People have mixed views on the term "fake geek". I don't see anything wrong with the term as long as it's used in the right context. Here's why:
For years nobody knew who Deadpool was. Then, all of a sudden, like a majestic eagle in red and black leather, he soared into stardom.The world is full of people who have "always" loved him (and by "always" they mean "since they found out about him a few months ago). I've watched with amusement as people from my childhood who mocked geek culture and comics have suddenly, now that we're around 30, become huge comic book fans. I think it's wonderful that being a "Geek" has become an acceptable thing and that the things we love are now huge in pop culture. It's a great time to be a geek.
Now, a whole world of people who had never heard of Deadpool but claim he's always been their favorite "superhero" are saying "I don't know why Warhead hasn't been in an X-Men movie yet. She's so awesome! We love her! Everyone knows she's the coolest!"
You'd never heard of her either! You've barely scratched the surface of who she is. The movie doesn't even clearly explain what her powers are! She has maybe 5 lines of dialogue! Movie Negasonic Teenage Warhead doesn't even remotely look like comic book Negasonic Teenage Warhead!
Hello!
Look, it's perfectly OK to discover a thing and like a thing. You don't have to keep pretending that you know all about the thing and that you've loved it for always. It's OK to say "Hey, I just got into this thing." Nobody is going to judge you. Most geeks love having an opportunity to talk about the things we love. We'd love to teach you about our passions.
What's irritating is the fact that so many of us life long geeks remember that you weren't always one of us. We remember being mocked. We remember being ridiculed. We remember feeling like outsiders. We're not asking (at least, I'm not asking) for you to put us on pedestals and praise our foresight in loving comics (or whatever), what we are asking is that you stop pretending that you've always been one of us because we know you're being fake.
We know you're being fake the same way you knew we were fake when we tried out for the team even though we weren't athletic. Or we showed up to school wearing skate shoes even though we'd never touched a skateboard in our lives. Or we used our first ever paycheck to buy new wardrobes at Abercrombie and Fitch. We know you're being fake the way we were fake when all we wanted was to fit in.
The thing is, you don't need to be fake. Like I said, it's OK to admit that you're new to something. It's cool to be new. As I said before, Geeks love to teach people about our passions. We love "New Geeks". Bring 'em on! The more the merrier! The newest fans are always the most passionate fans! In fact, there's a certain irony in the fact that a whole world of people who spent their lives judging geeks are now afraid of being judged for not having been geeks. Cut that shit out.
Because when you're fake, we know that means one of two things: Either you were always a fan and pretended not to be because you cared more about your image than being our friends, or you're only being a fan now because it's popular and you care about your image and want to be perceived as cool. Either way, it means that when the tidal wave of popularity that Geek Culture is currently riding goes away, we'll be going back to being outsiders. Because as soon as we aren't cool anymore you'll shallowly move on to whatever the new fad is. At it's core, the hatred of "Fake Geeks" is a fear of abandonment.
What I'm really trying to talk about here is honesty. Be honest about who you are. Embrace it. If you've always loved the thing: Keep it up! If you really do love the thing but are new to it: Welcome! Everyone loves new friends! If you only love the thing because it's popular: That's OK too, but at least have the decency to admit it, because nobody likes a phony.
Geek culture, at it's core, is about being yourself. It's about embracing the things you love and sharing those things with others. Geek culture is about honesty.
Let's all be honest together.
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