Language Disconnect: The Point Is! Edition

Here's a question that comes up occasionally regarding fandom and subcultures and whatnot. "Isn't that the point?"

I saw this come up a few times in the comments to my essay at Racialicious, and maybe I'm being a pedant, but it seems kind of silly to declare what the point of certain things are.

Here's something that occurred to me:

There is no point.

I don't mean this in the "there is no spoon" sort of way, but, declaring what the point of steampunk is - "the point of steampunk is to re-invent the past!"

Well. Not really. It's certainly the purpose of some of its participants, but I hesitate to name that the whole point.

Now, I recognize that it's possibly useful as a rhetorical tool, but the more I see it, the more confusing it gets.

Some things... just are.

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