That talk with the kid at the store made me rethink gatekeeping

I was at Midtown Comics last Friday and this teenager asked me if I thought the new Ultimate Spider-Man run was a good starting point. I almost went into this whole lecture about how you gotta read the classic Lee/Ditko stuff first to really get it. But then he said "I just wanna see Miles be cool, man" and it hit me that I was about to push someone away for no reason. Now I'm wondering how many new fans I've scared off over the years just by being a snob without meaning to. Has anyone else caught themselves doing this and then felt stupid about it later?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamesm381mo ago

I read something recently about how every fan has a different "on ramp" to the stuff they love. That kid just wanted to see Miles be cool. That's totally valid. I used to be the same way about music, telling people they had to listen to an artist's early albums first. Then I realized most people just want to enjoy the thing in front of them, not do homework. It's weird how we turn hobbies into tests for other people.

sullivan.spencer1mo ago

Has anybody else seen that study about how people who gatekeep hobbies usually end up burning out faster than the ones who just enjoy things casually? I read it a while back and it totally made sense to me. It's like we create all these rules for ourselves and others, but really its just about having fun with what you like when you like it.