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timepiececlockThere'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![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
dwliterotica? How come I did not know that?
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?
