Pokémon: The First Movie taught me to embrace my inner geek

It was the spring of 2000 and, for a soon-to-be 13-year-old in a small southern Italian city, Pokémon: The First Movie felt like a big moment. The PlayStation 2 had been out for just a month, the movie promised Mewtwo on screen and an exclusive Ancient Mew card for attendees, and yet the feeling I carried to the cinema was shame rather than excitement.

I went alone, awkward about telling my family which film I was seeing, and sitting among little kids and bored parents only made me feel out of place — until the movie started and I forgot it all for 75 sweet minutes, leaving clutching my precious Mew. Looking back, twelve is a perfectly normal age to be a fan, but cultural nuances in my hometown made a difference.

Bullying was common and social status mattered, so I learned to hide geeky interests. Even in my twenties I remember lying about playing wargames and my then-girlfriend thinking I was cheating because I wasn’t home: "Darling, I swear, these orcs are just friends!" I’m still baffled by how much popular culture has shifted.

Italy, southern Italy

pokémon, mewtwo, ancient mew, playstation 2, 2000, southern italy, bullying, wargames, fandom, geeky interests