For our
Face Off last week, it was determined in a close race that fans were a bit more disappointed with
X-Men: The Last Stand than the third installment in Raimi’s
Spider-Man trilogy.
This week as you well know is all about a magical little place called COMIC CON. It seemed fitting to pay tribute to the boys and girls who have made this convention the happening place that it is year in and year out, I’m talking about our beloved FANBOYS and FANGIRLS. The question is, what made them who they are? To what do they lend their devotion? To what lengths will they go to let the world know what their devoted to? Who exactly plays the better dress-up? We discuss all this and more. So whip out your lightsabers.
Video games and their consoles. Role-playing card games. Comics. TV shows. Movies. Anime. Computers. The force is strong with fanboys, Star Wars has remained a staple in pop culture thanks to the devotion our men of the hour has shown it over the years. Let’s not forget that famous term that was coined to embody their love for Star Trek. Another aspect of a fanboys power that I think perfectly captures what their all about is the short lived shows like Joss Whedon’s Firefly that have reached cult status thanks to our boys deciding it was worthy.
People have their opinions on the Twilight franchise, but when push comes to shove I personally have to respect the generation of fangirls that the series of books and the movies that followed have spawned. Apart from that, female fans take up the large portion of anime fandom. I’m not talking out of my ass here, it’s actually nice seeing teenage girls in the manga aisle at Barnes and Noble kicking their feet up and not giving a shit. Bottom line, while I’m a bigger advocate of what fanboys fall in love with, what you get with fangirls is packs. When they latch on to something, they come in droves. Not just in the realm of what I’ve mentioned but music as well. Looking at you Elvis…Backstreet Boys…Justin Bieber.
Look no further than documentaries like the obvious 2009 film Fanboys and The People vs. George Lucas to profile the intensity that fanboys can bring to what they love. The most famous of which is the outrage that many fans of Star Wars feel about the countless changes George Lucas has made to his baby that the fans have had to swallow. Some of our boys have loved these things so much, that they take these changes as an insult. The point I’m making is, this opens the eyes to how serious fanboys are, whether this level of devotion and the backlash it has spawned is justified is debatable. What is not is how powerful it’s been and will continue to be.
The clips, the box-office that Twilight has managed to pull in, and most importantly the stories I’ve read and heard personally of said franchise ruining relationships and marriage somewhat embody how obsessed our lovely fangirls can get. Another activity they partake in is relation(shipping) with their favorite characters and the hours spent of writing fan fiction that follows, and in this I admire the creativity. We all know the levels of emotions fangirls can reach, especially them teenagers, which gives the edge to fangirls in this category.
NOTE: Is all obsession bad? This new 50 Shades of Grey novel craze I hear is saving relationships! Even creating them.
So you get a fanboy out on a date, a few dates, you find him charming and you decide to move in with him. You get a two bedroom apartment so he can dedicate one them to his collectibles. When he is in front of the computer, or leveling up in front of his console, will you seductively entering in the room in the Princess Leia slave bikini be enough the pull him away from his current activities? There is actually a chance there. I believe a fanboys saving grace when it comes to the dating scene is shared interests, and it exists boys, it’s happened! Star Wars themed weddings have taken place to prove the fact. There are women out there that find you desirable.
A fangirls obsession can be one of two things: destructive to an existing or potential relationship, or can improve upon it in a sick and twisted way. They tend to live in romantic fantasy world, and either they will close off and live in it within their own minds or try to create an Edward Cullen out of you. I’m also generalizing, there is also the fangirl who has nothing to do with Twilight and are more likely to entertain you with that slave bikini previously mentioned. I’ve seen glimpses of fangirls, but have never gone steady with one. It sounds intriguing.
So there is my input, what you get from both genders is passion and lots of it. What was the tie-breaker for me is the considerable more emotion Fangirls put into said passion and their massive numbers. They are taking over the world mark my words ladies and gents. I’m sure Fangirl asses will be in seats for the featured Twilight panel at the Con this year, and as much as I loathe the franchise…god love em!
If you have an idea that you’d like to see in a future FACE OFF column, feel free to shoot an email to me at [email protected] with your ideas and some ideas for the critique to base your ideas off. Thank you and in the meantime…
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