For most of my life my main focus had been on movies, superheroes, video games, and anything remotely “geeky”.

The first time I remember ever loving anything “geeky” was when my Dad showed me Lord of The Rings as a kid. From that moment until now and probably forever Lord of The Rings has been my favorite thing in the world. It is also what sparked my passion for directing film, and of course making Peter Jackson my biggest idol.

After Lord of The Rings I wanted to see every movie I could to give myself more of a feel for directing and just for the experience of watching a movie. After watching so many movies I began to become enthralled with superheroes.

The first comic book I ever bought and read was Planet Hulk, which immediately made me crave more. Soon after I bought a collection of Avengers comics. This introduced me to superheroes I had never even heard of like Ant-Man and Black Panther. This was when I realized how gigantic the Marvel and DC universes were.

After a while my Dad saw on a little ComiCon in a hotel near us. The creator of Bane, Graham Nolan, was going to be a guest there. We checked it out and have been going ever since. ComiCon further introduced me to the culture of the fans of “geeky” things. So I kept learning about superheroes and studying film and decided that I undoubtedly wanted to be a movie director and that has always stayed true.

I found that I started caring less and less about what most of the kids in my school liked and started focusing on what I liked. I didn’t care if I was “cool” or “popular” I just wanted to watch movies and talk about superheroes.

As soon as I started to learn about different directors and their styles I was glued to learning more about them. Some of my personal favorites have always been Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, and Christopher Nolan.

I continued going to ComicCon and meeting my idols and just enjoying things. The more and more I leaned the more I wanted to learn. I’d always loved the Christopher Nolan Batman movies and all of the Marvel films and that also helped with my enjoyment of superheroes.

When it came to video games I always loved Pokémon. I always played Pokémon at school as a kid and it was a great way to make friends although we did more card trading than anything else. Nintendo has always been my favorite when it comes to video games and I expect that it will stay that way, however I completely love Gears of War.

TV-wise I’ve watched and loved Breaking Bad and of course am watching Better Call Saul. I’ve never been quite as into TV as I have movies but I can still appreciate it.

If I had to say the best and worst thing about being a young geek the worst would be that you have to watch people say stupid and hateful things about what you like. The best would be that you are involved in a rich culture that can make connections between you and other people you would not otherwise meet.

You should never be afraid of other people not accepting who you are because anyone would judge you because of what kind of entertainment you’re into rather who you are as a person is just a waste of your time. Being a geek can be more than just having an interest in something “geeky” it can be a deep study of things that may not even be real.

It can be the way you see things or the way you communicate.

It can be how you find friends and talented individuals.

You also don’t have to like the same topics as other geeks and that’s what’s great, you can have friendly arguments about what you are passionate about and share your thoughts. Anyway if it weren’t for “geeky” things the world would be a boring and less interesting place. Some people build careers of of “geekiness” and I plan on it.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that just by watching some movies and taking an interest in superheroes I’ve joined a community that I have begun and continued to base my life upon it.

Overall being a geek has turned into less of a hobby and more of a lifestyle.