Geek

By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

Look into the mirror, what do you see?
Are you a fanboy, geek, nerd, otaku, weeaboo, a social outcast?  Or are you just simply a fan?
Labels define who and what you are. I’m a New Yorker, a Brooklynite, a collector and a pop culture lover. Yet, if you ask me who I am I’ll just say I’m Rob.

Labels help the huddled masses understand things they never could. You’re a slacker, a loser, fat, ugly, or, simple enough, you will never be accepted as one of the chosen. The elite group, handsome, beautiful, sexy, or in their eyes, important.

So, when conventions come around and I see sub-factions of the pop culture fight amongst each other, it saddens me. It shouldn’t be a popularity contest. In the end, you are a fan of Star Wars and the other is a fan of Naruto. She cosplays as She Hulk and that guy there reads Yaoi. We love comics and you are a video game junkie.

It’s all in or all out. I don’t expect anyone to suddenly love things you normally wouldn’t, but just be cool  about what other people like. We band together as a sub-culture and here we are judging others who are (if you strip down the facade) the same.

It becomes clear that no matter how “different” we think we are, the minute you mock another fan base, you are no different than the people who mock you.

In this new year of 2014, we need to try and start a movement. To truly accept each other and all of our differences. Let’s make it a stellar year for pop culture.

I hope that at least a few who read this can truly look into themselves and make that change. Let’s be the bigger person.

Ok, I am going to get off the soap box and watch my wife play GTA 5 while I read Mouse Guard to my 2 year old daughter.

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