Fandoms and Geekery: It’s Okay to Not Like What Other People Like

Do you love Pokémon but don’t understand why everyone’s so into Marvel? Adore Harry Potter but video games drive you mad? Love knitting but can’t wrap your head around crochet? That’s okay. There is no one checklist of things that all geeks must enjoy. There are countless ways to be a fan of the things you love.

It’s okay to not be into the same things the people around you are into. It’s perfectly fine to not understand the appeal to something. You have your own tastes and preferences, and that is what makes you you. The diversity in our thoughts, opinions, interests, and passions help make our society rich and help us expand our own knowledge, as we learn from others. You’re unique in your combination of traits, so listen to your own inner voice and follow where it takes you.

Not liking something that everyone else seems to like can be a bit frustrating, however. You may wish you liked Marvel movies, because they seem to be everywhere, with something new coming out all the time, and everyone you know seems to love them. Maybe, every time a new movie comes out, they ask you if you want to go see it. Maybe they even try to pressure you to like Marvel things, as if it’s possible to like something just because other people push you to.

But maybe you’re content sitting by yourself taking in the joy of something different; you just wish you had more people to share it with. Fortunately, there is the internet, where it’s easy to find fellow fans of things you enjoy, even if they are strangers.

I love bonding with my friends and family over common interests, so I am always on the lookout for new connections. For a few of the things my family and friends are into, I tried them on for size, working hard to get a feel for them to see if I could enjoy them. A few of them I could, but for many of them, I just couldn’t. Pokemon is just okay, but, to me, it’s not worth the emotional investment. Marvel Comics and the MCU just don’t speak to me. At all. (Though the Guardians of the Galaxy movies were fun.) Most tabletop games have even lost their luster, unfortunately; and this is coming from someone who was a bit of a rabid board game fan as a kid.

On the other side of things, though, my enjoyment of the Harry Potter universe has only grown, since I have family members to share that with. Our family of four regularly plays Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle and talks about the Harry Potter universe all the time. My interest in all things Star Trek has been reignited since my daughter got into it. And I’m still happy to sit mostly by myself in my metaphorical corner appreciating American history, maps, residential architecture, and mid-century design, content to share those interests with a smaller subset of the population.

It’s important to find things in life that you enjoy. But you don’t have to enjoy what other people enjoy. Maybe you’re just not wired to like comic books. Or fantasy novels. Or social media apps. Maybe you like most of what your best friend likes, except for that one thing that you can’t stand to be exposed to. That’s okay. Embrace your individual interests. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you if you don’t get into the latest geeky thing, or even geeky things that have been around for generations. Spend time immersing yourself in what you do enjoy and feel all the more fulfilled for it.