Arts

Comments

Here are the editor’s picks of the 400+ comments from the fandom survey. Have something you wish was included? Send us a letter at surveys@tech.mit.edu.

My high school yearbook quote was from Star Wars. In hindsight, it was probably not the best choice, but it’s a great series so I’m not embarrassed

Do any of us actually have time to feed our addictions?

I’m mostly Star Wars, but I also really Star Trek, so I don’t get the tension between fandoms there...

I don’t know anything about Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, or Lord of the Rings.....I feel like a bad nerd.

I think I like Picard more than Kirk and Janeway because he’s bald and that makes him very trustworthy and understanding. I do not know why this is the case.

I don’t give a shit about any of these nerd things... where are the sports/music questions??

I went to the Hobbit premiere dressed as the One Ring. I got an inflatable inner tube, covered it in gold paper, and sharpied the elvish phrase around the outside. It was awesome.

I would love to know the percentage of the student body that reads fanfiction.

I’m in the Les Miz fandom! Don’t forget us theatre geeks

I’ve been to most of the Harry Potter midnight premieres dressed in costume and it is the only series I have ever been enthusiastic about. However, I definitely enjoyed 50 Shades of Grey.

LOST IS THE BEST TV SHOW EVER CREATED. WHAT THE HELL.

Never got into games, but I love fantasy books because the world the book paints is so different from mine that I can forget about any stress or problems going on in life, and become engrossed in an entirely different world. It’s amazing. Only problem is that after coming to MIT, I haven’t had much time to read for fun.. It’s probably my fault for being involved in too many things anyways.. but I can’t wait until I have children. Because then I could read them all the books I want to read, using “bedtime stories” as an excuse.. I just need to justify to myself that reading fantasy is beneficial in some way..

Nikola Tesla is the beast and I would go gay for Tony Stark. End of story.

PICARD DIDN’T NEED A GIRDLE AND HE’S OLD ENOUGH TO FATHER KIRK

Should have asked more about music things... most MIT students don’t have time for shit like watching TV. At least music can sometimes be experienced while multitasking. I don’t give a shit about pokemon or firefly, but I’m actually looking forward to the new Hobbit movie. The only TV show I’ve ever watched more than one season of is Breaking Bad, and I’d rather make a unicorn shit rainbows all day or dig blocks with a two dimensional pickaxe than play a stupid Nintendo game. Honestly, I probably watch more hentai than TV.

Some days, I spend more time reading fanfiction than doing work.

I was hoping this survey would touch upon the more obscure fandoms, telling people they are not alone in these fandoms.

TV shows are degenerative to our society and I have stopped watching them at around the age of 8 when I realized that there are far more enlightening and mentally stimulating things out there than poor cinematography and completely repetitive plotlines. I seriously think that we should encourage more classical literature rather than stupid, brainless TV shows, we should go sailing or backpacking or hiking instead of playing mentally degenerative video games, we should explore the world and the fantastic inner worlds of each other, rather than sitting in front of our TV sets or game consoles and degrade into media puppets in the likes of Orwellian dystopias. (Oh, and I only chose a favorite pokemon because it is the one I used to obsess with maybe, uh, when I was five.)

WHAT ABOUT BOARD GAMES???? I was so excited to do this survey when I read the description, and then you entirely dropped the floor beneath me. Dude, people geek out over board games too.

When I went to Harry Potter World in Orlando, I cried. Multiple times. All things Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible are favorites). Do you think there is a certifiable ‘nerd’ score?

Which label best describes you in high school? My answer: I don’t go by labels.

Whoever made this survey is a 1st-gen Pokemon supremacist and should be shanked. Arceus is the best Pokemon. One does not compete with God.

Why are you assuming that we are all such giant nerds? I wrote a diatribe about how much I hated Pokemon at the age of 6. I have never seen Star Wars or read Harry Potter. I didn’t recognize any of the names from Firefly or Star Trek.

The Vampire Diaries is like no other. For those of you who say “Oh, just another thing about Vampires and Werewolves, lame.” YOU ARE WRONG. The Vampire Diaries is totally 100% badass, with just the right amount of action and romance. In the first season, one of the main bad ass vampire characters, Damon Salvatore, is pictured reading Twilight and saying “...what the hell is this crap. Vampires don’t sparkle.”