The Generic Fanboy

So last weekend, I saw Star Trek, and I absolutely loved it! Loved it!! What a great ride. But after leaving the theater, I realized the only thing I didn't like about the night was that I saw zero people in costume. You would think that a Star Trek movie would bring out at least one pair of pointy ears. But, no. It was simply a very excited crowd ready to hit Warp 9. Where was the fanboy??

Just as a quick exercise for your brain, think back on your life when you first heard a word or term that, in today's tech-savvy world, is practically ubiquitous. I can come up with several off the top of my head: LOL, noob, fragging, pwned, tweets... In a "normal" world, the casual reader would see words like this and think the dictionary had a bad case of schizophrenia. And I'll admit that when I saw these terms for the first time, I was like, "Ummmm, what?" It's words like this that take a certain amount of use to understand exactly what's going on. However, the first time I heard the word "fanboy", I knew exactly what it meant.

Wikipedia defines a fanboy as "any man who is devoted to a single subject in an emotional or fanatical manner, or to a single point of view within that subject, often to the point where it is considered an obsession". That definition, although detailed, was basically my correct assumption of what a fanboy was.

And let me tell you, I've met some fanboys during my days: the clinically-obsessed male who goes to any length to prove that his lightsaber is bigger than yours. These are the Vulcans walking around a Star Trek convention, the fifteen Wolverines that just passed by you at ComicCon, and the Apple elitist who despises Microsoft with relish and proudly hangs a Michelangelo-esque painting of Steve Jobs touching the finger of God. This is where "fanboy" really gets broken down to its bare essential: fanatic. He's that person who will very easily find flaws in something just because it challenges their own obsession. These people are so set in their ways that any detour would radically alter their perception of life as they know it.

Now I would like to enter into evidence that I am a fanboy. Yes, it's true. I have been for quite some time. But.....a fanboy of what? I mean, I am a huge Star Trek fan, I think Wolverine is pretty freakin' sweet, and I ♥ Apple in so many wonderful ways, it makes me shiver with giddiness. But let's be quite clear: you'd never see me wearing pointy ears at a Star Trek convention, I would not be sporting the latest superhero spandex at ComicCon, and the only computers I currently own are PCs.

So where does one draw the line when it comes to being a fanboy? Well, I can't speak for the other umpteen crazies walking the planet, but I personally consider myself a "generic" fanboy: a man obsessed not with Star Trek or Star Wars, but with science fiction; not with Harry Potter or Terminator, but with the motion picture; not with Apple or Microsoft, but with the entire world of technology. And to be honest, I prefer it that way. Just look how much freedom it gives you. You can love everything!! And you won't get beat up in a fight over which supervillian's dad could beat up another supervillian's dad.

So to all the Star Trek fanboys out there, I proudly say "May the Force be with you in your long and prosperous life." And next time there's a Star Trek movie in the theater, please don't forget your ears.