A short while ago, I saw a T-shirt featuring a quote from the annoyingly over-the-top sitcom The Big Bang Theory. It had one of the characters loudly proclaiming…

This is why I hate nerds.

I’ve heard this often-arrogant declaration from other anime freaks, and it’s equally as stupid and factually incorrect as the spouting of a fictional character. Guess what, dipshit: anime is a cartoon. “Cartoon” is merely the name of the medium, and anime is a subgenre within that medium. I’ve heard similar whining from rabid Star Wars fanboys about the current television series, The Clone Wars. In this case, the line is “It’s not a ‘cartoon,’ it’s an animated series!” It’s still the same damn thing, jackass!

More often than not, this kind of talk is used in order to elevate nerds’ interest in anime over those of the “common folk.” In fewer cases, it’s used as a defense against the use of “cartoon” as a perceived attack on their hobby. This is ridiculous, as the term “cartoon” is not a perjorative! Even if someone tries to use it as one, then the problem is with the person who said it in that context, not the term itself! If you do take offense when the term “cartoon” is applied to subgenres like anime, then you seriously need to get a fucking life.

Ironically, when these losers get arrogant and decry the term “cartoon” over that of anime, they are actually the ones being stereotypical, in that they’re claiming that their favorite subgenre is somehow “better” than other cartoons by default. What hypocritical nonsense!

This kind of synonymous bullshit affects plenty of other things in life: for example, coffeehouse clerks calling themselves “baristas.” You’re still a clerk, but there’s nothing wrong with that! I’ll likely write a future post eviscerating other ridiculous new terms for the same ol’ shit. Seriously, what’s next?

“It’s not a ‘movie’…it’s a film!”