My Love Affair with a Fat Man
The year was 1995. A stellar year for some, but for me not my finest. I had recently been discharged from the U.S. Navy under less than desirable circumstances, and was in what can only be described as funk. Married for a year at that point to a woman who I spent a total of three days with since the wedding, I found myself trying to spend as much time away as possible. I filled the void with pointless jobs and copious amounts of drugs and alcohol. I don’t have a ton of memories of those hazy days, but someone asked me to write something today that brought one particular memory back from the abyss that my life was in 1995.
A friend of mine posed the question, why does Kevin Smith have such a loyal fanbase? Now, it would be a bit presumptuous to think that I could speak for millions of fans, but I can and will describe what makes me a fan of Kevin Smith. It all started in that year of 1995. That is when I saw what would become one of my favorite all time movies, Clerks. I don’t know who that well worn VHS tape belonged to, but it was passed on to me by a friend whose only words were “this movie is fucking bad ass”. Who in his right mind could possibly ignore such a stunning review? The tape was in a beat up cardboard sleeve and had made its rounds throughout our small community, probably stolen from the local rental establishment. It was black and white. That was the first thing I noticed and that fact nearly made me shut off the VCR right then and there. Luckily I didn’t.
It was almost like watching a day in the life of my friends and I. It was real. The things that the characters said sounded like the things that my friends and I would talk about. For christ’s sake the two main characters talked about Star Wars. Who was this person who had written such things for his characters to say? I had no idea. The internet was still not on my radar at this point. I had a guy make a copy of that tape for me, and proceeded to watch that movie over and over. That is of course until I bought Mallrats.
When Mallrats came into my possession is when the love affair with the man that is Kevin Smith really began. This fucker had done it again. He tapped into the minds of my circle of friends. The things that T.S. and Brodie argued over were the same deep philosophical issues that we were tackling. Could Lois Lane indeed handle Kryptonian cock, and if so what would be the fallout of such a union? Unfortunately Superman Returns ruined that idea, but I digress.
At this point I was hooked and never looked back, but I had no idea how far this would go.
Now twenty years later that love for all that is askew is still strong, but the question was why and that was something I had not really thought about. After all these years of movies, books, Q and A’s, podcasts and the fact that I’ve never met the man, Kevin Smith is like a friend.
It’s hard to be a fan of his and not feel that way. I’ve never come across another pseudo celebrity, in forty years of consumption of media, that interacts with fans on such an honest and personal level. Kevin has a way, whether it’s through his movies or his books, or any other of the cornucopia of mediums to interact with him, to make you feel like you’re the only one in the room, like he is speaking directly to you. I think that’s what draws so many into his orbit. Somehow it doesn’t seem fake, and whether it’s a win or a loss it’s always honest and that is the most important part for me. His willingness to be open and to share with the people who supported him is the one biggest thing that keeps me coming back day after day. If everyone in the world would sit and watch a Kevin Smith flick while partaking of some fine herb, the world would be a much better place. Thank you sir.
