No, Bob, "we" didn't "win". "We" are still getting kicked around while others enjoy small parts of geek culture since 2008
You think the average schmuck is suddenly going to be interested in some 35 year old in a hulk t-shirt's conversation about their vast knowledge of backstory in the comics just because Batman movies are good? No, they'd still smirk and call him a dork. To be a nerd and a geek is still a bad thing, no real one likes to be identified as such outside their circles of friends.
Today people talk like nerds and geeks enthusiastically threw themselves into comic or roleplaying sub-culture and shunned typical social interaction, when most everyone in traditionally nerdy interests had some sort of social or personal damage recieved in school.
In many cases they were bullied, verbally harassed or beaten up occassionaly over the course of years, so yes, Bob, they were by definition victimized and have every right to complain when people come into the subjects they ran to for escapism for so long, and expect them to "just deal with it and change to suit my opinions" or begin telling people who already have emotional damage how awful they are if not doing what they're told.
In my case I went to a religious school when I started realizing I liked dudes as much as the girls and started to withdraw from social interaction to keep from being found out as "a bad person". When I became more awkward because of it, was bullied and got into video games, table-top, and magic cards to escape it as a kid.
That sort of thing changes people and some cases are more severe than others, but the fact is you can't just tell people who went through this stuff to "Just stop it" or "What happened to you doesn't matter". You can't flip a switch and turn off years of your life that affected you so much. It took me years after of highschool to get my problems with religion and sexuality worked out and function more as a normal person.
The mainstream is bad for nich sub-genres too. The mainstreaming of video games is what has turned the industry into a big pile of generic corporate shit.
The mainstream is still giving geeks an nerds their lumps as well, but differently since being a nerd is "cool"; The new folks moving in on these sub-cultures are weirded out by these "losers" with social issues and start telling them how their favorite past times have to change to suit people who aren't nearly as passionate about them. The moment anyone complianed they started being called "Misogynists", "losers", "women-haters", hell... practically rapists, and the "Nice guy" label started being used against them to poke more fun at their continued lack of ability with women. This had led to pathetic goveling of nerds on forums "B-but I don't want to be a 'Nice Guy'!", because attacking a nerd's love-life has always been part of it.
You think the average schmuck is suddenly going to be interested in some 35 year old in a hulk t-shirt's conversation about their vast knowledge of backstory in the comics just because Batman movies are good? No, they'd still smirk and call him a dork. To be a nerd and a geek is still a bad thing, no real one likes to be identified as such outside their circles of friends.
Today people talk like nerds and geeks enthusiastically threw themselves into comic or roleplaying sub-culture and shunned typical social interaction, when most everyone in traditionally nerdy interests had some sort of social or personal damage recieved in school.
In many cases they were bullied, verbally harassed or beaten up occassionaly over the course of years, so yes, Bob, they were by definition victimized and have every right to complain when people come into the subjects they ran to for escapism for so long, and expect them to "just deal with it and change to suit my opinions" or begin telling people who already have emotional damage how awful they are if not doing what they're told.
In my case I went to a religious school when I started realizing I liked dudes as much as the girls and started to withdraw from social interaction to keep from being found out as "a bad person". When I became more awkward because of it, was bullied and got into video games, table-top, and magic cards to escape it as a kid.
That sort of thing changes people and some cases are more severe than others, but the fact is you can't just tell people who went through this stuff to "Just stop it" or "What happened to you doesn't matter". You can't flip a switch and turn off years of your life that affected you so much. It took me years after of highschool to get my problems with religion and sexuality worked out and function more as a normal person.
The mainstream is bad for nich sub-genres too. The mainstreaming of video games is what has turned the industry into a big pile of generic corporate shit.
The mainstream is still giving geeks an nerds their lumps as well, but differently since being a nerd is "cool"; The new folks moving in on these sub-cultures are weirded out by these "losers" with social issues and start telling them how their favorite past times have to change to suit people who aren't nearly as passionate about them. The moment anyone complianed they started being called "Misogynists", "losers", "women-haters", hell... practically rapists, and the "Nice guy" label started being used against them to poke more fun at their continued lack of ability with women. This had led to pathetic goveling of nerds on forums "B-but I don't want to be a 'Nice Guy'!", because attacking a nerd's love-life has always been part of it.
