You may have noticed several of the Hall H activities getting a delay today, not because there were so many people eager to see what Marvel had in store for everyone, but because violence broke out.
While one might like to imagine the fight occurred between two people who had a disagreement over the return of Barry Allen, or one person protecting the honor of a scantily clad female attendee who had been groped by a cad, it turns out these two idiots got into a fight over a hard to get seat. When Idiot One, wouldn’t give Idiot Two his seat, Idiot Two stabbed Idiot One in the eye with a pen.
STABBED HIM IN THE EYE WITH A PEN BECAUSE HE COULDN’T GET THE SEAT HE WANTED!
The victim has been stretchered out and the attacker (both adults) has been removed from the Convention Center by police in handcuffs, his exclusive Comic-Con Harry Potter T-shirt soaked in blood.
It’s really sad when this kind of stuff occurs, but pack a bunch of fans in a room and sooner or later something like this (or worse) is going to occur. I don’t care who started what, both of these people are jack-holes. One thing we all need to remember is we’re talking about comic books, not world peace, not the last loaf of bread – comic books. Let’s keep our disagreements verbal and somewhat respectful.
There is a silver lining in all of this, though, according to The Wrap, when the Cowboys and Aliens panel began, Harrison Ford gave the crowd a laugh by being escorted on stage in handcuffs.
UPDATE: USA Today has the full story.
27 Comments
I’m not going to defend what either of these guys did but every time you use the term nerdrage I wonder is your issue with what is being done or with how it reflexes on you as a member of the nerd community?
When countries do talk about world peace they spend almost as much time talking about the shape of the table and where everyone will sit as they do any meaningful peace plan. Doesn’t matter how important or unimportant something is or how smart the people involved are at some point they are going to do something stupid. Nerds tend to want to attack each other but from what I see of the world from NetRoots 2010 gathering this weekend in Las Vegas, to Comic Con and all other place people can be asocial and attack each other.
End of the Day my issue with crying nerdrage is that is seems like its setting one group of angry people apart from others. Anger and violence is anger and violence in my book And I don’t see what good that it to separate nerds out.
It makes some sense to call it Nerd Rage really, it’s not like this happened at a Death Metal concert, it was at a comic book panel. I’ll happily label myself a nerd due to all of my interests being rather nerdy. I get pissed off and spit venom towards die-hard sports fanatics when a team loses/wins and the fans decide to destroy half the city. I call them out because that’s the demographic involved in the situation. In my opinion Nerd Rage can range from a low end (hating a new costume change or writer, whatever) to obviously the most severe ends (being a douche about a seat and stabbing another human being in the eye).
What did “idiot one” do to be called an idiot and a jackhole other than get stabbed? There may have been something but I have not seen anything in the coverage.
Nerd rage…
I know of a guy who demanded to see test results proving a guy had cancer to show he had good reason to delay the posting of a card trade (the kid e-mailed him saying he had to start treatement soon), I told him something along the lines “So the guy may be dying and you’re worried about some pieces of cardboard? What’s wrong with you!?”. We are all fans of something and let never forget fan is just short for “fanatic”, we all have odd (or in some cases screwed-up) priorities but most of us can remain civil about it.
P.S.- How is it crying nerd rage when the expression means “An uproar or exaggerated negative response regarding an event affecting the object of interest of a group of fans of said object”. Stephen has used the expression when decisions/storylines have created what can be qualified as an irrational hateful response in the comic book industry, how does it not apply? And in this case it’s LITERALLY “nerds raging”
What a disgrace!
About the term nerd rage, I don’t like it. My reason is that it sorta sets nerds apart as a particularly irrational group. Violence happens at sporting events and concerts, yet this isn’t ‘nerd rage’. It’s the rage part that’s the problem, not the nerd part.
Anti-social, violent, disgraceful people exist everywhere. Singling something out because it is done over Wolverine rather than baseball seems superfluous, and the way the term is often used online, about as useful as calling someone an idiot.
it’s ALL “Nerd Rage”, whether you’re talking comics, movies, any sports, the stock market, politics, etc. Name your poison, it’s all Nerd Rage if you can’t control your temper about your passion.
According to one news report I read last night, these two idiots were friends, and a “minor scuffle” was blown out of proportion when one got scratched NEAR his eye, but bled more profusely than anyone expected. As you can see, that pic does not even show a “blood soaked shirt”, just one with a few drops of blood on it. Of course, the report then went on to note that some of the ‘civilians’ who restrained this guy until security showed up might have thought they were acting out like their favorite heroes. Yeah, or y’know, doing the RIGHT THING in a large crowd by keeping these two apart until they knew what was going on? @_@
Heck, I had a friend at the Show Me Games in Columbia, MO this weekend and she said the director was on a total ego/power trip. Her team came back from a 4-5 hour break expecting to be competing for the top spot, but found a third team ready to play in their place. Even the team they thought they would be competing against complained in their favor. When they tried to find out what was going on, the “director” had disappeared, but had ruled against their team on a MINOR call neither team didn’t care about and overruled their referee on. They were told that to argue, they had to pay $100 (huh??) and have the complaint filed with the guy at least ten minutes before the game. He didn’t show up until FIVE minutes before and immediately disappeared again. They finally managed to win the silver, but they were not the only ones this weekend mad at the guy, noting there were several parents who lost their tempers at other “judgment calls” the guy made which made no sense at all AND were AGAINST THE RULES.
They left in agreement that he was on a total “power trip” and hoping to never see the guy again.
I would only disagree on one thing, I’ve never used the term nor heard it used on anything but nerdlike anger. I don’t think that is an issue though, and it’s kinda stupid for people to be getting up in arms about it. If somebody gets into a fight over a seat, then that’s just dumb. The term is more or less just specifying who’s in a rage. Is Road Rage offensive to all roads in general? No, (granted that’s just stupid) but it’s just a description of people’s angry actions and reactions on the road. I don’t call a brawl on the infield of a baseball game Road Rage or Nerd Rage or anything, but if people get into a fight at E3 because somebody is playing a demo game too long then yeah, Nerd Rage.
Guys. Let’s be more horrified at the actual thing that happened than a turn of phrase.
Like holy crap! Was it actually over the seat??! Man! Are we not brothers in our love of comics/vaguely-coming-related-media??? Do we not all worship at the same temple of The Socially Awkward??
When I see stuff like this, I have this weird “need-to-fix” reaction but I’ve got nothing for this!!! Wow. I mean, well, I guess the whole “Hall H” phenomenon is getting worse every single year. Can’t we broadcast Hall H on CCTV? (actually, don’t they do that for certain hotel rooms or…something?? I feel like I remember something like that being either mentioned or happening, might be crazy though) Can’t we alleviate some of the pressure at these events that puts us in such gross competition with our fellows? There are times at SDCC when I’ve felt like it’s hard to actually extract that creamy geek fulfilling nougat from the con because of the extreme amount of people involved. (not being able to hear, not being able to move freely, not being able to see over the ocean of people, etc). I can see why the frustration with that climate could cause a freak out (not that I’m excusing it! I’m just saying I see how the pressure cooker can tip the scale).
I totally agree with you Adriana.
CCTV would be a boon to fixing this. Hotle guests wouldn’t even have to leave their rooms. Froma a security and safety standpoint you’ve hit the nail on the head. I guess since – until now – the crowds were so well behaved – there was no need for it. All that’s changed and I hope the organizers follow through.
Stabbed in the EYE! That shit is irreversible! What ever happened to breaking a nose or knocking out a tooth with a clean right hook. To actually maim someone for a seat at comic-con shows the world is getting shittier everyday. Between this, and the love parade thing yesterday…its seems no one can just chill and relax knowing that everyone is there for the same reasons.
I am totally with Adriana as well – why does the use of the term “nerd rage” prompt more outrage than the fact SOMEONE THOUGHT THE BEST WAY TO SETTLE A DISPUTE WAS TO STAB SOMEONE?! Eye wounds are dibilitating, sometimes even fatal, and the fact that this guy went that route instead of something a bit less violent is downright disturbing. There’s something wrong with someone whose first response to a dispute is that level of violence (even if it was with a pencil). One of the creators I follow wrote on Twitter that he didn’t know why security wasn’t letting him leave yesterday, and it sounds like this was why. Yikes.
This is why the “deranged nerd” stereotype still exists, not some piddling slang.
Hell depending on his field of work it could be a career ending injury…
*face palm*
I feel that this guy’s extreme reaction comes from a inability to get in touch with his emotions.
SDCC is a pressure cooker. Waiting in long lines, bumping into people, not getting your way is a fact of life at this MEDIA convention. SDCC in theory, is a place where you should feel at home among the nerds and the fanboy’s. But in this “home” you have bugs, and or spiders that will stab you if the get frustrated.
“Nerd Rage” is wailing on someone with a lightsaber, or kicking them in the shins. Stabbing someone in the eye is PSYCHOTIC.
Adriana is right, this phenomenon will escilate until someone is hurt even more. Being a fan of comic books doesn’t put you above the basic human display of unwaranted violence.
I’ll just stick to my nice spread out Mid-Ohio-Con, there’s room for everyone to have a full arm’s distance from the next guy. Granted we also don’t get a huge number of great talent show up, but I’m happy with what I get.
Looks like it was a scratch on the eye and not a stabbing. Also, they may have been friends having a “scuffle” not a to-the-pain fight.
Only one comment for now: How would people feel if instead of using the term “nerd rage” this terrible episode was described as “black anger”?
Wow. Let’s not compare getting our feelings hurt for being into Star Wars to the racial relationship results of state sanctioned slavery. Not even in the same galaxy.
You obviously missed my point: This violent action was not because it involved “nerds” or because it involved a “black man”. Calling it “Nerd Rage” is simplistic and as insulting as it is to call it “Black Anger”.
If you are comfortable thinking of a stabbing as “nerd rage” because it happened at SDCC, but uncomfortable thinking of the same stabbing because it was done by a black man against someone who wouldn’t surrender a seat…ask yourself “why am I uncomfortable?”
Violent actions like this are unjustified under any circumstances, and we deserve better than to simplify them in such juvenile terms.
Actually, you missed what I was saying. That’s just the thing. It’s NOT as insulting as being racist. At all. Just how making fun of someone’s bad fashion sense isn’t as bad as being racist. Seriously, people, get over the nerd thing. If you’re going to a con for comics, or reading a site’s coverage on a convention for comics, then you need to get over the whole nerd thing.
I like how there’s a piece on a nerd overreacting to something and then people over react to him being called a “nerd”. Anyone seeing this? It’s a title to a blog post. Titles are simplifications of what happened.
And frankly, I think it’s applicable here. Why did this happen? For nerd reasons, for our culture of fetishizing rarity of certain events/experiences, the rarity and not the actual content, I might add. So in that sense, defining this as a problem within our nerd community is not really all that off the mark. “Getting upset over small things” is, yes, a problem for the world at large. But I think anger management in general has a very VERY strong presence in nerdland. Read any stream of comments on any post about some comic book news as simple as “now this character will be written by this person”. Pretending that it’s not something common, even EXPECTED in our community is ignoring the problem.
There’s a long way from heated discussion and actual violence, yes, but I definitely think there’s a general anger problem with our community. It’s something we need to work on. I’m guilty of it too, I get extremely mad over things that don’t really matter in the big scheme of things. I’m working on it, but it’s really easy to get caught up.
There’s a long way from heated discussion and actual violence, yes, but I definitely think there’s a general anger problem with our community. It’s something we need to work on. I’m guilty of it too, I get extremely mad over things that don’t really matter in the big scheme of things. I’m working on it, but it’s really easy to get caught up.
We all do it. I think it’s most inexcusable in situations like this, though. And as for being called a nerd, I stopped being upset by that years ago. Life is too short to worry about what people whose opinions mean nothing have to say.
Of course, having corrected one of my shop owners today as to the chronology of Greer Nelson and Patsy Walker’s tenures as cat-women in the Marvel Universe, I may not be the best nerd to check with on these things.
I think I might feel the same way as some of the people on here if, and only if, we as a community were being singled out and degraded and called nerds in a hateful way by somebody who is obviously not one of us. I think I’m safe in saying that Matthew, Rodrigo and Stephen are neck deep in our nerd culture and are therefore allowed just as much freedom to express their disdain at the actions that happened at SDCC (probably moreso since it is their site).
I’m not trying to put words in Matthew, Rodrigo or Stephen’s mouths either, I’m just saying.
You obviously missed my point: This violent action was not because it involved “nerds” or because it involved a “black man”. Calling it “Nerd Rage” is simplistic and as insulting as it is to call it “Black Anger”.
Yes, but there’s also not hundreds of years of bad blood regarding nerds, nor is being called a nerd related to uncontrollable matters of genetics and such. Sorry, Tidge, but it is unequivocally NOT the same thing, and while both are simplistic, one is a hell of a lot more loaded.
Yup, last time I checked nerds have never been enslaved for centuries, there’s never been no nerd apartheid, the KKK don’t go around killing nerds, the church has never claimed nerds don’t have souls, etc.
i agree with ninjacrocodile. i don’t see how “idiot one” is an idiot or a “jack-hole”, when he wasn’t the one doing the stabby stabby action. he was the victim for christsake. i think there’s only one idiot and we all know who that is. *points and screams at the suspect*
Lots of people in a social setting it happens. It is unfortunate that it happens, but I’m not really shocked. Too bad about the eye however and I hope the guy who stabbed him will get his do reward.
I kinda hope that things will work out well for both of them. If it’s just a cornea scratch like some have said, and it wasn’t all that intentional, like a scuffle gone wrong and they had been friends before then I hope they mend fences and that the aggressor gets a little anger management. I don’t know all the little details and whilst I decry the violence, I do hope for a better outcome for both of them. The first guy could have swooped the seat from the other and then acted like a major douche, or he could have just sat down in a seat and then been accosted, we don’t know and really shouldn’t judge on that level. I hate that it happened but I don’t know what really went down.