Quote:
Originally Posted by Inko-chan
The only judgemental issue that causes the perceived "looking-down" by Society on the anime fan is Society's ignorance on the matter, and Society's assumption that one's age is or is not appropriate for it. Or for comic books, graphic novels, toys, figures, you name it. It is this stupidity, that for some reason the majority of people adhere to like sheep, that's to blame for the marginalization of people who enjoy anime and the like. And, after judging, they go back to Finding Nemo and WALL-E, singing those animations' praises like the hypocrites they are.
Society is an ass  |
There's a reason for everything society does. In my country, almost everybody hates gypsies because they're known as thieves. All rational folks know that this is mere prejudice, however when you realize that a lot of people you know became their victims, it's hard to shake off that nasty feeling each time you leave your car in a gypsy neighborhood. I think it's the same deal with anime. I run a humble anime IRC channel, and from what I can tell, each and every channel user has some sort of real life issue going on that's troubling them into staying. I even try really hard not to stick my nose into their business! I have so much experience with the online anime community that I've started taking it as the last safe haven where people with problems can turn to. Anime has this supportive characteristic that helps people overcome their problems in one way or another. Sadly for the medium, the general society catches onto this problem subconsciously, either through stereotypes created by the media or personal experience. Because Society needs a Public Enemy, they turn their eye to whoever is making headlines. It's gypsies in my country, Japan has otaku, and so on. Just accept the fact that you're strange, weird, different, eccentric, and the fact that the anime community has an irregularly high concentration of such people, and you'll be fine.