Gate keeping: the fanbase killer
hi, I'm James and this is my first Blog post, so it might be a little rough around the edges, i hope you enjoy!
now I've been part of many a pop culture fan base in my time, transformers, star wars, comics like batman and x-men etc, and i have enjoyed speaking to like minded individuals about them, because whats the point of having an interest if you can't share it with others, right? well apparently according to some people, if you're not as knowledgeable on the subject, you weren't there at the beginning,you don't like every aspect of the hobby at hand,or (gasp!) you're not the right gender/sex, then you're not a true fan.
that's bollocks, and I'm here to talk to both those who have to deal with this bollocks and those who spread it like a cancer.
Geek cultures, or any kind of niche sub-cultures, has always been built by dedicated, loyal fans who felt a connection of some sort with whatever they were into, be it movies, books, games, and most of the time these individuals created these fan bases because they felt they didn't belong, or just didn't find interest in more mainstream cultural phenomenon, it was a safe haven they could share their interest with, and with the rise of the Internet (i was born in the 80's, i was there for the birth) fan communities have flourished and have given fans a place to connect with other fans around the world, but like most things that involve fanatics, theres always going to be those who are over protective/defencive of their precious.
(the original gate keeper)
Gate keeping is a term used when an individual or group try and dictate what is and what isn't part of a fan base, as well as who is and who isn't allowed to be part of a fan base, they have taken it upon themselves to be the guardian of the hobby or interest, they're the toxic heimdall of fan bases.
(oh they fucking wish they were)
A gate keeper will be the first to tell you that you don't belong because you don't meet their ridiculous requirements, one of the best examples of this comes from the Transformers community, where years ago, when the classic generation one cartoon and toy series ended, a new, computer animated series was created, Beast Wars, now i liked BW , i didn't love it, but nor did i begrudge another kid for loving it, but there are those traditionalists, the "back in my day" squad, who couldn't get over the fact that this new series existed, and that their (precious) G1 series had not been continued, to them, it was an affront, a heresy
(no not that one, close though)
This spawned the meme "TRUKK NOT MUNKY" a mockery of the ridiculous situation, that a fan base had been torn asunder due to nothing more than aesthetic changes, despite the fact that the show was still about giant robots punching and shooting each other enough for you to want to buy toys.
Another sub-culture (and by far a more toxic one) is the wrestling fan base, who will spend more time calling each other "Marks" (a carny term for an easy target, or a sucker) despite the fact that they all, by definition are Marks, and will make ridiculous claims that if you're not watching every single wrestling show (past and present) from every wrestling company in the world, then you're not a true fan, which again, is total bollocks,because you'd have to have no job, social life or interests outside of wrestling in order to accomplish that (oh....wait).
And then we get to possibly the worst kind of gate keepers, the bigots, the ones that haven't found a silly reason to tell you you don't belong, they've just decided to project their hatred onto you via their hobby, one of the worst places for this is the gaming community, the lovely place that spawned Gamergate,
(iT's aBoUt EtHiCs iN gAmE jOuRnAlIsM!)
Some (not all, don't flame me) will go out of their way to tell woman that they're not a true gamer, that they're a fake gamer girl, because they didn't breed a gold chocobo in Final Fantasy 7, or they don't know how to rocket jump, like a douchey sphinx, they'll task a female player with riddles, and if they don't pass the test they're a fake, even though all she wanted to do was let off some steam by shooting some Nazis in the face in Call Of Duty (and its everybody's god given right to shoot Nazis in the face) there's far worse examples as this but i may leave that for a column on toxic communities as a whole rather than just gate keepers.
Now I've gone through some of the examples, it's time to talk, first to those who have to deal with this shit -
Dear friend, i am so sorry that you went looking for people to share your interests with and found a Confederacy of dunces instead, let me tell first off it's not you, it's them, you keep doing what you're doing, liking what you like, and know that in whatever community you find yourself in, there's some great people out there just like you who just want to shoot the shit and talk to like minded individuals about what they love, and don't let Negative Nancy's put you off.
Now to talk to the Gate Keepers, the ones who cause this shit -
Hey dipshit, i see you've got an interest that you seem to think you own, here's a truth bomb, you don't own shit, into Transformers? Hasbro owns it. Into Star Wars? Disney owns it. You are lucky to have something you enjoy so much, but you're not enjoying it are you? you're coveting it, like our pal Gollum from before, you've allowed your love for something to become an obsession, which has made you bitter and defencive, protective of your precious, scared that it'll go away or be warped into something else by another person or group, well that shit needs to stop, because as much as you love your hobby, you're the one killing it, take comics for example, how many people would love to get into comics due to watching a Marvel movie? quite a few I'd bet, i bet they'd like to talk to people about it, but here you come, Mr keeper of knowledge, telling them they're a filthy casual because they wondered why Nick Fury is Samuel L Jackson in the movies but an old white dude in the comics, and you tell them you obviously didn't read the Ultimates, so then they say to themselves, you know what? fuck this! Marvel just lost a customer, which means less money for them to make more comics, it also means one less interested person in the fan base, they've gone and found something else, so kudos Gate Keeper, you just helped kill your hobby! You don't get to tell people whether or not they're a true fan, because whether you're into it casually, or dedicated, a fan is a fan, and it only benefits everyone if there are more fans in the community, it's symbiotic, so in conclusion, don't be an asshole dictator, because we all know what happens to dictators.
(good thing i had that guardrail instaaaaaalled)
now I've been part of many a pop culture fan base in my time, transformers, star wars, comics like batman and x-men etc, and i have enjoyed speaking to like minded individuals about them, because whats the point of having an interest if you can't share it with others, right? well apparently according to some people, if you're not as knowledgeable on the subject, you weren't there at the beginning,you don't like every aspect of the hobby at hand,or (gasp!) you're not the right gender/sex, then you're not a true fan.
that's bollocks, and I'm here to talk to both those who have to deal with this bollocks and those who spread it like a cancer.
Geek cultures, or any kind of niche sub-cultures, has always been built by dedicated, loyal fans who felt a connection of some sort with whatever they were into, be it movies, books, games, and most of the time these individuals created these fan bases because they felt they didn't belong, or just didn't find interest in more mainstream cultural phenomenon, it was a safe haven they could share their interest with, and with the rise of the Internet (i was born in the 80's, i was there for the birth) fan communities have flourished and have given fans a place to connect with other fans around the world, but like most things that involve fanatics, theres always going to be those who are over protective/defencive of their precious.
Gate keeping is a term used when an individual or group try and dictate what is and what isn't part of a fan base, as well as who is and who isn't allowed to be part of a fan base, they have taken it upon themselves to be the guardian of the hobby or interest, they're the toxic heimdall of fan bases.
A gate keeper will be the first to tell you that you don't belong because you don't meet their ridiculous requirements, one of the best examples of this comes from the Transformers community, where years ago, when the classic generation one cartoon and toy series ended, a new, computer animated series was created, Beast Wars, now i liked BW , i didn't love it, but nor did i begrudge another kid for loving it, but there are those traditionalists, the "back in my day" squad, who couldn't get over the fact that this new series existed, and that their (precious) G1 series had not been continued, to them, it was an affront, a heresy
This spawned the meme "TRUKK NOT MUNKY" a mockery of the ridiculous situation, that a fan base had been torn asunder due to nothing more than aesthetic changes, despite the fact that the show was still about giant robots punching and shooting each other enough for you to want to buy toys.
Another sub-culture (and by far a more toxic one) is the wrestling fan base, who will spend more time calling each other "Marks" (a carny term for an easy target, or a sucker) despite the fact that they all, by definition are Marks, and will make ridiculous claims that if you're not watching every single wrestling show (past and present) from every wrestling company in the world, then you're not a true fan, which again, is total bollocks,because you'd have to have no job, social life or interests outside of wrestling in order to accomplish that (oh....wait).
And then we get to possibly the worst kind of gate keepers, the bigots, the ones that haven't found a silly reason to tell you you don't belong, they've just decided to project their hatred onto you via their hobby, one of the worst places for this is the gaming community, the lovely place that spawned Gamergate,
Some (not all, don't flame me) will go out of their way to tell woman that they're not a true gamer, that they're a fake gamer girl, because they didn't breed a gold chocobo in Final Fantasy 7, or they don't know how to rocket jump, like a douchey sphinx, they'll task a female player with riddles, and if they don't pass the test they're a fake, even though all she wanted to do was let off some steam by shooting some Nazis in the face in Call Of Duty (and its everybody's god given right to shoot Nazis in the face) there's far worse examples as this but i may leave that for a column on toxic communities as a whole rather than just gate keepers.
Now I've gone through some of the examples, it's time to talk, first to those who have to deal with this shit -
Dear friend, i am so sorry that you went looking for people to share your interests with and found a Confederacy of dunces instead, let me tell first off it's not you, it's them, you keep doing what you're doing, liking what you like, and know that in whatever community you find yourself in, there's some great people out there just like you who just want to shoot the shit and talk to like minded individuals about what they love, and don't let Negative Nancy's put you off.
Now to talk to the Gate Keepers, the ones who cause this shit -
Hey dipshit, i see you've got an interest that you seem to think you own, here's a truth bomb, you don't own shit, into Transformers? Hasbro owns it. Into Star Wars? Disney owns it. You are lucky to have something you enjoy so much, but you're not enjoying it are you? you're coveting it, like our pal Gollum from before, you've allowed your love for something to become an obsession, which has made you bitter and defencive, protective of your precious, scared that it'll go away or be warped into something else by another person or group, well that shit needs to stop, because as much as you love your hobby, you're the one killing it, take comics for example, how many people would love to get into comics due to watching a Marvel movie? quite a few I'd bet, i bet they'd like to talk to people about it, but here you come, Mr keeper of knowledge, telling them they're a filthy casual because they wondered why Nick Fury is Samuel L Jackson in the movies but an old white dude in the comics, and you tell them you obviously didn't read the Ultimates, so then they say to themselves, you know what? fuck this! Marvel just lost a customer, which means less money for them to make more comics, it also means one less interested person in the fan base, they've gone and found something else, so kudos Gate Keeper, you just helped kill your hobby! You don't get to tell people whether or not they're a true fan, because whether you're into it casually, or dedicated, a fan is a fan, and it only benefits everyone if there are more fans in the community, it's symbiotic, so in conclusion, don't be an asshole dictator, because we all know what happens to dictators.
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