Geek Flag at Half Mast

I was reading this thread at RPG.net, and I realized something.

I don't have the energy to be a real geek anymore.

I mean it. As mighty and masculine and awesome as I am, I just can't keep it up. I can't keep caring about the little crap that geeks have to care about.

The thread linked above is one about the new Superman Returns trailer, which made me giddy like a little girl. The people on the thread took that awesome trailer and decided to argue about whether the actors are too young and whether Kevin Spacey makes a good Lex Luthor. And my first impulse was to post something resembling the following:

"Dear Damn Nerds,

"Who gives a flying crap about how old Clark Kent looks or whether Lex Luthor lives up to your weird fantasy of who he should be based on the comics, which present a new version of both Clark and Lex every other goddamned issue.

"Furthermore, this Superman movie is all the Superman movie any of us will get for the time being. So shut the hell up and just watch it.

"In addition, going to see a movie is not the same as pledging a thousand dollars to support a charity or political candidate. It is 12 bucks and two hours of your life. Stop acting like going to see a movie is doing the studio any damn favors. You're not that important.

"Also, I don't care about your pseudo-intellectual thoughts on whether the 'source material' was treated with respect. It's a damned comic book. They don't even respect themselves.

"And you're ugly.

"Sincerely,

"Awesomelord."

But then I realized that I don't care enough to even post that. Because what will happen is that they will all turn on me and assert their right to geek about in a destructive manner. It's just not worth it.

Where did my energy go? Why don't I care whether or not Spacey's Lex Luthor is too whacky or a new Clash of the Titans film will exist? Why can't I focus on the stupid little details and work myself up into a froth that completely ruins my eventual moviegoing experience, regardless of the actual quality of the film I grudgingly go to see?

Maybe it's age. I did age a little yesterday, I think. I was sitting around, and I saw some kids outside, and I thought, "Damned kids. Get off my lawn." And then when I was burying them, I got a twinge in my back. So I figured I was aging.

And then I thought about it. I never hear old men geeking about. Is it because they, too, lost the energy to do so? Or is it, maybe, because geeking out just isn't that important in the grand scheme of things?

It's a rough realization when you find out that giving your all to complain about insignifiant details might not be a healthy way to go. Someone talking about the threatened Aquaman TV series might go, "OMG, Aquaman isn't going to be from Atlantis!!!", and I might respond, "OMG, Aquaman exists as an entity in fiction!!!" Who cares where the TV Aquaman is from. If it's a good show, frickin' watch it. If you don't want to, don't. The effort you save from not griping about it could be what saves your life in the coming apocalypse.

So yeah. I don't know if I need to give up my geek badge or not. Maybe it's for the best, especially since I'm getting married soon and no longer need my geek badge to pick up chicks.