It is Fantastic to Watch Little Ones Grow Up Being Unapologetically Passionate About Being Geeky
It is the year 2000 and I am in the fifth grade, I accidentally rambled on and on in front of the girl I had a crush on about Final Fantasy X. This happened because she made a brief comment that her older brother played it. When I realized, after about 5 minutes of talking, that she was bored with the conversation to the point where she wanted to leave the vicinity immediately, I became flush with embarrassment. My little brain then filed away that not everyone plays video games and has a huge passion for them like I did and it was socially unacceptable to blatantly talk about these things unless I know they are also interested in it.
This repeated with anime, comics, World of Warcraft, and more until I hit college. Having to check myself constantly and put on a facade that I wasn’t neck-deep in R.A. Salvatore novels and spent my Saturdays playing Dungeons and Dragons just so that my peers would not throw me into the category of being weird. having to pretend to like sports ball or Teen Mom was the absolute worst. It made my skin crawl when I would read manga in public and someone would comment “Is that the porn with the tentacles?”. (Granted, there are a lot of awkward scenes in Love Hina and Tenchi Muyo. So I can’t fault too many people for that misunderstanding.) I would have to laugh awkwardly and either try to convince them it wasn’t mine or try and preach the good word of manga to uncultured swine.
It felt like I was holding back for so much of my life, not being my true self just to please folks who didn’t care at all about me. I am a minority as well so there is even more concern about being a dreaded ‘Coconut’ where I was brown on the outside but white on the inside for liking Dragon Ball Z and willing to debate anyone at the drop of a dime about why anime should only be watched subbed. You feel almost sub-human when you are made fun of for just being yourself.
As time went on geek culture became more of a norm thanks to a flood of comic book films, cosplay, and conventions. A mixture of accepting myself for who I am along with the acceptance by society made life so much easier. But what I am finding the most enjoyment out of is not my own benefits but that of little geeks that are growing up in this era where comics, video games, and more are widely accepted and even respected.
Two years ago when I met my now Fiance and her pretty rad kid, he already was excited about superheroes, Minecraft, Star Wars, and even Dragon Ball Z. Since meeting him it has been a wild ride of getting to share with him all of the topics I am passionate about and he just accepts them as something that is valid and cool. When others hear that he is interested in Dungeons & Dragons or Overwatch, there is no shame at all. He never has to worry about that social pressure and that is so wonderful.
It makes me a little jealous because I wished so badly that I could have been so open about my love for Anime and Warhammer without being shunned by classmates. However, I am grateful that at least he gets to choose what he loves most and chase it to his heart’s content (So long as his mother and my wallet can afford it). If he wants to play hockey and then go home to play Dungeons & Dragons, then gush to his friends about it. It’ll result in his friends wanting to play as well rather than being classified as the weird kid.
Even going beyond kids growing up, my own fiance had reservations about a lot of the geeky community based solely on what she heard from others. She avoided a fair bit and what she did like, she kept to herself for the most part until we met and I encouraged her to check out more geeky culture. Now she is opening up to watching Anime, playing full-blown role-playing video games, and even playing Dungeons & Dragons for hours. Now that she understands the content her son wants to participate in, it allows for them to further connect by sharing a similar interest. Nothing quite beats playing a couch co-op with the ones you love and downing a super hard boss!
Little geeks are truly blessed to be living in a day and age where they can be their true selves full-blown! However, it is up to all of us older geeks to ensure all of them have a safe environment to thrive in. Not to mention it gives us the chance to help them avoid the stuff that we got exposed to but probably should not have been.
Chicano | Fighting/Writing for Diversity | DM since 08 | Anime Lover | Site: https://www.thegeeklyfe.com | info@thegeeklyfe.com | http://twitch.tv/that_deangelo | https://linktr.ee/deangelomurillo
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