It's horrific that we have become the very thing that I had assumed we were all in against; the marginalization of those not us - to the extent of death threats and the ruining of others whose only crime may have been timing, poor marketing choices, or a single bad decision.
It is my desperate hope I have not been complacent in any of this. As a nerd and a geek I know what it is to grow up marginalized for being perceived as different; to the extent of bodily harm - though no where in the same realm as the monsters of today perpetrate in the name of geeks.
No, I had it easy compared to today.
But no amount of my "white knighting"- as I will no doubt be called out as - no amount of my best hopes and intentions cannot insulate me from the actions of my peers and my fellow geeks and nerds. In both my attempt to hold aloft my ideals of who a geek or nerd is, and my outright denial, in some cases, of the situations over the past year has made me as guilty as those who would make threats - idol or not, harass, and demean those they deem as "not us" - because of gender, orientation, or culture. I have only to ask for the forgiveness of those who have suffered at the words and deeds of my fellow geek, and my steadfast promise that I will always work to make sure my ground is moral and high, my footing true.
I am currently combing through the Neverland Transit Authority catalog of projects to make sure that all my characters are portrayed the best they can be - hero or villain. The mechanics of storytelling, regardless of tradition, must be able to grow with the times and the understanding and acceptance of modern thinking. As in all things, just because that was how we used to do it doesn't mean we should keep doing it that way.
For me personally it has come down to this; we, the geeks, who spent our young and impressionable lives being victimized and demoralized for being different, for being a "fringe minority", are not obligated by our past to work for the fair acceptance and recognition of those "not us" - women, LGBT, different cultures, and different colors, but are morally commanded by the very nature of who we are, and were, to fight for it. Gaming, comics, scifi, and fantasy are now socially accepted norms in Western Society. We have power, now. And as we've been reminded by our own past; "with power comes responsibility. And with great power comes greater responsibility."
Our power has corrupted us. We have failed in our duty to our fellow geek. Indeed, we have failed to the world. We are not heroes. We are monsters; our nerd rage our teeth as we nash and wail out to protect something we do not own - something that belongs to all those who want it. And we should know better than to deny it to them. We sought acceptance in our youth of our way. Now we turn against those that are now us like those that stood against us when we were young, new, and naive.
Neverland Transit Authority... no, I, Charles Irons.... stands for all that is good and right in Geek culture. In the mythos of my culture great leaders have risen to defend the weak, protect the innocent, and champion the rights of those who have none to stand for them. And in our real world many do the same, now, at great peril to their professional, and personal lives. I may have no right to stand with them, but I still stand in support of them.
And I will never be wrong, again.
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