I'm having to come to terms with the fact that my world... my
culture... the geek culture... is built on white male privilege, rage
and dismissal of others for... well... reasons?
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 r
uining 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.
