hobby. 😛
-Rex Hondo-
WHO is talking about Global Warming at a sci-fi or comic convention?? I doubt that is the topic of choice after talking about Star Trek or Superman vs. Hulk. Oh, I get it you say it’s a topic at these conventions because it’s science fiction, got it. PAD, sometimes you seem soo left you’re almost right. ; )
I made a comment in my blog about that recently after seeing all the World Cup fans painted up the colors of their favorite team. Painting body green and white and wearing a fright wig is normal, wearing a TREK costume and reading comic books is weird? Um…
The Current Cinema column(the link is good fpor another few days; after that follow the link to the current review and then use the search engine to find “kryptology”) in the current issue of The New Yorker, entitled “Kryptology”, begins:
A passing demographer, faced with a crowd lining up to watch “Superman Returns,” will find much cause for reflection. There, in heady profusion, will be the flower of American youth, all of them waiting—with that blend of sullenness and agitation peculiar to teen-age boys—to see whether the special effects will meet their fastidious standards. With them will be parents of both sexes, affecting tedium but actually in the throes of a hidden thrill, hoping for a nostalgic return to the Christmas of 1978, when they necked in the back row to the surge of the John Williams score and the voice of Christopher Reeve. Dotted here and there will be Supermaniacs—some of them sporting red underpants, others in panty hose of royal blue, none of them happily married. Last, and quite alone, will be a weary cinéaste, submitting himself to two and a half hours of blockbuster because, and only because, it represents a final chance to witness the union of Eva Marie Saint and Marlon Brando.
It goes downhill from there.
Of course, as one version of the story has it, it was a rather condescendngly “clever” New Yorker piece about an early SF convention, accompanied by drawings showing the fans all wearing propellor beanies (considered the headgear of geeky or nerdy kids), that led to fans defiantly adopting the propellor beanie as a symbol of fandom…
Bill Mulligan: “but the Sci Fi channel has done worse. Way worse. RAPTER ISLAND worse.”
I was channel surfing last night just before bed and I thought I saw WCW(or WWE) wresleing on the Sci Fi channel. Can someone who was more awake than I was confirm this?
“What does Lucas have to do to convince people that he’s not in the movie business for the money, short of, you know, giving all his money away?”
Making an effort to write or have written decent scripts. The last trilogy was the work of someone who didn’t care enough to write a good story.
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Sports attracts greater masses of people all over the world, but its importance in American society seems greater than anywhere else. The social divides between nerds and jocks also seems to be stronger. Although this is only my limited impression.
“Making an effort to write or have written decent scripts. The last trilogy was the work of someone who didn’t care enough to write a good story.”
I don’t think it’s a matter of not caring enough. I just think it’s the work of someone who has spent the last quarter of a century not writing stories at all. My writing style and skills have changed a great deal in the past several decades. I look at stuff I wrote back then and wince. George Lucas’ writing style hasn’t changed from the 1970s, back in the days when Harrison Ford once threatened to tie him to a chair and make him speak his own dialogue aloud. And he’s surrounded by people whom, I suspect, can’t or won’t say “No” or “God no” or “George, this sucks.”
What he HAS been working on for a quarter of a century is special effects. That’s why the films look so good.
PAD
Why is one the mainstream and other not? Because there are more of them!
Why is there a Golf Channel? Becuase there’s an audience.
Why is there more than three sports channels? Because there are a lot of sports out there, a lot of games and teams and concurrent seasons; every team from every sport is someone’s favorite. Also, there are games that are not actually sports (Poker) that get broadcasted on sport channels.
Why is there one Sci-Fi Channel? I mean, why that high a number? Obviously, through a variety of factors, the one we have is wholly insuficient for our needs and desires. How many programs are on that anyway? How many per day? How much original programming? How much paid programming? How many genre-themed reality shows like that Shannon Doherty death annoyance?
There is the jocks vs. nerds thing.
Also…. sports fans are obsessing about contests. What are we obsessed with here!? Stories! Stories with minimal basis in purest reality.
Thomas Reed,
Contraty to popular opinion, cities do not go “bankrupt” building sports stadiums and arenas. Much worse fraud, waste and abuse and mismanagement cause that.
Of course, they are not the boon those who push them say they are either.
But remember, these structures are also used for concerts and the like and get used frequently in most cities beyond sports (I remember after 9/11, the NFL just couldn’t move the date of the Super Bowl one week – to accommodate the lost week in their schedule and ensure a 16-game season – because there was this event that was very low-profile but considered just as important).
No, government doesn’t pay to open up a comic store, but I sure wish an entrepreneur would open up a small chain of them, ala “Barnes and Noble”. Too many people do not have a comic store near them and many who do are unaware of them.
Sean,
As a longtime Giant fan of over 30 years, let me say that Hostettler was named the Giant quarterback not after one play in the Super Bowl as you state, but after starting the last couple of games and leading the team to victory in 3 playoff games, including the Super Bowl. It was not a decision I agreed with, since I am a huge Phil Simms fan and the move turned out to be a mistake, but I just thought I would set the record straight.
Rex,
Your rapists and murderers comment was a bit unfair. Many – if not most pro athletes – do a lot of good.
“George Lucas’ writing style hasn’t changed from the 1970s, back in the days when Harrison Ford once threatened to tie him to a chair and make him speak his own dialogue aloud. And he’s surrounded by people whom, I suspect, can’t or won’t say “No” or “God no” or “George, this sucks.” “
Hee! I remember Carrie Fisher made a similar comment about the dialogue. Yet, for some reason it worked for them in the original trilogy, whereas it didn’t work in the second. I don’t know, I think it is a combination of factors. I was watching audition clips for Star Wars that showed many different people reciting lines of dialogue. Most of of the time the actors did a lousy job, and that was partly because the dialogue included a lot of fake technojargon. They didn’t seem to know what to do with it, so it came out stilted and boring. But when they were compared to the audition clips for Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford (who were repeating the same exact lines), you could see a clear difference. They were spinning crap into gold. It gave me goosebumps.
I totally agree that George had too many yes people surrounding him.
It seems like everytime you’ve heard all sports statistic categories, there appears another one (a new category) that allows another player to be the best at something (something like “The first person in football to run 3 yards, go back two yards, and then go forward one). I believe sports does provide connections and socialization to those who can’t interact with others any other way. It is also a good way to start flirtations with girls who support an opposing team (I’ve seen it done many times) 🙂