a history of me

I was reading the Times this morning and a sidebar item about superheroes taking over the movies caught my eye. It's short and to the point but I felt it perpetuated the mainstream agenda to "remind" people that comics aren't for everyone, they're for troubled young men. It's kind of complimentary, yes, but of the backhanded variety. I quote:

Comic books are the foundation of a fan culture once derided and now celebrated as the province of nerds, misfits and losers - young men, like their idols' alter egos, who could compensate for their social marginality by coming to the rescue of the society that had spurned and mocked them.

I'm not going to deny that there are "nerds, misfits and losers" reading comic books; they've always been there and they always will be. The reiteration of this fact, however, is unfair to the millions of other people who read comics. For starters, it's not just young men who read comics but men of all ages and women as well.

It seems to be an American misconception that comics (and animation, for that matter) is somehow a medium that is inherently intended for children. One only has to look at Japan to see a society that accepts comics and animation as a viable medium for any age/gender group. Sure, there's a high-profile market aimed at young men, but that's just one genre out of many. In America, we inexplicably see "comics" as a single genre unto itself.

My point is this: Art is art, it's neither "high" nor "low." We associate nerds with comics, but why? Don't you think there are nerds who obsessively patronize the Met or Lincoln Center? I bet you a million dollars there are but we don't label them as outcasts. Likewise, what's the difference between a sports fan wearing a uniform from their favorite team and a Trekkie wearing a Starfleet uniform? There shouldn't be any difference at all, but one is "cool" and the other would be mocked. Frankly, I'd wager that everyone on Earth has some obsession, something they enjoy more than most other people, but only a certain portion of us are considered unhip for doing so.

Don't buy into it. You don't have to maintain these mythical cultural barriers. So long as your personal proclivities don't override your everyday life (going to work, paying your bills, etc), you are cool.