Nerd Culture and Anxiety Part 7: Why I'm Right and You're Wrong...Or Vice Versa, Who Cares!

So…I’m a nerd. I’ve been a nerd, or at least into nerdy and pop culture-type things and fandoms for almost ten years. For me, it started around my senior year in high school and progressed through college, and helped me become the person I am today. Through this I have met new people, found a love for blogging and podcasting, talking and dissecting the shows I love, and it has all brought me into the crazy, loving, and anxiety-ridden world of fandoms. What is fandom, it is a group of people who discuss, cosplay or do whatever about a specific movie, television show, book, or all of the above. Like…well… everything there is a positive side and a negative side. On one end, you can meet new people and become lifelong friends, feel a sense of belonging, and in a way, find out who you are and grow as a person. On the other hand, you can get into fights with people about certain theories and plot points, feelings of anxiety over who’s right and who’s wrong, and feelings of depression when you don’t agree with the masses; it’s a lot. So I wanted to go through the movies and shows that brought me into nerd culture and turned me into the person I am today.

In the first parts of this series, I talked about the TV and film series that have turned me into the nerd I am today (Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe), how I got into those fandoms, and some of my opinions on these series that for some people might be considered “unpopular.” In this final part, I want to talk about my experience in not agreeing with the masses, how it has held me back over the years, and how after all of this time, I’ve learned that in the end I’m right and your wrong…or vice versa, but really who cares.

I remember when I first thought about writing this post, it was before I even started blogging and it was around the time Game of Thrones was ending, I was spending half my time at work reading clickbait about the latest episode and how it was THE WORST THING ON TELEVISION EVER, and I’m here thinking, wait, was it bad, I mean I enjoyed it, I was having a good time, but these people say that it’s bad, and people are agreeing with them in the comments, so is what I felt wrong. Then the anxiety kicks in and I felt so low about myself in those weeks because I thought something was wrong with me because of the way I saw something, that I could see anything truly bad in it. Maybe I was just swept up at the moment and soon I would agree with all of these people on the internet because they get paid to write articles on the so they must be correct in their opinions right…

I then remember feeling this feeling before, with other fandoms, I remember having a lot of emotions around the MCU and the characters and how much I cared about them. For me, a great example of this is “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and its sequel. This is my favorite movie in the MCU, and while I think some films in the series are technically better, these two are still my favorite. I remember after these movies came out, some reviewers found these films to be just stupid fun, and I felt weird and dumb telling people these were my favorite. The same thing happened with Doctor Who, telling people that Rose isn’t my favorite companion, how much I love Amy Pond, how I’m not a fan of the Christmas specials (except for “A Christmas Carol,”) or that I really like the episode “The Unicorn and the Wasp.” When I would talk to basically anyone about these or anything other movie or television show out there and they expressed a different opinion from mine, I always felt like I couldn’t share mine, or if I did I would be looked down upon. I always felt dumber then not only reviewers who got paid to write and make videos expressing their opinions, but the people around me as well. Or I felt like the only one who had these opinions and if I didn’t agree with the masses, I wouldn’t be a good reviewer, or that people would just say mean things because I expressed my thoughts that were different from everyone else’s, I mean…I’ve had so much anxiety writing this series and still have a fear of publishing it.

However, there was something during this time that gave me hope over the years and it started with a youtube comment (I know, shocker). I remember a Jeremy Jahns video about the last season of Game Of Thrones and how Daneryes change was similar to Anakin Skywalker, in that it was dumb and made no sense. I ended going down to the comment section (again I know it not a good idea), and while most of the comments were agreeing with the video and saying the whole season was garbage, I found one that disagreed, saying they felt that her change made sense and that they were afraid of even sharing this thought because of what people might say. I was so moved that I ended up replying and saying that I agreed with them and was also scared to share my thoughts because of what others would say. We had a small conversation in the comments on how we enjoyed the last season and how hard it was even saying that out loud. I began getting on the trend of watching videos I disagreed with and going through the comments and finding comments that I agreed with, searching for unpopular opinions on Reddit, and finding a ton I agreed with, and it gave me hope that I wasn’t alone.

So here’s what I learned: What one person hates, another person loves, and vice versa. We are all right and wrong…or maybe we’re all just right, I mean. hey if you enjoyed it, great, if not, well that sucks. Let’s just enjoy what we love and be kind to the people who disagree. I’m not going to agree with everyone. Neither are you I’m not going to have the same reaction to a movie or show as everyone else; sometimes I will and that’s great, and it’s great if someone has a different opinion. You’re not wrong or right, you’re just you and I’m just me. So, at the end, when it comes to nerd culture and fandoms in general. They are wonderful places where people make friends and share stories and ideas, and they are these messy parts of the world where people get mad at each other for having a different opinions. In the end, we’re all right and we're all wrong and who cares? What do you think? Let me know about your opinions on these shows or any other opinions on anything else nerdy. Thanks, guys!