Each week we cut loose, drink and discuss from a fan perspective our multifarious thoughts in a raw uncensored format. Join us as we find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes. *Not Safe For Work*
Pandora | Alien Baby | Night at the Museum 2 | Terminator Salvation | Transformers revenge of the Fallen| Alice in Wonderland | Stargate Atlantis | V | TNT Alien-Invasion | Vampire Diaries | and Community Comments on Speculative Fiction Today.
This is a Bumblebee costume that a Transformers fan made and wore to a San Francisco Metreon event. What an amazing costume! I wonder if it can transform, not that it has to but that would be even cooler.
Let’s face it, Speculative Fiction fandom has a stigma attached to it that no other fans base does. Music and sports fans are celebrated, while SF fans are often ridiculed for engaging in the same activities.
Rise of Anti-intellectualism
I blame the rise of the anti-intellectual movements which began to organize in 1972, and the culture of ignorant bliss they promulgated for the stigma. They pushed the image of a good American as a one more interested in might than dialogue. Following the leader and the trends those leaders established were seen as more valuable than free thought. Questions were not encouraged.
Civics classes were dropped from the curriculum in the 1970s, and science education suffered soon there after.
This new culture held instinct and feeling as a higher source of insight than rationalism and education.
Never left High School
The tension between nerds and jocks in American High Schools is a schism that has probably always been with us, but in the 1970’s and ’80’s this conflict was moved into the popular culture through movies, music, and television. These shows portrayed the jock as the hero and the nerd as the misfit who should be mocked and left out.
Dialogue and debate were stripped from our public dialogue, replaced by televised shouting matches. Pop culture’s development was stunted. Adherents never matured out of the the high school mindset because there was no need. Pop Culture lowered itself so it would remain accessible to this new class of permanent high schoolers.
The Consumer Culture
There is a financial reason to stunt the growth of Pop Culture. The less discerning your audience is, the less expensive content is to make, the more people are likely to buy it.
Despite the pleas for better content, the financial benefit of keeping people from maturing and developing opinions is just too high to dissuade them from their present course.
Revenge of the Nerds
In the 1980’s and ’90’s, the misfits started to fight back. Movies like Revenge of the Nerds, The Goonies, and Mallrats became touchstones for outcasts to rally behind, but the damage had already been done.
The culture had been damaged, and fans were charactured as annoyances. The misfits, now nothing more than the punchline of a poorly written joke, had to fend for themselves. We orginized into tighter groups.
The Heart’s Ache
Through it all, the fans persevered, because through it all, we knew something the pop culture never will. We know what it is to find meaning.
The music, books, series, and movies we love gave us meaning. It is different for every fan, but it is still there. In our hearts, we know why we are in the world and what we have to do.
I found my meaning in the Klingons from Star Trek. While I wouldn’t say my life has been a hard on, I still had to fight for everything that I have. I had to fight for my identity, my life, and my very mind and soul. Through the Klingons, I learned that life is about the struggle. It is about the fight not the outcome.
I used to cosplay as a Klingon at the conventions (when I wasn’t a vampire). I took their idea of honor, and made it my own. It helped me to reign in my temper, and enjoy the struggles of my life. I am a better person for rejecting the popular culture and embracing fandom.
Unlike so many that I meet, my heart doesn’t ache from a lack of meaning.
Laugh if you want to
So laugh at me if you want to. Tell me that I am taking these silly books, songs, series, and movies too seriously. That’s ok, I am used to it. My only hope is that if my words can find their way to that one kid who is ashamed of who they are, how they see the world, and how they want to live, it is all worth it.
Fandom quite literally saved my life. Suicide is all too common among people who don’t feel like they belong. Fandom is the only culture and community that asks so little of its members.
Do you love something so much you want to keep it with you always? Has there ever been a song that you felt told your story so perfectly you had to love it? Have you ever seen a show that drew you in so deeply you saw yourself in it? Have you ever read a book that changed you, and made you better?
I feel sorry for the people who cannot answer yes to those questions, and I hope they will open their hearts and let something in.
Flaying Car | Abney Park | Steampunk Jedi | Robert Heinlein Tip | Barking Deer | Submission Guidelines | Halloween Costume | Indiana Jones | Dragonheart | Kevin Smith Slacker | Avengers Villain | Green lantern Casting Rumor | Female Ghostbuster | Knight Rider | Eureka | the Nightsisters | Ab Fab remake | new V | Star Trek Online | and MMO 2.0 Today on the Project: Shadow Informant.
Culture
World’s first flying car, to ship late next year (via Beam Me Up)
With Halloween fast approaching are you still looking for that knock out costume? Rotten Tomatoes would like to help. They put together a great costume guide on 16 different movie characters. Each character or set of characters is set on their own page but they put a nice thumbnail navigation at the bottom of each page making this a pleasant experience. The 16 characters to choose from are Jay & Silent Bob, Indiana Jones, Juno MacGuff, The Fox, Carrie, John Rambo, Marty Mcfly, Zohan, Nurse Joker, Neo, The Dude, Goo Yubari & the Crazy 88, Margot, & Richie Tenenbaum, The Grady Twins, and Toshio and Kayako.
The guides are great and include a nice picture of the character, a huge plus when trying to get the costume right. A list of things that you will need for the costume which is a helpful reference. For instance if you want to dress up like Jay you would need long blonde hair. A list of movies they appear in so if you really want to get into the character you can watch them in action and pick up their nuances taking that cosplay to the next level. They also include a classic line which can be used to better act out the character, a nice feature but too short for best cosplay. For instance on the Jay and Silent Bob page they include the line “Snoochie Boochies” a classic Jay line but for Bob they should have included Bob’s classic line which would be “______ *shrug*.”
Star Wars and Fashion | Hari Puttar update | Steven Spielberg good guy award | Roleplay is natural | Cosplay | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Slacker Uprising Today | The Sims Movie Update | Star Trek Movie | Astro Boy | The Green Hornet | Good Eats | Mushi-shi | Naruto | The Way of The Jedi | and The Graveyard Book Today on the Project: Shadow Informant.
Culture
Rodarte’s Spring 2009 Inspiration: ‘Star Wars’ (via The Cut)
SF Art | Cosplay | Wanted 2 & 3 ? | Poltergeist remake | Next Avengers | Clone Wars | Eli Stone | Dr. Horrible | The Office | The Big Bang Theory | Ghost Hunters | Rules of Etiquette for All Game Co. | and Wii-kly update Today on the Project: Shadow Informant.
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Pandora | Alien Baby | Night at the Museum 2 | Terminator Salvation | Transformers revenge of the Fallen| Alice in Wonderland | Stargate Atlantis | V | TNT Alien-Invasion | Vampire Diaries | and Community Comments on Speculative Fiction Today.
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