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Geek Arguments part 3
By Abby
Alright, guys, home stretch! These are the top 4 most famous geek arguments according to Robot's Voice. Surprisingly I do not have annoyingly strong opinions on any of these, so without further ado... 4. Does the Balrog have wings? Fans may recall in my previous post I mentioned that I have not read Tolkien due to his reputation for being overly wordy, so I don't have a background here. The core of this argument lies in two particular passages in Fellowship of the Ring: one uses a simile about darkness cloaking the Balrog "like wings." Later JRR refers back to these "wings," but was he just being metaphorical? So some take them to be extra-dimensional shadow forms and some take them to be, you know, actual wings. As I have watched the movie way more times than I've read the book, and Peter Jackson chose to include the real flappy wings, I will go with that. Wings are pretty important for fantasy creatures anyway (see dragons and Pegasus). Advantage: Wings 3. The Book vs. The Movie: This deserves its own musing. Fortunately I already wrote one! There is a range of property adaptations that goes from The Shining (an important film that deviants wildly from the Stephen King book) to Twilight (mediocre movies that are slavishly loyal to the book series). Other properties like Doctor Who and Discworld are adapted into novels, comics and audiobooks. Add fan creations, spoofs and spin-offs (P.R.O.B.E., anyone?) and it becomes even more murky as to which is the better medium. I will chime in here that the picture the original authors used for this was a still from Watchmen compared to the comic, so if we are arguing about Watchmen in particular, I say absolutely The Book. Watchmen is perfect as a comic and it didn't need to be remade as a film. Plus I hate Zachary Snyder will all the force of my will, but that's another story... Advantage: The Book! 2. DC vs. Marvel Trick question: go buy Image comics. Just kidding, lets explore this question properly. But seriously, indies are better because they usually have a more cohesive storyline, plus your support makes a big impact! So think about those titles next time you're shopping for comics. The first comics I pulled were Marvel (Nyx and Runaways, if you must know). X-men and Spider-Man were favorite cartoons of mine growing up. Marvel had a big role in making me a geek. As for DC I really only care about Bat-family but, boy do I care. I have quite the collection of Nightwing stories because I love me some good Dick Grayson. Recently I've picked up the CW DC shows (again, this is well documented) but beyond that I can't really tell you much about what DC characters are up to. Based on that if pressed, I would align with Marvel. But seriously: support local comics and creator-owned properties. Advantage: Marvel, but with a caveat. 1. Star Trek vs. Star Wars Man, that was anti-climactic! I have always found this to be an inane question. The essence of this argument could come down to what kind of person you are with your Trekkies being grounded realists and Star Wars fans being the more happy-go-lucky, and um, less intellectual type. This is of course nonsense and there is plenty of room for both. Were I in a bar trivia quiz I would probably get more answers about Star Wars but that has never stopped me from watching hours of Star Trek. I have also found Force Awakens to be more enjoyable than the reboots of Star Trek (we'll see if Bryan Fuller can fix that) so I. A gun-to-my-head scenario I would say I prefer Star Wars but I know in my heart it's not "better". It's possible to enjoy two things and if you are browsing on Thinkgeek, you would undoubtedly find plenty of merchandise for both. I don't think there really is animosity between Star Wars and Star Trek fans any longer. If you have a strong opinion one way or another, please feel free to chime in. Advantage: Star Wars, but not really
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