Fan Boy

I've ridden a fine line between being a nerd and a jock for most of my adult life. In high school, I played basketball and was homecoming king, yet I spent my lunch time playing euchre and went on very few dates. Nowadays I can easily spend a Sunday afternoon watching an NFL game while reading a graphic novel. A graduate school acquaintance of mine named Sherman Green (looks like Jonathan Richman, and got girls like there was no tomorrow) described guys like us as Geekcore. I assumed this to be a label like emo or punk.


This is Jonathan Richman





I don't have a picture of Sherman Green for comparison, but if he wore a striped shirt and grew a moustache, he would look a lot like this guy.


While I am not keen on labeling myself, I do find certain elements of dork-stereotypes within. I show Fanboy tendencies often. I've even linked up to movie and comicbook fanboy haven, Aint It Cool News. I check this site often throughout the day to see spy photos of upcoming movies or to get plot spoilers for projects I don't plan on seeing. It is a highly addictive site for those of us who can't get out to the movies and forget to rent once they're out on DVD.

I have but two beefs with Harry Knowles' domain, though.

1. Indignant Posts I can't stand the fairly typical fanboy "front" of being unimpressed with some photos or slamming early reviews of films they hope will suck. The fervor with which these people are attacking X-Men: The Last Stand is overwhelming. I think that some of those who post are angry that none of the producers contacted them when realizing the making of the film. Avid comic book reading does not equal creative input on a film production.

2. Narcissistic Film Reviewers. I could really get my geek on here by counting and graphing out the instances of these occurrences, but I'll digress and post my opinion here. It would seem that the guidelines for writing a review on Aint It Cool go something like this: First, fill up the first third of the review with background information about a: Your connection to the film b: Your experience in watching other films by the director c: Some childhood story vaguely connected to the filmmaker, star or screenwriter. Second, spend the middle section recounting how you spent the entire day leading up to the screening. Throw in marathon DVD viewings of other films in the series if it is a sequel. Also, describe in great detail the makeup of the auditorium and its occupants. Finally, write about the film you saw. Liberally throw in comments about how you are above itall and slam the filmmaking techniques and screenwriting errors that no amount of book reading or movie-watching could possibly prepare you to criticize. Post the review for all the world to see and wait for your comrades to join in with their comments!

Despite my hangups with the site, I'm hooked.