+5 to Social Stamina

I’ll admit that I’m not quite sure how to start this. I know what I want to talk about, I know what I want to say, I even know how I want to say it…I just don’t know where to begin. So I guess I’ll just throw out a general statement and run with it: I don’t agree with the way social pressures have begun to affect our perception and judgment as individuals. There, I said it, in all its pretentious, overbearing glory. Now, forget all that for a moment and allow me to explain.

Peer pressure has existed since the dawn of time, dating all the way back to the moment the devil tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit by telling her repeatedly “You won’t do it! You won’t do it!” Since then, however, it’s grown and evolved into something much more subtle and arguably something much more powerful. No longer do we as people need to be persuaded what to do and how to act; the world simply does it for us. No longer do we need to be shown what’s good and right, what’s allegedly “cool”; it’s built into the very fabric of society. This social pressure exists all around us and we hardly even notice it. But look hard enough and you might find that it’s affected even you.

Now here’s where I’m gonna take a sharp left turn and steer this thing in a different direction. Instead of getting into some long, boring diatribe where I debate whether or not I agree with adolescents drinking and smoking (I don’t) or whether knowing how to read and do math somehow makes you uncool (it doesn’t), I’ve decided to focus on something a little more general, a little less personal: the fantasy genre.

More after the jump.

Fantasy. What’s the first thing you think of when you hear that word? Elves and dwarves running around in magical forests? Cloaked teenagers playing Dungeons and Dragons in some dimly lit basement? This is the kind of thing I’m talking about, the kind of subconscious reaction we’ve all been programmed to have to various social stimuli. Tell someone that you played 18 straight hours of Call of Duty and they don’t bat an eyelash, but tell them you spent a joyous day in the World of Warcraft and they look at you like you’re some kind of two-headed, hotpocket-eating monster. I’m exaggerating of course, but you get the point. Some things are just automatically biased against, and I don’t think that’s right. 

I see nothing wrong here.

Sticking with the video game theme for a moment, I suppose the basis of the problem is that most people associate “gaming” or “fantasy” with idea of the “nerd” or some other social undesirable. It’s an unfair assumption (and even if it’s true…who really cares?), and it makes it embarrassing for some people to own up to what they enjoy doing in their down time, or what they’re truly passionate about.  The same idea extends to movies and literature. I get teased for having read the Harry Potter books, for enjoying Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle (a series of books about dragons, FYI), for spending a Saturday scouring the world of Skyrim looking for ancient artifacts, and for a bunch of other nonsensical bullshit. Luckily, I’m the kind of person that isn’t really bothered by stuff like that (I know my friends are dickheads, and I tell them that every chance I get, haha), but what I’m really worried about is the people who are bothered by the teasing.

It makes me sad to think there are people out there afraid to be who they really are because they’re scared of getting picked on or laughed at. It makes me angry to think that there are people that would automatically judge others based on something as trivial as their taste in genre. How would you feel if you absolutely loved sports movies but were immediately labeled a “dumb jock” every time you mentioned one? It just doesn’t make sense to me. If little Johnny wants to run around with a sword and a cape, let him do his thing. Conversely, if he wants to dress up in shoulder pads and a helmet, the more power to him. At the end of the day it really doesn’t matter. 

In conclusion, I like dragons. I like Harry Potter (the books at least…and Emma Watson, post pubescent) and the Lord of the Rings. I wish magic and Narnia were real. Make fun of me all you want, bash me in the comments for the giant nerd I am. All I ask is that you think before you judge someone else, and that you don’t let the pressures and stigmas of society define you. Treat others the way you want to be treated, and don’t make them feel weird when they shout “plus five to stamina!” while scarfing down a bagel in the break room. Live and let live, baby.

-Nate