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Gaming As Image Statement
In an editorial entitled Will Anybody Care That You Liked Gaming Before It Was Cool?, GameGirlAdvance editor ClockworkGrue discusses aspects of PSP Glamour, and what it means when gaming devices become sex symbols. From the article: "It's great that gaming can be trendy, and that the 300 pound guy on the train the other day and Paris Hilton are both PSP owners. Maybe now there'll be some demand for game-related clothing that breaks the basement-casual standard?" Update: 04/15 11:13 GMT by Z : To fix broken link.
And sadly, yes, i believe the whole popular vs. unpopular stuggle extends post high-school. Not in the same way (no lockers to shove us into, but velvet ropes to keep us out), and not to the same magnitude...but certainly there are similar barriers to popular social acceptance, e.g. Money, Beauty, etc. that make it hard to break in if you lack those traits. Because that's the way the world works. Who gets into the trendy manhattan club - Linus Torvalds or Lebron James? Who gets more autograph requests, Steve Jobs or Matt Damon?
The Upside to this is that high school is a small pond type of place. as you get older I think you have the opportunity to meet more people whose worldview syncs to yours and thus can have a better pool of contacts to draw from. Age becomes less of a barrier to friendships and so does gender. And yes, people understand that there are different people in the world and become, to a degree, more mature...but i think we are pretty hardwired to be attracted to people like ourselves, with clique jumping being an exception rather than the rule.
In terms of social acceptance, I think representing Paris Hilton as popular and the 300 lb. guy on the train as an outcast is a fallacy. After all, celebrity status is simply a result of marketing. The throngs of proles who worship these people are doing so simply because of their status. They have no actual connection to these people, other than the marketed status that they have wholly swallowed. As a result, their "popularity" is somewhat false. People care about the CELEBRITY, not the person. I would also like to note that it is attitudes such as your own, that perpetuate this status. In addition, popularity is a relative condition. After all, that 300 lb. man on the train could be the leader of a successful gaming group or a coven of wiccans. If this were the case, he could certainly be labeled "popular"; however, we automatically assume he's not, because he's overweight and plays a PSP on the train. I think it's silly to make "celebrity" comparisons like Linus Torvalds vs. Lebron James. After all, one is a BUSINESSMAN whereas the other is an ENTERTAINER.
Respect It.
Think about it, Why is Paris Hilton a celebrity? What did she do? What positive contribution to society has she made that should garner her the status that she has? None. she is not even a very good actress...except that she has a ton of money and she looks good in front of the camera...and people like that. Beauty and money made her popular and popularity made her a star. And even if you and i, as smart as we are, recognize that she is as dumb as a box of hair, she is still propped up on society's plinth because of beauty and money.
and yes, we know nothing about the 300 lb. guy on the subway. and you are right, he could be a leader of a multi-billion dollar business...but why did the author single him out? Why not make the comparison between Paris Hilton and the cute boy in the subway, or the guy in the business suit? Because in our society, despite the fact that fully 30% of adults are obese, we see skinny as beautiful and fat as not. In American culture fat = ugly = unpopular. Whether or not that is right is tangential to the fact that it is how it is shown to us through the media, marketed to us by the advertisers and perceived by the majority of the people.
By the way, I was a little put off at being labled as someone who perpetuates the stereotype. let me make myself clear, I don't like the stereotype (hell, I was, am, and will continue to be put off by social situations. I've never been popular, i feel it acutely and don't like the feeling) and I wish it was different...but I don't blind myself to the truth of the matter either. I know I have caught myself comparing myself to another person and I don't like it when i do it...and yet it's what i am...what we are. we are a social animal and we are born with the need for hierarchy. We want to find a group that we belong with and friends that we can like and trust and trust us back and to do that we must be ready and willng to exclude people...sometimes on the basis of stupid things, like physical features. it's ugly and i think it is wrong. But for nature, it's simple. We can't be everyones friend. our brains won't allow it. Our biological rolodex allows for about 150 people that we can be close too. Beyond that, it's too much.
which is why...to go back to the article, I disagree with the premise. A sony PSP will not make a person popular in any meaningful way. It may make a person feel popular in the short term, but in reality it is the PSP which is popular, the owner is just carrying it around.