*Jerome-K-Moore

With this online art community, we have a unique opportunity to connect with our kindred. We must avail ourselves of this experience, for it may never come again.

I was exchanging messages here on DA with a rather interesting and intelligent new friend. The subject arose of how some people, in their extreme adoration for various properties in the pop culture entertainment genre, see fit to divide their ranks into competitive factions. Call them "geeks," "fanboys/girls," whatever... I'm sure the members of each faction prefer to attach what title they have affectionately derived from the object of their unswerving devotion. I don't know all the groupings, but there are Trekkies(TrekkERS!) for Star Trek-- I might qualify for that one. lol-- and Star Wars fans have spawned the 501st, an Imperial garrison to which my younger sister once belonged. And I know that "Firefly," a short-lived cable television series, inspired its own "Browncoats." In any event, sophomoric conflicts and rivalries arise to the point that an individual regards his/her loyalty as belonging to a specific camp, sometimes to the exclusion of another, unless in secret.
What follows is an excerpt of our exchange, with my usual speechifying commentary.

***DISCLAIMER ALERT*** All expletives have been deleted, and messages may contain junk philosophy.

HaHa! Your little aside sparked a thought in my head, and I may use this now as a Journal Entry.

I always found it puzzling and amusing that sci-fi/fantasy fans somehow thought there needed to be a division of loyalties between those who loved Star Trek, and those who loved Star Wars. It's so ridiculous. It's as if they decided to select their favorite sports teams, and never the twain shall meet. If some attended Trek conventions, they would deride any who showed up in Star Wars regalia, and vice versa. The same silliness occurred between lesser show properties such as Quantum Leap, Stargate SG1, and the ever-loyal Babylon 5 crowd. I imagine there are battle lines drawn between the fandom of Potter, Lord of the Rings, and The Chronicles of Narnia, too.

I just shake my head over it all.

The same thing happens here on DA. A girl who loves Looney Tunes, and expresses her "devotion" by posting Bugs Bunny fan art, and joining clubs, is then chastised because she finds new excitement in Avatar, or some Japanese anime. It couldn't be more childish and dumb. It's ALL entertainment. All of it is there for all to enjoy. The only loyalty the creators care about is your patronage, which then translates to cash for them (see: Geroge Lucas). Beyond that, they couldn't care less, and they hide their disdain for the costumed and rabid fans behind practiced smiles while they sign $20 autographs at convention tables.
I suppose there's an aspect of fun rivalry for fans who delight in the schisms, competing with each other on various levels. It may begin as friendly discussions over lunch about an episode of their favorite television show airing the night before, or a movie they wish to recommend to the group. Once another fan's contrasting opinion or advice is shouted down, the competition ensues, and spreads to overblown proportion. Personally, I think this ventures into the "Get a Life" territory.

As William Shatner cracked on that infamously poignant Saturday Night Live sketch, "It's just a TV show! You've all taken what I did --- years ago as a lark, and turned it into this colossal waste of time!"

Wisdom through Wit.