WARNING INCOMING RANT!
Ok so I was perusing the forums over on Anime News Network and found the following post:
"I think there is a community with Anime, I have some problems and I don't fit in other groups, and people don't like me, but people here talk to me, it helps me feel better about myself, so there is a community"
Alright, first off, I totally can relate to not feeling accepted, I think that we all have been there to some extent at one time or another, and some of us more than others. I am glad that people have found a hobby that they love...
But...THAT DOESN'T MAKE US A SUPPORT GROUP!
Sorry, now I have that out let me explain, I was a member of a highschool Anime club, we met on weekends at a local rec center and kicked back and watched a lot of shows, had a great time [see my "Golden Age" article for more information] but as the years wore on I noticed a disturbing trend, more and more of the new members we were getting were people with some rather serious interpersonal issues. We would later find out that the local highschool counselors reccomended us as a place that kids could go to get support, from "People just like you"
What the heck? Ok here's the thing, while yes many of us had had outcast status pinned on our heads at some point we had never though of the club as a support group, it was just like any other group that met, people coming together who enjoyed the same things. Now all of a sudden were were being asked to make people feel welcome because they were told "They are just like you" not fair, not right to the members of the club.
As the years have passed and I have gotten older I have noticed this trend more and more, kids/adults that feel lost, seem to gravitate towards the Anime/Manga scene to try and fit in. The problem is that there are a lot of true hobbyists out there for whom this is more than a little annoying, they feel that this tarnishes what they love and lumps them into a more support grop role, one they don't always want let alone are qualified for.
I lurked a lot on the forum page for the Cherry Blossom Ball at Anime Boston last year [wonderous idea BTW, kudos to the event organizers] and watched as it slowly became a discussion of finding a date and being "unable to get a date is HS" or those still in HS trying to deal with the realities of teen life. I felt for the organizers because they tried and tried to keep the thread on topic, but it kept coming back to dates, and being outcasts. It was a shame, I get that people felt that they would be left out, even though the organizers kept stressing that dates weren't required, but honestly it started to make the thread hard to read as it became more and more about folks emotional states than about the actual ball itself.
Its a tough situation, people want to feel accepted and wanted, but at the same time, people want to feel what they are doing is a hobby and not as someone elses support group. I was recently yelled at in a comic store by a guy because I just wanted to check out and leave and he wanted to keep talking to me about how great Naruto is. I finally told him politely that I didn't want to argue, and he said "Well I have Apsbergers, so this is how it is for me" this was an employee that handled the Anime/Manga section...I didn't even know how to react, I want to be friendly but I am not about to be yelled at either.
I want people to feel welcome and free to share their opinions, but I also feel that we should be trying to enforce that we are a community [if one can call us that] of hobbyists and not a support group.
I have Tourettes, and serious depression, its something I will live with for the rest of my life, and I will defend ANYONE that gets slammed because of a disability, but I don't ask the members of my hobbies to be my support network, I have groups for that.
Anyways, thats about it, let me know what you think, what you think we have a responsibility to do, use the comments section on the blog I would really like to here the thoughts of anyone else on this subject.
Later!
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