Why Are Nerds Against Change?

Tell me if you’ve heard some of these: [check_list][icon_check]Why are there so many cos-players at (name of comic book convention)? [/check_list][check_list][icon_check]What about the ART?![/check_list][check_list][icon_check]I don’t read the new (reboot of formerly favorite series) since they changed it.[/check_list][check_list][icon_check]I just don’t think (imaginary superhero) should be Black/female/etc.[/check_list][check_list][icon_check]They’re rebooting (name of movie franchise)! Why do they always have to change things?![/check_list] Some of these opinions may have racist or sexist overtones, or undertones, or just plain tones, but just as frequently, these reactions seem to be unconsidered impulses that can be summarized in one phrase: I liked this thing, exactly the way it was.

I like old things, I get that. I’m a sucker for an Original Star Trek marathon. But that doesn’t mean I can’t get down with some Star Trek: Next Generation as well. Requesting, no DEMANDING, that your favorite geek thing not change and evolve is the height of irony, and I mean that in the classic sense: the opposite of what you’d expect, often humorously so. What is more ironic than a bunch of people who set up a place to enjoy comic books together being angry when other people show up to enjoy comic books too! Maybe that same bunch of comic book fans lobbying hard for their hero to earn a coveted spot in a movie, only to then balk when the hero doesn’t show up as they expected? Take for e…