"The Guild," a primary example of perceived elitism

Note: the particular section I discuss begins at 6:33 into the video, so you may want to start this clip 6 and a half minutes in to save time.

This scene is a clip from the popular gaming webseries called The Guild, and is also my primary example of how steampunk is often perceived and portrayed by non-steampunk communities. In the clip, Clara is a member of the Knights of Good, a guild of online gamers who are attending "Mega-Game-O-Rama-Con," a video game convention. At the convention, Clara comes across a steampunk booth, and is incredibly interested in the culture. However, when attempting to interact with the members of the booth, Clara finds that they are not as welcoming as expected and are instead rude and uninviting.

The representation of elitism in the clip is obvious, with one of the members proclaiming to Clara: "You are absolutely unqualified in any of the poseur fields." Because of Clara's inability to perform tasks such as mixing laudanum, she is rejected from the steampunk community and not allowed to interact with its members. The culture is represented as being elitist, only allowing in a select few members based on their ability as it relates to ideals of steampunk. One member concludes, "I'm sorry, dear. Though your efforts are admirable, if you don't get it you simply can't be a part of it." Clara is not allowed to participate in the community not only due to a lack of skills, but also a lack of understanding. The culture is represented as closed to outsiders, only welcoming those who "get" steampunk. This representation clearly shows steampunk as being an elitist, exclusive culture that is hostile to outsiders.

Clara herself perceives elitism in the culture, as she summarizes how she sees steampunk: "How difficult can it be? Get a costume, act all snooty. Done and done!" Clara's "explanation" of steampunk shows that she herself perceives the elitism suggested by the other characters' actions. Her discussion also suggests that elitism is not just something that she sees as existing within the culture, but is actually something that she sees as definitive of steampunk, as acting "snooty" is one of the two central elements she uses to define the culture. This description suggests that - from the perspective of many that are not involved in steampunk - the culture is perceived as being one of elitism, exclusivity and people who act "snooty."

It is important to note, however, that the situation shown in this episode is a representation for a non-steampunk audience. Instead of providing a voice from within steampunk culture, it instead shows steampunk as it is perceived by other cultures, particularly gamers. Clara has no inside knowledge of steampunk, instead being part of the show's "gamer" community, and her perspective is therefore one of an outsider. The show itself is also predominantly about gaming, being targeted at a gamer audience, and therefore the audience and creators of the show are also not part of the steampunk community, instead observing it from a detached perspective. Finally, the convention that the characters are attending is established as a gaming convention, even through the name "Mega-Game-O-Rama-Con," which clearly indicates gaming. While the video is effective at showing how steampunk is perceived by gamers, it does not offer any perspective or voice from actual members of the steampunk community.

Therefore, instead of using The Guild as a representation of the steampunk community itself, I intend to use it as an example of how non-steampunk cultures such as gamers tend to view and represent steampunk. I will compare this representation to examples from within the community itself, examining ways in which these examples both contrast and reinforce representations of elitism such as those in The Guild.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jrUO5Rjga0