More fans in the mainstream…(joy!)
March 1st, 2008 by Loretta
ughh… so i don’t have much (read: any) profound insight to shed on this link and its content but when i saw the headline “Gaming Gets Creepy: we all love it, but do you love it TOO much?” i knew there was potential for yet another problematic representation of fans… and i was right! so i figured the best thing to do was to share it with y’all!
this time it’s all about attacking those bizarre gamers!
i stumbled upon this link from the (annoying yet enjoyably distracting) AIM Today site. it links to a slide show that has nine slides that each provide snide comments about different aspects and stereotypes of the gaming community.
Also, I found it interesting that this page is located in the Game Daily section of the AOL website world. This made me question who the intended audience is. Is it for people who don’t identify as a gamer, or for people who play video games and may very well partake in some of the activities that are shown in the slide? My first answer is that it’s obviously for those on the outside who can point and laugh at a community they don’t understand, but placing it on a gamer’s website is slightly contradictory. This also made me think about how gamers would respond… which led me to realize that there is probably some continuum where “extreme” gamers who identify strongly with the identity presented here would probably be offended while more “casual” gamers may be able to remove themselves from the identity and still find amusement in laughing at the “others.” but who knows…
overall, i’ve decided that this example of fan representation just provides more ammunition against the close-minded (and mean) mainstream meadia and more support for why fan communities remain exclusive and are hesitant to stand up to be “loud and proud.”
p.s. i kind of scared myself when i realized that before taking this class i would have seen this link and thought nothing of it except maybe “those people are odd and immature. aren’t i much more grounded and normal? good job loretta!” which i guess is the desired effect. but now i just view it like any other problematic, prejudice piece of poo polluting the public… and that worries me even more.
(final note: i just noticed that there is no link to this slide show on the main Game Daily page… nor is it easy to find without starting at aim today!)
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