Otaku-hating otaku
Mar 25, 2008 • Anime
I wanted to mention this last week except I took the opportunity of a national holiday and extended it into a 4 day mini-vacation with friends.
Last Wednesday, Scott VonSchilling @ The Anime Almanac presented a great observation regarding the intra-otaku hatred. While not a dominant trait of the overall community, it’s quite noticeable when an incident rears its ugly head. Scott’s post reveals a great example of this type of fan but I’ll add one from personal experience.
Several years ago, I was introduced to someone who, within 10 minutes of meeting, made the statement that having more knowledge about Japanese culture and language automatically elevated one fan’s status over another’s. This person then spewed forth an indirect list of how inferior I was with the sole intention of shocking me into believe that they had “street cred”1. It was clear that they did not want to be questioned, that they should be the reigning authority on all things anime and Japan, and that what would normally be taken as curiosity was actually, in their view, stupidity. My neophyte status ended up being so repulsive that after 20 minutes, we mutually did not want to become friends2.
Bad anime fan! Bad, bad anime fan! No cookie for you!
This attempt to self-classify is an example of the other end to the fandom spectrum, one not discussed nearly as much. I’m not quite sure why it gets less condemnation from the overall community, but I was very glad to see that Scott candidly addressed it. People have often highlighted the split between new/casual members, ridiculed for not being serious about a hobby3, and the casual (yet respected) otaku to the hardcore (yet not loser) otaku who take this hobby seriously. The other end of the spectrum might embrace this mentality: if you’ve climbed to the top of the ladder, who else is there for you to look down upon?
It should be noted that many hardcore otaku who also have an interest in Japanese culture and language don’t look down on anyone4 - this would include a good deal of people I’ve met, all hardcore otaku and all studying Japanese. They tell the truth: they like anime and they like Japan. But for those that seek status, rank, and some kind of hierarchy to the conglomeration that is the anime fandom will attempt to distinguish themselves by any means possible. The projected image is: “Look how much better I am…not only can I recite arcane bits of anime knowledge, I can also recite all the stations on the Yamanote line!”5
Whatever happened to love and peace? And doughnuts?
Scott had a wonderful sentiment. To paraphrase it, we are all in the same group and no one’s interest has more value than any one else’s. But in a subculture that seems to value recitation of knowledge, trivia tidbits, and pwnage that has not been seen outside of the gaming community, it makes sense that some people would gravitate towards this mentality. However, it’s still unfortunate.
- If you could get an A-N-I-M-E grill, this person would have it [↩]
- There’s a whole, glorious back-story to all this but it’s too detailed [↩]
- Which really takes the fun out of a hobby [↩]
- Except maybe Pokemon and Digimon children [↩]
- I can’t…can you? Well, if you live in Tokyo, you have a good excuse. [↩]
Comments
@alafista: I think you’re right regarding society’s image…it’s a pity more fans don’t embrace that group mentality though. I have also considered it’s something that’s an inevitable byproduct of the rapid growth of the fandom as well.
Somehow I’m not surprise that this kind of mentality exist in our group. Actually I’ve seen this kind of behaviour up close and well, let just say it sickens me.
No one should degrade another over such trivial thing. But I acknowledge the fact that ‘I’m the top dog/ I’m better than anyone’ syndrome is unfortunately part of this culture, human nature as it is. Well, for me, it’s better to ignore such ignoramus rather then being confrontational about such silly matters.
I would agree, lanie-emon. Direct confrontation would not make a difference - I suspect it would actually have a further detrimental effect.
Ooh. I’ve totally found myself engaging in this sort of stuff mentally as the offending party. I know, I’m guilty here. :<
The difference is I generally take myself aside see how erroneous my thoughts were.
It’s definitely amusing to see someone who’s never even been to Japan spout their superiority of its culture to someone else, though.
At least you’re aware of it and it’s only mental, Nagato. I honestly believe that this person, as well as the one in Scott’s example, have no idea that they have these attitudes. This entry has garnered a lot of attention from CJ Blackwing’s post - I think it’s clear how much damage this mentality can have when verbalized.
I have no idea if these people have been to Japan or not. Even then, I don’t believe it makes them a “better” otaku…it just makes them a person who could afford a plane ticket.
Well, turns out the whole ABC thing was a hoax, xD Oh well =p
And you’re right, having visited Japan doesn’t necessarily make you a ‘better’ otaku. However, if someone were to lecture about Japanese culture, it would definitely help if they’d actually been before. n.n;
Yeah, I just saw that. Still, my post stands separate and I think it was written before that entire thing even started, although I’m not sure of the history.
Yep, we know. It just seemed to fit what was going on so well, is why you received so much attention for it. :p
I hate people with no jobs who sit around all day thinking that they don’t want a wife or girlfriend because their precious Shana-tan is SOOOO~ much better than IRL WIMMIN~ and expect you to feel sorry for them because they still live with their moms and spend all their money on hug pillows. I WOULD HATE THEM WHETHER THEY LIKED ANY OR NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE SOCIALLY AND EMOTIONALLY RETARDED.
ANIME* EVEN KADSGJSLDKGJSKLAG I SHOULDN’T WRITE COMMENTS WITHOUT MY GLASSES ON B(
I couldn’t agree with you more, there shouldn’t be any classification because ultimately we are all just geeky fans. And I think thats how society views us too - as a stereotyped group.
So what if one watches 100 episode a week while another just enjoys only 1 episode weekly. We all love Japan and anime!