Recently, I got flamed for posting a beautiful chocolate morsel in the shape of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars because I called it a “Star Wars Transport Ship”. And I have to admit: I didn’t know it was the Millennium Falcon. Why? I didn’t watch Star Wars 3 million times. I don’t like Star Wars.

Some may say this means I can no longer call myself a geek. Well I think that’s in direct contrast to the whole spirit of this blog, to the whole spirit of geekdom. Is not the right to like whatever I want the true value of being a geek? Just because I don’t like one feature that is common to many geeks, does that mean the rest of my geeky passions are discredited?

The whole reason for us now standing up and saying “geeks are sexy” is because we’ve been downtrodden and ridiculed for our tastes and loves in the past. But we have risen above and become sexy because we realise that we are allowed to enjoy things regardless of what other people think of them. That in turn has made them look at what it is we are proudly announcing we love, and finding they love it too.

To now stand here and denote that one cannot be a geek simply because they do not like Star Wars only positions geeks as bullies. Perhaps some of you find it enjoyable to now sit in the seat of the cruel people that plague your past, but I find it abhorrent.

I think it’s unfair to push something on someone just because it’s ‘commonly’ geeky (whatever that means). To do that makes us no better than the jocks who demand that we play sport because we’re guys, or the mean girls who demand that we wear dresses and make up because we’re girls. Or saying that all gays should dress in rainbow colours or that all film buff must like Alfred Hitchcock, all fantasy book fanatics must like Lord of the Rings, all rock fans must love Guns ’n’ Roses.

To be a geek means to accept that we can have odd tastes, different tastes. It means we should be able to discuss our different tastes without judgement. It means that the experts among us should be able to correct the non-experts, without attacking them (that’s also just basic human respect).

I appreciate that the large majority of the geek community love Star Wars and want to see Star Wars-related items and that’s why I post them: because you enjoy it.

I reserve the right to my own opinion and my own tastes. It does not mean I “do not belong” here. Because if there were anywhere that should be understanding about having a different taste from the crowd, you would hope it would be with the geeks.

Next time, before you start spouting crap about being a ‘real’ geek, try and remember the essence of what it is to stand up and say, “I’m a geek, and I’m proud of it.” Try to remember what you’re really standing for.

Don’t be a community of haters. That’s not what it’s meant to be about.

[Please note: opinions in this article are solely those of the author, Daljeet Singh, and do not reflect those of GaS in general or the rest of the GaS writers.]