And Here We Go Again…(Nerd Rage Culture)

There was an interview with Chris Rock after his 1996 Stand-up "Bring the Pain" where the Comedian addressed the controversial "Blacks vs Nigg**s" skit, his arbitrary defense was, "there's always gotta be that "it", “as in certain individuals whose actions lead to very negative connotations toward groups and communities as a collective. Especially when it comes to marginalized people. Thus, evoking bad stereotypes for Hispanics, Jews, and especially Blacks.

Despite my issues with Rock, I knew exactly where he came from when he made that comment.  A true Black person especially FBAs, do not cosign with the "Pooky and Ray-Rays" within society. So now this brings the geeks in mind.

Therein lies that contingent where a bunch of entitled assholes feel that if they don't like an actor's performance of a fictional character that they cherish, or certain business decisions within a Movie or television studio, these idiots go as far as to harass or even threaten the actor, Director or studio head. The vocal minority of outliers may not consist entirely of percentage of geek culture, but their complaints have gotten the attention of Directors via such as James Gunn via social media but complaining about the uncertainty of his newly formed DCEU is miniscule compared to the severe backlash harassment and even death threats!

 Capcom's Resident Evil 4 remake was well received and is already touted as "Game of the Year!" However, there was this one "caveat ". RE4's supporting character and potential love interest Ada Wong, was voiced by a different actor, Lilly Gao who replaced Sally Cahill from the original game. Some gamers were not too reciprocal with her performance and made it more than obvious when harassing her on Instagram and even troll bombing her with DMs!

While I preferred Cahill's portrayal of the Asian Super Spy, Gao did a good job in the remake which did not warrant her being chased off social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. But what's even worse, was attacks towards black actors Chukwudi Iwuji or Jonathan Majors being chastised for playing normally white comic counterparts High Evolutionary and Kang respectively. Most of this stems from the ignorant and racist gatekeepers who have a sense of entitlement that's why they are quick to use the tired "Get Woke, go Broke" catchphrase which is an empty one as Marvel's Black Panther film made over a billion even without China's box office gross.

Not too long ago, Disney's Obi-Wan series was highly critiqued as "Woke" because of its supporting character Reva, "The Third Sister" played by Moses Ingram which forced Evan McGregor who headlines as the titular character to clapback against the resentful mob of misfits. Prior to that, there were individuals who demanded that Netflix’s Marvel based series, Iron Fist, should be played by an Asian. Obviously, they haven’t read the comics. 

If you're going to call out a Director, Writer or some celebrities, at least do it for a noble cause like attacking them for blatant bigoted comments or negative portrayals of Blacks via insensitive stereotypes, like many have with Writer Roberto Orci (Transformers:  Rise of the Fallen) when that fool had the nerve to show up in the AICN talkbacks. On the flip side, many male geeks have been unfairly labeled "Sexist" by either clout chasers, or “pseudo justice warriors” for disliking Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman 84, Eternals, or even Black Widow which were poorly received due to mishandling of story, production or overall content. 

Trolls give the community who was once harassed for collecting comic books, action figures, Horror films, and playing videogames a very bad name, and should avoid too much negativity.  No different nor better than other marginalized groups yet have this sense of hierarchy when Gatekeeping under false pretense. Social media has become more toxic by giving cowards a voice to attack without facing any repercussions whatsoever.  They say that the fattest pig is the first one to be slaughtered. Well, there are plenty of “pigs in a blanket basement “out there within the geek sphere that need to calm the hell down or get roasted.

To quote Mike Tyson,

“Social media made you all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”

Truer words cannot be said! Geeks, do better!