For poop and giggles, I went to the 12:30am screening of Star Wars: Episode II. In addition to wanting very much to see the movie, I wanted to see the spectacle. I wanted to see the freaks dressed up, arguing the finer points of the origins of the Empire, having battles with plastic lightsabers. I got my wish, and a whole lot more. I learned a lot that day, my friends, about this particular subculture, but mostly about myself
Standing and waiting for over 2 hours to get good theater positioning for the movie, I saw many a costumed “enthusiast”. I saw numerous Obi-wans, Lukes, Vaders, even a few Mauls and Leias. This was somewhat alarming, yet completely expected. But then I saw something much more frightening. I saw members of the Royal Guard. I saw Twi’ileks. I saw Power Droids. Now this was frightneing. These aren’t even major charcters. These aren’t even minor characters. They’re practically set pieces. Yet, there were people dressed up like them. In line. At a movie.
But a chilling realization was beginning to creep down my spine: These people may be dressed like extremely obscure characters from a sci-fi culture-producing film series, but I recognized and could name every one of those characters! Sweet lord, was I just as bad? No, impossible! I’m not dressed like that! I didn’t get the idea, then spend time and hours implementing it! They did! They! Not me!
So I convinced myself. I realized I wasn’t a geek so much as a geekologist; one who studies and understands geeks, while staying external to them. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely a geek of sorts. But I am not a geek of such stature and depth. Close, but not. I think about it from an anthropological standpoint. It’s as though I’m an outside member of the tribe, indoctrinated with their ways and occasionally privy to a ritual or two. It’s like, I mostly know how they think, yet wouldn’t be surprised if they were to do something totally unexpected. Like if a Yanomami woman were to exit her shabano and choose to marry a man she had not previously been engaged to. I mean, it’s allowed, but just you think you know a people…
So now I’m working on my second book. It’s an in depth look at Who’s The Boss Fan Fiction and it’s going splendidly. Perhaps one day I’ll be privileged enough to attend the T.J. MonkeyCon in Bangor, Maine and make that documentary I’ve been dreaming about.