Haha, Ebert’s definitely coming at it from a grumpy angle. OTOH, he’s not talking about simply having a shared passion, but moreso about becoming totally obsessed with hobby trivia to the point of barely being able to face reality outside of those narrow confines. It’s really just a case of taking fandom too far as I see it.
I also have to admit that when I was growing up, I was somewhat guilty of this kind of thing. I had trouble making small-talk, trouble talking to the opposite sex, and difficulties just hanging out and chilling with others. I turned to stuff like D&D, comics & videogames, and could relate pretty easily to people in the same boat. But I truly did use it as a way of walling off various worldly realities, using those things as a crutch until various social skills later started to improve. I have to agree with Ebert’s final point though, especially if it relates to middle-aged people-- if the only thing they’re able to talk about is their hobby trivia, then it pretty quickly turns in to a painful conversation IME.
Haha, Ebert’s definitely coming at it from a grumpy angle. OTOH, he’s not talking about simply having a shared passion, but moreso about becoming totally obsessed with hobby trivia to the point of barely being able to face reality outside of those narrow confines. It’s really just a case of taking fandom too far as I see it.
I also have to admit that when I was growing up, I was somewhat guilty of this kind of thing. I had trouble making small-talk, trouble talking to the opposite sex, and difficulties just hanging out and chilling with others. I turned to stuff like D&D, comics & videogames, and could relate pretty easily to people in the same boat. But I truly did use it as a way of walling off various worldly realities, using those things as a crutch until various social skills later started to improve. I have to agree with Ebert’s final point though, especially if it relates to middle-aged people-- if the only thing they’re able to talk about is their hobby trivia, then it pretty quickly turns in to a painful conversation IME.
Btw, “Triumph” famously does a pretty good send-up here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKT7bx-fmtk