Something happens to fandom over time, and perhaps its just human nature, which is why it remains alien to me, at least. Fans "factionalize". Under a single franchise that brings them joy, they find reasons to create their own "sub-franchises" that further serve to specify their identity.

Let me first dole out my obligatory preamble of explanation and disclaimer. Geeks are special.

I mentioned this recently in Halagad's blog: Only a geek truly knows what a geek is, and more importantly, how this differs from being a nerd and/or dweeb. A geek is defined by purpose and social connection to others of the ilk. Unlike nerds and dweebs, geeks are not loners. Geeks are actually social animals who share a common bond.

This of course gives us geeks some of the same attributes as kickers, bangers, jocks, preppies, and stoners, and any other groups as defined, however anachronistically, in the vernacular of The Breakfast Club.

In short, children, being a geek is about, dare I say, Togetherness. Community. Love. And an expendable income for costumes. Among other things.

And believe me when I say this, I will freely admit my geekery. I'm a Star Wars geek. Star Wars geeks are of course a subset of Sci-Fi geeks. And even there, we've found it necessary to split off the species into various genus (filum? Dunno, didn't pay attention in that class until if came to human anatomy) that include "Science Fiction" and "Space Opera". That being said, we still get filed under "S" in any case.

Under the sub-heading of "Star Wars geeks", like our brethren "Star Trek geeks", there are increasingly finite and diverse definitions of the [Insert Franchise Here] Geek condition. Who knows, they might have "Vulcan geeks" or "DS9 geeks" or "Cardassian Afficionados" or whathaveyou. We, in turn, have our own branches of fandom, the names of which may be known to you by now. They're becoming known more to me each and every day.

This was not always so, however. Back in the day, in 1977, we were united in Star Wars fandom under one broad stroke. In June of 1977, if you had a T-shirt that said "Darth Vader is Outta Sight" or "Leia is a Total Fox", you weren't categorized into slots like Rebel or Imp Fans.

Perhaps this was because the Star Wars universe had not been fleshed out in as much detail as it is now. Now we have delectable choices from the buffet of our own imagination as inspired by LucasFilm, LucasArts, and the resulting EU. Or maybe its because, like most things, in the 70's we just didn't know any better. I direct you to photographic evidence of any of your parent's unfortunate hairstyles.

Having evolved naturally, we've got a myriad of subsets to our fandom. That's great. Diversity is the spice of life. However..

What I find annoying, and in fact, beyond that, is this growing propensity to label, to differentiate, to exclude, to belittle, to antagonize, and generally to demonstrate that, if there is a Dark Side to Geekery, we tap into it all too often. I've seen the comments out there, names thrown around as if they should have some impact: "Bashers", "Gushers", "Mara-haters", "Mara-lovers", "Jedi lovers", "Dark Siders", "Mando lovers", "Jacen lovers", "TFN posters", "TOS posters'...

Wait...yep...Steve Carrell is right, you can throw up a little in your own mouth. Gimme a sec...

Ok, the point being is that what used to be an umbrella of Star Wars fandom has occasionally become a Battlefront of Goofy Proportions. And worse yet, and more central to my point, it can border on breaking the rules around here.

I've seen people bust out these names with the clear intent, however dubious in its effectiveness, as a flame, believe it or not. Moreover, the language of geek on geek sectarian violence is the playground of trolls.

If you're talking to your fellow poster and fan on the boards or in the blogs, do yourself a favor - nay, do your fandom a favor, and think of them as a Star Wars fan first? Don't rush to the convenient labels that constrict folks to a single point of view? And remember that two things are entirely possible:

1) a fan can love, for instance, Mandolorians, Sith and Jedi at the same time. Weird, but true.

2) if you end up repeatedly offending posters all the time with your labels for others, you might get another unattractive label - "banned".

Cuz it's annoying. And its a glimpse at the unclean, fungally challenged stinky underside of Geekery that espouses the divisive aspects of our likes and dislikes instead of the inclusive ideas that make us all fans of the same thing. You know - Star Wars.

In short, it serves only to exlude you from being part of your community, and it serves only to fracture your community instead of build it up. It distiguishes your place in things far outside of the social circle of trust. It, in fact, makes you a loner. A dweeb. Yep, I said it. A dweeb.

So in the tradition of Mary Catherine Gallagher, I would like to perform the following scene from one of my favorite movies, The Breakfast Club, starring Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and Emelio Estevez:

Claire: You know why guys like you knock everything?

Bender: Oh, this should be stunning.

Claire: 'Cause you're afraid.

Bender: Oh God, you richies are so smart, thats exactly why I'm not heavy in activities.

Claire: You're a big coward.

Brian: I'm in the math club.

Claire: You're afraid that they won't take you. You don't belong so you just have to dump all over it.

Bender: Well, it wouldn't have anything to do with you activities people being ***holes now would it?

Claire: You wouldn't know. You don't know any of us.

Bender: Well, I don't know any lepers either but I'm not gonna run out and join one of their ******' clubs.

Andrew: Lets watch the mouth, huh?

Brian: I'm in the physics club.

Bender: Excuse me a sec. What are you babbling about?

Brian: Well, what I said was that I'm in the math club, the latin club and the physics club.

Bender: Hey, cherry, do you belong to the physics club?

Claire: Thats an academic club.

Bender: So?

Claire: So, academic clubs arent the same as other kinds of clubs.

Bender: But to dorks like him, they are. What do you guys do in your club?

Brian: In physics, well, we talk about physics... properties of physics.

Bender: So its sort of social. Demented and sad, but social, right?




Right. :0) or not.

DM out