Although it doesn’t really deserve to be a target, this review of a recent Simpson’s episode titled “That 90s Show” (thanks to Steve for forwarding the article along…I guess…) set me off because of something that’s been bothering me for a long time now.

As vaguely absurd as it is to review a Simpsons episode, the reviewer does make some worthwhile points. Overall, yes, the episode was weak, and, yes, the quality of the show has taken a nosedive over the last 6-7 years or so. All very true. To be honest, “That 90s Show” was actually the first new Simpsons episode I’ve seen in a good five years or so.

But the quality of the episode and the show itself are nearly inconsequential, because here are the parts of the IGN review that struck me:

But nothing was funny enough to cover up the fact that “That ’90s Show” was thumbing its nose at all the great, established, hilarious moments and episodes we’ve come to love and cherish.

It was an insult to all the great lines we all have memorized and throw into conversations without missing a beat. I mean, I can’t ignore what I know. I can’t pretend that everything I’ve watched happen to Homer, Marge, Bart and everybody else living, working and dying in Springfield, USA is just one big, fat lie. Am I overreacting? Probably. But to any diehard fan of The Simpsons, “That ’90s Show” was an abomination.

For my purposes, the phrases that most matter are:

-”…WE’VE come to love and cherish.”

-”…an insult to all the great lines WE…”

-”…to ANY DIEHARD FAN of The Simpsons…”

So right there is my huge, raging-out-of-control problem that pisses me off to no end about modern geek and nerd culture: The Sense of Entitlement.

Let me put it another way using this poor, unaware Simpsons reviewer as an example: what exactly, in the name of all that is holy, does The Simpsons owe this guy? Because that’s really what he’s saying, that The Simpsons owes him, a life-long fan, a great show.

What exactly does The Simpsons owe any fans or anybody whatsoever? Did the show borrow money from you? DId you give it mouth-to-mouth while it was choking to death? Did you help the show move? Did you save its dog or child from being run over by a car? Did you give it a blowjob?

Those are all various hypothetical real-world situations in which a person might “owe” another person something. All The Simpsons did was be one of the greatest television shows ever for, like, six or seven years, changing the face of TV and comedy in the process. I think The Simpsons has probably done its job. It’s accomplished all it can reasonably hope to accomplish.

Let’s look at some other recent examples of nerds getting mad about something sucking. What about the whole Spider-Man “One More Day” debacle? Sure, it’s a dumb, wtf head-scratcher of a story line. If you were disappointed, I’m sorry. But you know what? Joe Quesada or Marvel doesn’t owe anybody a thing. They don’t owe long-time Spider-Man fans or readers a spider-masterpiece or an apology for a continuity shake-up. They’re just trying to sell comics. And you know what? They did. A lot of them.

Or take the oft-targeted George Lucas for example. There hasn’t been any worthwhile Star Wars anything since 1983. In fact, more than a few aspects of the prequels are, let’s be honest, insulting. To everybody. But even though I worshipped those first three movies when I was a kid, did George Lucas owe me personally good prequels to those original films? Does he owe Star Wars fans something? Absolutely not.

George Lucas didn’t ask his movies to be cultural sensations. He didn’t ask 85% of American males born between 1967-1980 to get emotionally involved in his clever pulp mishmash and embrace The Force as some kind of new pop religion. The man should do what he wants to do…which, apparently, is concoct atrocious movies about people in outer space.

Anyway, this baseless, selfish whining by “fans” about themselves and what they deserve is one of the main dangers of investing a lot of time in what is, generally, garbage culture.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love garbage culture — just look at this site. But superhero comics, toys, big Hollywood blockbusters, etc: these types of entertainment don’t usually set out to change people’s lives. They don’t try to make an artistic statement (although sometimes they have artistic aspects, which is a blast to try to figure out). They don’t beg for this kind of constant attention and OCD-level involvement. They don’t ask to fill voids in people’s lives. They are entertainment, pure and simple. Usually disposable entertainment. To take them too seriously — or personally — is not only psychologically and socially dangerous, but also antithetical to what garbage culture is all about: fun.

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