Jay's Chatterbox: On Gatekeeping

Howdy howdy, my fiendish friends! There's something I wanted to talk about real quick. It's an old subject and possibly a bit of a dead horse, but we still see it so often in just about anything where people create a community. So, it's kind of important for it to be addressed at least once, considering the contents of this website.

I'm talking about Gatekeeping. If... the title wasn't clear enough...

We've all seen it at least once. Maybe we've even done it. When someone is new into the thing we like or doesn't like it exactly the way we do, we try to make it seem as if they aren't really invested. As if people will pretend to like something for just the sake of...what? Gaining access to a thing that doesn't actually interest them? It never really made much sense.

A lot of these things we talk about are things we all remember from childhood. Some of us were invested from the very beginning while others learned about it later on and then started to enjoy it. And this goes for pretty much everything; Comics, movies, games, toys, what-have-yous. But no matter what it is and no matter how long you've liked the thing; you don't get to tell people they're not showing their appreciation for it correctly.

And that is something I never really understood. Let's take Batman as an example.

You have loved Batman your entire life. You grew up in a decked out Batman themed room. You've collected all the statues, have every single Batmobile, follow every theory, have an opinion on which is the best Robin... you've done it all.

Then one day you meet someone who doesn't know Batman nearly as well. They don't know there's other Robins beyond Dick Grayson. Their knowledge of villains starts and stops at the Joker. They've only ever seen one movie and it was Val Kilmer.

You now have someone who enjoys Batman. Someone who could enjoy it with you. Someone you could show better movies and talk to about Damian Wayne. And, in that aspect, you get to see someone enjoy it for the first time.

Or, you could become offended by this person's lack of knowledge and act as if their liking of Batman somehow lessens your love for him. Make it make sense. I don't understand.

Why do I talk about this now; Moon Knight is coming out this coming Wednesday. I, personally, don't know much about Moon Knight. That sits more into Bossman's territory. But I will be watching it because what little I know is extremely intriquing. And I feel like so many people are going to start coming out of the woodwork once more to talk about how “fake fans” are watching this and “thinking their edgy.” Which, if you have these thoughts? I implore you:

Consider what you're trying to show by being rude to new fans. Are you trying to protect the media or your own ego?

This one was a little deviation from the others, but it has been on my mind. I just hope you take one thing from this. And that's it's okay to enjoy something differently than someone else. And the only thing you need to do to be a fan of something is to like it. Anyway, until next time.

Fare Thee Well!