it's been a while since I've run across this attitude

[timepiececlock]

There's a short blurb about anime on the G4 network where one of the people who run the Anime News Network website is being interviewed beside a cosplayer (woman, decent constume but bad wig) and a screenwriter (for what, I don't know.) The link has a video clip, which I watched. I wanted to smack the interviewer; he was incredibly patronizing. I mean, I've seen some people roll their eyes at the idea of anime conventions or whatever, but this guy went into the interview with some very negative preconceived notions and then basically accused the ANN guy and the cosplayer of being these false stereotypes, while at the same time mocking them. It seemed unnecessarily negative from the start. The ANN guy and the cosplayer had to keep defending anime fans as being "mostly normal." When the point of the G4 show's feature segment is to discuss how popular and mainstream anime is getting, it's pretty stupid to try to say that all anime fans are obsessive and crazy.


The whole attitude kind of baffles me, because it's not like this host jerk hasn't probably ever heard of sci fi conventions or Trekkies, or hasn't met a costuming sports fanatic. Cosplay isn't new to the US-- it's just appearing in a slightly new way with anime fans.

The host also seemed to really want to paint anime fans as being the "anime can do no wrong" bubble or something. I found this a ridiculous argument when applied to any group larger than a dozen people. (40,000+ people at Anime Expo this year! Of cours they must ALL be existing in a bubble of non-reality, no problem with that theory) So did the ANN interviewee. The host even asked him if he "would pick anime over any other type of animation any day, right?" And the ANN guy looks at him like he's an idiot and says he loves Pixar movies and Disney too and there's no reason to "pick" anime over other stuff.


Anyway, I don't think the interviewer was very fair or even very good (he interrupted a lot), and he seemed to have this arrogance about being superior to anime fans. Comming from the host of an obscure cable show devoted to video games... that's pretty ridiculus to have any notion of superiority at all. I also found it offensive because when I go to the manga aisle of the Barnes & Noble, it's not like I'm going to a secret geek meeting in the dark of night. I'm going to the bookstore to by manga or DVDs, and right beside me are a slew of other people who watch anime for fun and don't go to meetings at the dark of night. It's not that big of a deal.

Of course, if there were meetings at the dark of night in bookstores I'd go. But they don't have to even be about anime. Just the words "midnight" "meeting" and "bookstore" would get me there.



Apropos of nothing, did y'all know there was a community out there called dwliterotica? How come I did not know that?

Comments

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how Ten/TARDIS works. I'm not sure I want to know. And yet, I can't look away.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

That's scary. I haven't even browsed the place yet-- I was just putting it her for future exploration.

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

You know, when you mentioned that there was a jerk interviewer on G4, somehow I immediately knew it was gonna be the host from Attack of the Show. :) But yeah, gamers laughing at otaku? That's the pot not only telling the kettle that it's black, but also informing it that it's stupid for bothering to heat shit up.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

It thought it was weird cause it reminded me of arguments I'd hear about anime from someone who wasn't aware of it at all beyond the news media. It surprised me to see that this was a gamer--- not because I haven't met gamers who think anime fans are silly, but because I would expect gamers to have a much clearer and closer understanding of the fan mentality-- knowing that there are lots of normal fans to very few hard core fans. It's like how I feel about Trekkers/Trekkies who cosplay all the time-- yeah, I think it's kind of silly, but I know not everyone who considers themselves a Star Trek fan believes to their soul that the morals of the Federation (or the Vulcans) are how we should live our lives and dress accordingly. But that's because I've watched Star Trek, met fans, and am generally not stupid.

Most gamers have had a lot of exposure to anime. I wouldn't be surprised by mocking (simply because the industries are so close together, you expect that), but I was surprised by he lack of understanding. This guy talked like he'd never watched anime before and never played a final fantasy game.

[rangu-19th.livejournal.com]

It's surprising to hear how many gamers think that Anime is dorky...I find it amusing.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Actually, that doesn't surprise me. Most gamers have had a lot of exposure to anime. I wouldn't be surprised by mocking (simply because the industries are so close together, you expect that), but I was surprised by he lack of understanding. This guy talked like he'd never watched anime before and never played a final fantasy game.

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

And all gamers are addicted to either mmorpgs (because they can't take real life) or shooting games (because they are violent and their impulse-control is poor). Right. *eyeroll*

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

P.S. I'm a gamer XD.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I'm as much a gamer as an anime fan with a PS2 she uses casually can be expected to be. Which means more like I dabble.

Especially cause i dont know what "mmporg" is.

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.

Think Everquest.

The interview looks sharper...

[rasielle.livejournal.com]

... in text. Reading the transcript, it looks ten-times cruder for some reason. Huh.

Jeez, this is a tense interview. I'm pretty proud of the ANN interviewee ((the fanatic, too, but the ANN interviewee was much more eloquent)) for his strong answers, and he was very reasonable in his defence - but the interviewer and the screenwriter got on my nerves. Did the screenwriter tick you off too?

Oh, and just a minor correction: it wasn't the host who said "but you would pick anime over any other type of animation any day, right?"... it was the screenwriter, according to the transcript.

"But what about the idea of the mantra that hardcore anime fans follow, that anime can do no wrong?" <<--- I'm not even a "hardcore anime fan" ((more of a casual viewer, minus Avatar)), but WTF? That's a terrible generalization; there might be a few cocky fans out there who think the Anime world is some sort of untouchable kingdom, but suggesting that ALL fans fit into that mindset ((or even the majority)) is just horrid.

Is this really commonplace though, most anime fans believing anime is flawless? Maybe I've just been living under a rock here...

Re: The interview looks sharper...

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the screenwriter annoyed me too.

I watched the video clip. It was the interviewer who said it.


Is this really commonplace though, most anime fans believing anime is flawless? Maybe I've just been living under a rock here...

It's not. It's a stupid argument, which doesn't even make sense if you think it through. Do all country music fans think all country music is sacred? No. As far as how fans relate to their hobby, anime fans aren't strange or special or weird. It has the same gradation of "minor fan" to "major fan" as anything else. Of course, there are some fans who think anime is better than US across the board, but they're few and usually new converts, who have yet to experience truly horrendous anime. They also tend to be philes of Japanese culture, but in such that they over-romanticize it.