Don’t dismiss geek culture’s new cultural totems as consumerism
In the creation of new cultural norms, social media and the viral possibilities it offers now play as big a role as religious institutions once did in establishing festivals
These things have a life of their own, and sometimes turn out to be better ideas than a well-paid marketing and advertising strategy could come up with. Star Wars Day is a case in point. The 4th day of May is now officially celebrated by Lucasfilm (owned since 2012 by Disney) as Star Wars Day. The date was chosen on the basis of a pun on the catchphrase “May the Force be with you” — a blessing or greeting in the Star Wars universe — as “May the Fourth be with you” and not even by those who would profit from it. Fans, in the early days of Facebook, created pages for Luke Skywalker Day with the same catchphrase and it has since caught on, creating the space for observances for new cultures that are almost, but not quite entirely unlike, new religions.
Legend has it that the phrase “May the Fourth be with you” was first used 40 years ago on May 4 , 1979, when Margaret Thatcher took office as Prime Minister of the UK. Members of the Conservative Party are said to have placed an advertisement in a London newspaper, punning on the Star Wars greeting to say “May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations.” It wasn’t until 2011 that organised celebrations took place to mark the date. With cosplay and trivia quizzes, action figures and light sabres, the fandom was unwittingly embracing what has now become the new normal of celebration for fans of such stories. Another important day in such kinds of fandom is later this month on May 25 — Towel Day (observed by visibly carrying a towel throughout the day) — celebrated to honour the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and its author, Douglas Adams.
In the creation of new cultural norms, social media and the viral possibilities it offers now play as big a role as religious institutions once did in establishing festivals. As “Geek Culture” takes firm roots in the mainstream — thanks to franchises such as Marvel, DC Comics, Star Wars, etc — the new observances of this world revolve around their cultural totems, that most often tend to come from the stories, characters, and props in these universes. And inevitably, as corporations try to monetise this zeal, what began as fan get-togethers becomes linked to the buying of merchandise from these ever-growing franchises. But while it is easy to dismiss this fan enthusiasm as mere consumerism, it is a defining aspect of the new cultural traditions of our times. And as they continue to spread across countries and languages, such new observances could even be a great way to transcend the age-old divisions of religion, race, and caste.
