tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14994365.post116056657745436844..comments2023-05-06T09:29:44.450+01:00Comments on Dance of the Puppets: Biting the handMarionettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06985975073151200366noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14994365.post-1160895029738641682006-10-15T07:50:00.000+01:002006-10-15T07:50:00.000+01:00I think it's a sort of conscious attempt at being ...I think it's a sort of conscious attempt at being vaguely self-deprecating. Like, "Well, I'd be inclined to write this nerd as a great guy who's just misunderstood and ends up with a beautiful girlfriend and so on, so I'd better not do that." Like portraying the comic fans in too good a light would just be seen as pandering. <BR/><BR/>Of course, we can't rule out genuine geek self-loathing. We turn on each other easily. (c.f. Furries)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14994365.post-1160799087897035632006-10-14T05:11:00.000+01:002006-10-14T05:11:00.000+01:00I think it's because the readers are already meant...I think it's because the readers are already meant to identify with the heroes. Including the geek stereotype, I think, is typically so that the reader can laugh at how ridiculous that character is--after all, the reader isn't <I>that</I> pathetic. Including the fanboy stereotype in the adolescent power fantasy of superhero comics just makes that stereotype look that much more fantastical. <BR/><BR/>Except in She-Hulk, where they're around as a meta-commentary on fandom. <BR/><BR/>American comcis learned the geek-as-hero lesson decades ago. Most notably in a little character called Spider-Man, but also in the outcast X-Men and the legions of scientists-in-spandex that littered the Silver Age. Even Captain America began as the sort of 98-pound weakling that the Charles Atlas ads appealed to. One might even make the case that being tongue-tied, bad with women, super-intelligent, and <B>mild-mannered</B>, are traits that the average geek would identify with. <BR/><BR/>I don't feel insulted. Comics have pandered to the "fanboy" since before there was such a thing. It's only recently (unless you count Jimmy Olsen, I suppose) that the nerd characters have had literal representation.Tom Fosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13796424725228769265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14994365.post-1160601571639179742006-10-11T22:19:00.000+01:002006-10-11T22:19:00.000+01:00I completely agree with your assessment. The big ...I completely agree with your assessment. The big difference with comics is that it is explicitly attacking its own audience. <BR/><BR/>Galaxy Quest did it to a degree, but that's a one off movie that was making fun of everything associated with Star Trek and focussing much more heavily on the bad behaviour and attitudes of the cast than the fans.<BR/><BR/>I can't think of another situation where the venom is so specifically targeted at the products' own customers.<BR/><BR/>Conversely, CSI has done several genre related episodes that are generally sympathetic.Marionettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06985975073151200366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14994365.post-1160597250099403212006-10-11T21:07:00.000+01:002006-10-11T21:07:00.000+01:00This is something that's always bothered me. It sh...This is something that's always bothered me. It shows up <A HREF="http://estoreal.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-do-tv-writers-hate-me.html" REL="nofollow">in other media</A> as well. Outside of comics my favorite example to cite, because it's so high-profile, is the fanboy geek character in <I>Galaxy Quest</I> who is incapable of distinguishing between real life and his favorite tv show. I've known Trek fans of every stripe, and their distinguishing trait is <I>not</I> that they believe the show is reality, but that they know all too well it <I>isn't</I>. Some people get so heavily into escapism because they have some really terrible things to escape from.<BR/><BR/>A side note on that word: some people use "escapism" as an insult...but as C.S. Lewis pointed out, "Who are the people most opposed to escape? Jailors!"<BR/><BR/>Like virulent homophobes who loathe their own homosexual impulses, the worst insults against comics fans are perpetrated by creators who are desperately afraid of being identified with fans: our lives may revolve around these stupid characters and we may keep track of all this minutiae about their histories...but we don't, you know, actually <I>care</I> about them! Fans are the dark evil they fear in themselves and try to suppress. And a lot of fans seem to share that self-loathing, to judge from the hundreds of "here's what's wrong with comics fans, they care about things I think are unseemly to care about" essays I see written by fanboys every year on comics blogs and review sites.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01714171897239398438noreply@blogger.com