Now I am as guilty of materialism as the next Anime Geek, but what role does consumerism play in my hobby?
I’ve caused a ruckus with my critique of the Otaku Room Post phenomenon, but what remains interesting to me after offending so many people and feeling so awful about it, is the matter of consumer pride in how we display the spoils of our wealth, such as Anime posters, wall scrolls, and DVD box sets/Manga volumes all neatly arranged. Is it right to flaunt our riches spent on Anime stuff with all our effort, or should we be more subtle in how we arrange our belongings?
I like the idea of Anime posters, but in practice they can be an embarassing reflection of what we really spend our money on. The wrong Anime poster might also give guests to the room the wrong idea of you. But if I could get hold of something decent, like, say, an Akira movie poster or a Miyazaki film poster. Maybe something discreet that isn’t too gaudy.
But ecchi posters are out of the question if you want to impress the ladies. Same with “holding pillows”. I have heard it suggested that one can print a holding pillow of your girlfriend to show your affection, but you’d need to explain this in a way that makes her understand why you don’t just hold her close to you anyway. But for those Anime Geeks who don’t live with their girlfriend/don’t want to do it before you marry, this is a great way, if an understanding is reached, to show your geeky love for your woman.
lelangir has suggested to me that the Geek and Nerd subculture is nothing without aesthetics. I mistakenly thought that one could separate the aesthetics from the internal contemplation of the Geek and Nerd mind.
But how does consumerism affect the Anime fandom subculture? Well, to start with, it’s a subculture with a strong consumer aesthetic, because it’s based on consumer pop culture like Anime and Manga. The issue with consumerism in Anime and Manga is not so much “is it right to put Anime posters I love on my wall” but “what Anime and Manga related paraphernalia am I purchasing, and what motives or desires do I have for purchasing them?”.
It is perfectly fine to buy the latest Manga volume to treat yourself, but is it right to go without food so you can continue to buy expensive Anime figures? This dilemma has plagued Anime fans and otaku for decades, and the simplest explanation I can come up with to solve it is with this Golden Rule of Anime/Manga purchasing:
If you can afford it, buy it. If you can’t afford it, save for it. If you want it badly, don’t starve for it.
Simple enough a rule, huh? There’s nothing wrong with buying Anime and Manga you enjoy, but when you are buying for inexplicable motives, impulse buying when you can’t afford it, or starving yourself so you CAN afford it, then we have a problem. If you feel guilty about purchasing something, reconsider buying it until you feel you’ve earned it, like when you’ve completed a school/employment related task you put off to watch Code Geass. And if you feel like you’ve earned your Anime and Manga stuff, you’ll be proud to plaster it all over your walls. Why wouldn’t you? It’s not like you’re ashamed of something you earned.
Too often Anime and Manga fans feel they have to justify their purchases. This behaviour saps the enjoyment of the actual items purchased into a cycle of self-pity and trying to make yourself look good in the eyes of others. For every Geek Treat you buy, make sure you have enough money to buy lunch. You need to feed yourself, not just your collection. This way you can have your cake and eat it too. And I am aware that was the worst pun/cliche ever. But that doesn’t make it less true.
It’s a known fact that shopaholics and drug addicts will do anything to justify the ways they satisfy their addictions. But if you stop feeling guilty about treating yourself once in a while, you won’t need to justify who you are and what you do with your money. In the same way you shouldn’t have to justify your Anime/Manga hobby to your friends and loved ones, they should accept you for who you are if they truly love you. (Unless you like lolicon, in which case I can’t help you there)
Because Anime and Manga is viewed as a sort of “outsider hobby” which is viewed as “shameful”, some Anime and Manga fans feel guilty because of the way their hobby is viewed by others. This leads to a spiral of self pity as well. There will be times when it’s tough, but your true friends and lovers will accept who you are. And when you are buying things you like not because you feel you “have to have it” just to have it, but you want it as something to enjoy, this is a much healthier attitude to have towards Manga and Anime purchases.
And if you really, really feel that guilty about how much Anime and Manga stuff you buy a month, there’s always donating some of your spending money to charity. Chances are you can delay your gratification to achieve a greater good such as sponsoring an African child, supporting your local place of worship (or your local place of atheism), even buying a friend lunch that you can share with them. There are far worse things in life than not having the complete set of Death Note figures. You could be on fire, or homeless, or deceased.
In short, if you’re an Anime and Manga fan, you shouldn’t be so much worried about how to justify a hobby that makes you happy, even if other people think you’re weird for buying schoolgirl posters, as you should be worried about the effects your hobby has on yourself and the economy. Go happy life.
Exactly, my same thoughts exactly.