★ Gordon Wyant
So, there was a post on Kotaku yesterday about the awkwardness of a concert at a Con. Specifically, a concert put on by Bronies and for Bronies. Specifically, the awkwardness the article refers to are the Bronies themselves. This post has received a great deal of flak, and rightly so. Yes, there is a legion of Bronies out there, and they look after their own; but that isn't the reason this post was aggravating and attracted a response. A pretty heavy response against Kotaku's treatment of this subculture.
The truth is, Kotaku is supposed to be a haven for nerds of all kinds. A place where those with any geekish inclination can revel with fellow geeks. This post did nothing but turn a subculture of nerdom into a target for insults and derisive laughter. The kind of laughter that too many of us had to learn to ignore, rage against, or run from in our lives . . . a sizable number of us still do. There is nothing more shaming and hurtful than having those tormentors be the very people who should have our backs. The very people who are set apart from "everyone else" for the same reasons we find ourselves outcast. We are geeks because we enjoy something so greatly that it begins to define us. Be that something games, comics, a book series, culture, anime, movies, or myriad other interests; we love this something so much that we feel compelled to find others who enjoy it just as much so that we can "geek-out" over it together. So we can share our love of that something. That's what makes us geeks and nerds. Thankfully, we are pretty adept at finding each other . . . growing up in school, we had to be. That's exactly what makes Bronies one of us. And exactly why Kotaku shouldn't shame or set them up to be laughed at as the other.
So, there was a post on Kotaku yesterday about the awkwardness of a concert at a Con. Specifically, a concert put on by Bronies and for Bronies. Specifically, the awkwardness the article refers to are the Bronies themselves. This post has received a great deal of flak, and rightly so. Yes, there is a legion of Bronies out there, and they look after their own; but that isn't the reason this post was aggravating and attracted a response. A pretty heavy response against Kotaku's treatment of this subculture.
The truth is, Kotaku is supposed to be a haven for nerds of all kinds. A place where those with any geekish inclination can revel with fellow geeks. This post did nothing but turn a subculture of nerdom into a target for insults and derisive laughter. The kind of laughter that too many of us had to learn to ignore, rage against, or run from in our lives . . . a sizable number of us still do. There is nothing more shaming and hurtful than having those tormentors be the very people who should have our backs. The very people who are set apart from "everyone else" for the same reasons we find ourselves outcast. We are geeks because we enjoy something so greatly that it begins to define us. Be that something games, comics, a book series, culture, anime, movies, or myriad other interests; we love this something so much that we feel compelled to find others who enjoy it just as much so that we can "geek-out" over it together. So we can share our love of that something. That's what makes us geeks and nerds. Thankfully, we are pretty adept at finding each other . . . growing up in school, we had to be. That's exactly what makes Bronies one of us. And exactly why Kotaku shouldn't shame or set them up to be laughed at as the other.
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