Good elitism will be of the provocative kind, as mentioned by Owen, where the elitist is able to state his stand on a certain issue and know where his/her bias (or the show-haters’ bias) are coming from, not for the sake of branding one’s opinion as more superior than another, but rather for the sake of making people think and rethink their current close-minded stand on the issue. Ultimately, for the sake of promoting open-mindedness, fostering understanding in the community, and all that

@Owen: tsunereisms are always welcome around here! ^_^ It was really interesting to trawl back and dig out those posts that Impz and you wrote - while some of the people have changed somewhat in the intervening months, the issues haven’t. I’m just glad I’ve managed to set out my response to all that, even at this late stage. Third rewrite’s a charm I suppose!

It’s kind of interesting to see how my stance of this has evolved after 9 whole months. Aside from the whole apologist slant that I’ve been dabbling in, if you take into account how I’ve been projecting my opinions, I’d have to say that I’ve taken to mixing in baiting (or “trolling” as the internet usually phrases it, even if it’s a crude term that doesn’t really capture what I do) for satisfactory results.

I guess what I’m ultimately aiming for is a breed of provocative elitism, something that gets people thinking while being a firebrand and stating where I stand all at the same time. It keeps me on my toes and helps build up a backlog of post drafts (if only to reply to other posts… someday). Obviously, results may vary and this style doesn’t suit everyone, but I’m quite pleased with what it’s done so far, and hope to continue in this vein for as long as I can keep it up.

I’d lump your brand of elitism together with N’s as having a distinctly friendly/pacifist slant, which works! It’s nice to see you come to your own conclusion about this on where you stand, and I can see it at work in your posts. Keep up the elitist spirit!

@TheBigN: cheers for the link, strange I hadn’t read that post before already! I guess that if you’re going to do any bashing, your own blog is the place to do it; kudos for taking such a thoughtful approach and not actually exercising that ‘right to rant’!

@Hige: exactly. The term ‘elitist’ is misused I think - elitism is prevalent particularly on the ‘net, and conversely certain opinions are deemed ‘elitist’ when they aren’t. As for the Tifa cosplay, I don’t know what you mean… ¬_¬ at least it erased the after-image of Sailor Bubba from my mind!

@Teeif: maybe it really is the nature of the internet - it’s such an open arena that people are free to say what they like, even if that extends to being free to be stupid. The content of blogs is rather transient but newspapers are even more so - perhaps they can get away with questionable writing because it will be all forgotten by the time the next issue is on the shelves.

@Caitlin and Michael: I know exactly what you mean! Being selective is all too easy to be mistaken for elitism, but for many of us rejecting a lot of potential viewing is necessary, especially with the sheer quantity of stuff on offer these days. Basically there’s only so much time in the day so I can’t watch everything.

@Ryan A: I’m not sure what you’re getting at there but I suppose elitists are trying to attain some sort of fame or noteriety on the internet. Sadly being well-known online is something of an illusion unless they can become famous writers or celebs in real life or something. That does happen but I daresay not very often.

Everyone is free, and without proper premise, everyone deserves respect, a simple attempt at understanding, perhaps that is why they fail, but I don’t know, I only know myself. write in sand cheers

In terms of my own position though, does a declaration of being picky and over-analytical automatically come with a stance of superiority? I don’t think it does. Maybe it’s just me but many supposedly ‘elitist’ stances are just staunch conviction and having a firm grasp of what I like and don’t like.

Like Caitlin, I would agree with you. I usually only watch one or two series in a season and it’s primarily because I don’t have time to watch everything. I also mentioned in this article of mine the reasons why we are picky when we choose. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we put ourselves above others. It just means we have individual tastes and are unique from one another.

In terms of my own position though, does a declaration of being picky and over-analytical automatically come with a stance of superiority? I don’t think it does. Maybe it’s just me but many supposedly ‘elitist’ stances are just staunch conviction and having a firm grasp of what I like and don’t like.

Agreed. If being picky automatically meant you had some kind of superiority thing, everyone in some category or other suffers from that. I was forced to become picky about what I watch due to lack of time. Am I part of the elite? Hardly.

You never know when there is a cheeky 13-year-old brat behind that comment!

I don’t terribly mind elitests or retards, they’re all funny in their own ways! I find hypocritical people annoying but I would prefer to ignore them rather than shout and scream or use the heavy handed ‘delete’ button.

The internet is like real life in that there are readers of the Guardian, Sun, Times and (unfortunately) Daily mail. People should go read whatever newspaper suits them. I think the Daily Mail are elitest plonkers but I just laugh at their befuddled viewpoints. If that is true then my perception of elite is anyone who has a veiwpoint I don’t agree with!

If some poster blows up over something innocuous like Kanokon or Naruto, then the joke’s on the poster.

For the record though, I think the anime blogging community looks after it’s own and that’s nice but could be misinterpreted as quite elitest.

P.P.S. I, for blind, innocent curiosity, wonder if the cosplayer above is Asian or Western?

If they state their opinions with confidence and conviction without putting other peoples’ down or disregarding the validity of an opposing arguments, I think they can still be ‘elite’; crucially they aren’t projecting an offensive sense of superiority or ignorance that’s a characteristic of the traditional definition.

I completely agree with this statement and it sums me up as well, but I resent that this counts as elitism. Elitism in my mind is the active exclusion/attack of those who you view to be inferior to yourself, and what you’ve described is knowing your own tastes. I don’t believe the two are the same.

Elitism is an external action that consists of, as you say, ‘putting other peoples’ [tastes] down or disregarding the validity of an opposing arguments’. There’s no offensive attack in simply having a set of standards, or as I’ve said elsewhere, knowing your taste. It just seems like a lazy misuse of a loaded word when people fling it at those who like things traditionally associated with a superior attitude (in this case, ‘fringe’ anime).

P.S. You only approve of that cosplay because she’s hot! : D

It’s also why you tend not to see me give strong opinions on my blog, since I’m not sure that I can fire off one without sounding either conceited or seriously un-informed. It’s why I get annoyed at people who bash things that they don’t need to bash, especially when it apparently shouldn’t matter to them in the first place.

I don’t really have much to say on the elitist furore (though evidently at times what I do have to say rhymes), since I don’t think I have good taste. I’m sure you don’t need reminding for the umpteenth time what my favourite anime is. For me, though, ‘elitist’ still carries the weight of an insult, despite efforts in certain quarters to reclaim it.

Also, the options presented in your second caption are hardly mutually exclusive. And even if he’s the former but not the latter, he still has balls of steel.