This week’s Point/Counterpoint column will be a little different than usual. Because this week, we have no point!
Or rather, we do have a point, but it’s not a blog/livejournal essay or forum/interview link. This time it’s an idea.
Point: Today’s point is the stereotype of comic book fans that we see or hear about everywhere. The Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy if you will. We’re all geeks here, I’m sure we’ve all heard them.
Counterpoint: Which brings us to Heidi Meeley who pulls apart and counters many of these stereotypes.
Excerpt:
With the great success of comic book movies and the raising of awareness of the characters in mainstream pop culture, it continues to amaze me that comic book fans are still treated like they have the bubonic plague. The general public is only too happy to go spend their hard earned dollars seeing the fantasy played out on the big screen, but they stay away from comic book shops in droves. Why must it be that way?
So, what about your experiences? What do you think?
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:30 am
Um what?
The “Comic Book Guy” stereotype isn’t because we like fantasy or science fiction — those have been popular in mainstream culture for decades. Star Wars is the obvious example, but even further back movies like Planet of the Apes, Jason and the Argonauts and others were mainstream successes.
The “Comic Book Guy” stereotype is actually an “obsessive fan” stereotype. It’s the negative stereotype of someone who is so obsessed with the minutia of their respective fandom that it takes over their life and they automatically assume that anyone within hearing distance is actually interested in it to the same degree they are. There are “obsessive fans” in other fandoms — like the guy who won’t stop talking about his favorite football team, who backseat coaches the entire season, and who goes to all of the games shirtless in full body paint in the team’s colors.
The physical attributes of the “Comic Book Guy” stereotypes stick because, well, if your preferred form of entertainment involves sitting and reading, watching movies, and possibly writing, you’re not going to be in the best of physical shape. The generalization of the majority gets extrapolated into the stereotype. And every time one of us overweight, bearded white guys reveals that we read comics it reinforces that to the folks around us.
The stereotype exists not because we’re just fans of a particular genre or medium, but because we’re OBSESSIVE fans of a particular genre or medium. And like it or not, if you’re driving weekly to pick up a stack of comics from a niche store that only sells comics, role playing games, and action figures, you’re probably a little bit more obsessive about your particular sci-fi/fantasy fandom than the average moviegoer.
June 2nd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
“The “Comic Book Guy” stereotype is actually an “obsessive fan” stereotype. It’s the negative stereotype of someone who is so obsessed with the minutia of their respective fandom that it takes over their life and they automatically assume that anyone within hearing distance is actually interested in it to the same degree they are.”
Yes, but as you note, there are those types in OTHER forms of fandom and media entertainment. Your own use of the obssesive sports fan is a perfect example.
The difference is, though, that those types of fans don’t stop the casually interested folks from going to a sports game. Or the obssesive music band fan, doesn’t stop casual folks from going to their concerts. Yet, with comics, the stereotype obssesive fan (which isn’t nearly as plentiful as most casual folks think) is always cited as a reason for why they don’t go to the comic shops. Also, the “traits” my wife outlined are always associated with comic fans, even though, as she noted they are either true of folks in any form of media fandom, if not outright untrue.
People who are causally interested in sports have no problem letting people know they have that interest, despite some of the fandom fits the cliche’ of the guy with his body painted in the teams colors, while they wear the “cheese hat.” Yet, many casual comic readers actively HIDE the fact that they read the stuff, because they don’t want to be associated with the stereotype “Comic Book Guy” from the Simpsons, even if they don’t have ANY of the physical traits that most associate with that type of fandom.
There is something that needs to be done to break that stereotype. The obssesive sports fan hasn’t held back casual folks interest in sports, so it’s time for “Comic Book Guy” to be held up as some excuse for holding back comics from enjoying the same type of media exposure and interest.
June 4th, 2007 at 10:35 am
I’m at my LCS once a month. I’d say that in one of every five trips, there’s one of these obessive fans loitering next to the cash register, talking to the clerk and generally being an awkward presence. They sit there and stare as you interrupt their conversation to actually pay for some product.
If they bug me as a regular, I guarantee they freak out a regular passer by who peaks in.