Grow up!

I dunno about you, but one thing I’m sick ‘n’ tired of is old guys complaining about things. I’m talking about those old guys who complain about young kids crowding the aisles of their anime cons. I’m talking about those old guys who complain about their anime not being like it used to be. Anime is the only real fandom I’ve been involved in across my 21 years on this planet, but I have a feeling these sorts of people lurk in the darkness of every single fandom out there. So it’s nothing new. In fact, it’s something very old!

And before anyone makes an ass out of you and me, I am not talking about the individuals who occupy some of the fine internet dwellings that I chose to adorn my blogroll with. Nor am I speaking of those jaded old bats I moaned about some moons ago (they’re annoying in a completely different way). What am talking about are fans of anime, roughly ages 30 and above, that are simply unable to act their age.

In an attempt to clarify even further, the guys at Colony Drop and the Anime World Order aren’t that much older than I am. But the main difference I’m trying to illustrate for you–the readership, who may not see one yet–between these people and the ones I’m complaining about is simply a cool head. The reasonsĀ  I read and listen to those two are a) they’re quite entertaining, and b) have well thought out opinions and reasoning. Even if their opinions may run contrary to my own, I can still listen to them, consider them, and appreciate their point of view.

The fans I’m sick ‘n’ tired of are ones who are unable to do this. They bitch and whine like children over the fact that things just aren’t how they used to be, offering nothing in the way of reason. Well, some of the arguments they put forth may be considered reasonable in their minds, but to a level-headed individual it comes off as nothing but noise. And it’s not even a matter of them simply lacking eloquence. You can lack eloquence but still put forth an argument that makes sense.

But what really makes these guys worse than the younger kids they’re complaining about is this: those kids are acting their age. It makes sense for teenagers to act dumb–they’re teenagers. They’re in a transitional stage of their life–slowly and painfully crossing that bridge from childhood to adulthood. It makes sense that they act without reason or thought. What doesn’t make sense is the 300 pound, balding, 50 year old loser wearing a faded t-shirt, his fingers covered in cheese dust from all the Cheetos he’s been eating, with his fat ass lumped on his computer seat, farting and burping once every five minutes due to the seven cans of soda he’s drank (he’s only been awake for five hours), typing up an angry rant on the internet about how his needs aren’t being served anymore.

That is of course the worst-case-scenario. And honestly? I’ve only just noticed fans like these at this past Anime Boston, and have come across only a few in my internet travels. So I haven’t seen many of them. Maybe they really are few in number, and this rant–which is not all that different from the rants I’m talking about–is unwarranted.

But anyway, somethings are–like the Japanese love to say–“can’t be helped.” Like kids acting like kids. However, some things can, and these types of people can easily help themselves. But they first have to realize how horribly broken they are. It’s not that difficult to slim down, go out, make friends, act socially acceptable, and think with a level head. If they did that, then maybe people would be more willing to listen to them, instead of writing them off as–in the words of some awful internet BBS–an “oldfag”.

And before I take off, it’s not as if the moe fan parallel to these guys don’t exit. They do! But I already talked about them.

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