Monday, October 22, 2007

Since when?.....

I've heard that "30 Days of Night" cleaned up at the box office this past weekend. This is not really news considering the push it got. What is interesting is my involvement in it.

A friend told me last week that she was going to see it. I remarked off hand that it's based on a graphic novel. I can't help that, it's a comic geek thing. She said "Well, I guess you'll be going then, huh?". I replied that no, I wasn't for several reasons. The biggest of which is money, of which I have none. Secondly, horror is not really my thing. There is enough real life horror to go around. But the comment she made caused me to stop and think.

Why is it assumed that if I read comics, that I must automatically go to every comic book based movie out there? Or that I must watch every single sci-fi show that comes out? Yes, I do watch HEROES and SMALLVILLE, but that's about it. Do we pigeonhole everyone this way? Is every sports fan supposed to have a jersey of their favorite team, and must they wear it every single time their team plays? If they don't, are they less of a fan? Do we think that adult fans of the Harry Potter series read every single book on witches and wizards?

When did this happen? Has it always been this way? I realize that the word "fans" is short for "fanatics", but aren't there shades of grey in this? I love the anime Cowboy Bebop, and would recommend it to anyone of reasonable intelligence, but I don't love all anime. Carrying this a step further, it's not a secret that I am a major animation (OK, cartoon) buff. I love the old Warner Bros. stuff with a passion, and I enjoy quite a bit of the new stuff too. But I have heard from time to time; "oh, you must have seen HAPPY FEET or CARS, since they're toons.". WHAT?!?!

I don't feel that I have to waste my time and money going to and viewing every thing. If something catches my eye or attention, then cool. But don't expect me to be a sheep and automatically flush my money away just because it's a comic or a cartoon. I didn't go to the Simpsons movie this past summer because I really didn't feel like plunking 10 bucks down for it. I still love them, and watch every Sunday, so I don't think I'm less of a fan.As for "30 Days", more than likely I'll catch it when it comes on cable or borrow someones DVD. For those who went and enjoyed it, I'm glad for you. Hope it brought you the chills and thrills you were seeking. If it didn't, go read the graphic novel.

3 comments:

Jim said...

You are just a posting fool. Glad to see new content when I pull up thw website.

I used to feel the way you did about people assuming, but then I decided that it is someone trying to maybe further a conversation and they are too lazy to realize that every interest has many branches. So look at as they were being nice to take an interest in what you like.

Ron said...

You know, you have a point. Sometimes though, it's a generalization based on not really knowing who you're talking or what they're talking about. I mean, I wouldn't begin to ask about insurance things with you.

Jim said...

Feel free - I have no clue about insurance.