Why is it okay for a guy to spend all weekend watching football, and for him to paint his body in team colors when he goes to a game --- but if a guy spends all weekend watching Star Trek, and dresses up like Spock when he goes to a convention, that makes him a hopeless loser/geek?
Because of the associated cultural values, of course.
Star Trek (SF generally) is widely associated with isolated introverts; sports is associated with social participation. SF stands for abstract future possibility and sports stand for immediate emotional reality.
SF is about global and extraterrestrial inclusion and exploration and the grey shades of moral conduct; sports, on the other hand, tend to be about heroic struggles, provincial divisions, simple Us. v. Them mentality, and pure absolutes like victory and defeat. There is no such thing as a popular team sport that involves any number of teams other than two. This is because people want conflict reduced to the tidiest possible terms.
Sports represent a far stronger opportunity for broad viewer identification as a result of all of these factors.
The social side of it also can't be underestimated. I've dozed slack-jawed and drooling through dozens of business meetings in my life and the most common metaphor in all of them was sports -- almost always football. The phrase "team player" certainly doesn't come from Star Trek.
Along these lines, not all sports are created equal. Team sports are alwaysmore popular than individual sports. You're an artist and necessarily you prefer the individual who dismisses external bullshit, thinks originally, develops skills, works, and finally achieves -- because, of course, that's what it takes to succeed in any type of art -- but in the US, in the category of sports, this type of thinking and behavior will get you a reputation as a prima donnna.
Group efforts tend to be perceived as more social and therefore more mature, and that extends into community life. Nobody throws a Wimbledon party and invites friends over for beer and pizza.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2003-10-11 07:12 am (UTC)Because of the associated cultural values, of course.
Star Trek (SF generally) is widely associated with isolated introverts; sports is associated with social participation. SF stands for abstract future possibility and sports stand for immediate emotional reality.
SF is about global and extraterrestrial inclusion and exploration and the grey shades of moral conduct; sports, on the other hand, tend to be about heroic struggles, provincial divisions, simple Us. v. Them mentality, and pure absolutes like victory and defeat. There is no such thing as a popular team sport that involves any number of teams other than two. This is because people want conflict reduced to the tidiest possible terms.
Sports represent a far stronger opportunity for broad viewer identification as a result of all of these factors.
The social side of it also can't be underestimated. I've dozed slack-jawed and drooling through dozens of business meetings in my life and the most common metaphor in all of them was sports -- almost always football. The phrase "team player" certainly doesn't come from Star Trek.
Along these lines, not all sports are created equal. Team sports are alwaysmore popular than individual sports. You're an artist and necessarily you prefer the individual who dismisses external bullshit, thinks originally, develops skills, works, and finally achieves -- because, of course, that's what it takes to succeed in any type of art -- but in the US, in the category of sports, this type of thinking and behavior will get you a reputation as a prima donnna.
Group efforts tend to be perceived as more social and therefore more mature, and that extends into community life. Nobody throws a Wimbledon party and invites friends over for beer and pizza.