To those who’ve known me for years may remember a time I wrote about this topic before. In fact, back on MySpace (remember that?), I wrote a blurb about a topic that seems to be popular now. Pop culture seems to be the term for a nerd or geek or anyone who indulges in hobbies that may not be seen as “cool” or “hip” or something that seems to be beneath what’s in with the popular crowd. As stated earlier, basically a “nerd” is more about indulgence, obsession, passion, and connection. Basically, just interacting with an idea, place or person. Why? Because of how much joy is brought to you.
Over the years, there’s been a shift from what was now “for geeks” as now to be regulated as the norm. Before if you talked about spending a weekend playing Super Mario World, people would call you a loser and think less of you. Now days, soccer moms are purchasing Super Mario World for the family on the virtual console. Before if you were to mention how much you loved X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman, people would call you a dork. Now you got these movies breaking records in the box office. The fact that X-Men: First Class made $50 million+ and still considered a “failure” gives you an idea of the abundance of films in the comics genre are.
I can go on and on with examples but the fact remains the same. For better or for worse, acceptance of these activities is to the point that it seems to be the new trend/fad. In the 80’s/90’s, you’d be lucky to find a briefcase that Deckard used in Blade Runner. Now, they sell Rorschach masks at grocery stores. The paradigm is no longer what it once was.
The blog I wrote in regards to nerds and geeks before is that everyone is a nerd in one form or another. You don’t refer to them as such but the passion is still present. A lot of people watching a sporting event like football or basketball. The fans would remember stats on the players, where they played in college, what their win/loss ratio is. They even have sports trivia playable at bars, tv/radio shows and just about any popular gatherings you can think of. Even friends have friendly-competition about the knowledge they know. Is that any less “nerdy” than a couple of fans playing Star Wars Trivial Pursuit?
What about cars? People that collect cars, know about cars tend to get the most knowledge out of it. Sometimes people may ask “what’s under your hood” then it sounds like some kind of alien speak that you don’t understand. Is that any different when fellow Browncoats talk about how much they enjoy Captain Mal or how they wish they had a girlfriend like River?
It’s getting to the point now that this is normal. To paraphrase Richard Gecko, nerd, for the lack of a better term, is good. Though it seems to get so out of hand that it almost feels like they want to try so hard to be a nerd that it almost undermines the process of what they are doing. People are not fans of a property because of anything else that is not the property itself. People seem they want to be accepted in the nerd culture. People proclaim “I like Kingdom Hearts! I’m a nerd!” or “Ron Weasley is such mancakes” believe that they are the same vein of people who got together on weekends to watch Dune. In fact, even some nerds today try to feel some kind of superiority with their nerdiness. That someone waited for Fellowship of The Rings for four days makes them “more of a fan” than those who were curious about the film and arrived an hour before it starts.
A long time ago, nerds didn’t have a problem with acceptance. People called us weird because we had a tear in our eye when Spock was killed. In turn we just said that they were weird for not enjoying the same thing. Call it irony that the people who mocked us for speaking Klingon and doing the Vulcan greeting talked about how much they loved the new Star Trek. Even more ironic, the long time fans who went to the conventions did not like it.
Patton Oswalt wrote that pop culture needs to explode. To an extent I agree. I don’t know how I feel about seeing a dude at a gym wearing a Boba Fett shirt (to take a quote from Mr. Oswalt). Though I don’t think it’s about what we love is in jeopardy but more about the community who go into it. I knew that things like independent films were in trouble when Paris Hilton was seen at Sundance one year.
The only thing I can think of is that a majority of people who get into it will always make time for it. People who cram it in on the weekend won’t even get the full embrace of it. So many people can just catch up to Star Wars by just reading a Wikipedia entry. Do you think they got the full impact of people back in 1980 when people waiting in line for hours to find out (SPOILER ALERT) Darth Vader was Luke’s father? I know with Star Wars it’s easier to just “watch” the movies to catch up but the main point I was trying to make is that the impact isn’t the same when you have it summarized rather than watching/reading/experiencing it firsthand.
I’m not saying people shouldn’t do “nerdy” or “geeky” things. My brother said it best that “all a nerd really is is someone who likes cool things.” Sometimes people find themselves enjoying a property they didn’t think they would. I know people who got into Harry Potter books after watching the first movie. I know people got into gaming after seeing Psycho Mantis shake the controller with his mind alone. I know people who got into wrestling when they saw a man jump from the ring to the opponent who was outside in the crowd.
So I say to people about people from Jersey Shore wanting to be down on Magic: The Gathering or how in high school someone saying “I love Barret! He’s muh nigga!” It’s not really a problem for me. It used to bother me before but now I understand that by people who proclaim such things might make your hobby or what you do and undermines it but really, it’s just someone who is curious. Look at Twilight as an example. A lot of people bash others who enjoy it to no end. Just because it’s about something you don’t like, what right do you have to judge people who enjoy it? There once was a time when people didn’t understand watching a film about light sabers and magical “force” but they didn’t go out of their way to make you feel inferior. Back then, people might of said “loser” or “geek” with the intent to harm. Now we got people younger than tweens shouting F words, homophobic slander and N words in regards to liking a story about vampires and werewolves. That’s a whole different ball game that I may tackle in the future.
I think people are just forgetting why they became a nerd in the first place. With all the problems going on in the world, it’s easy to forget the number one thing that makes anything and everything become what they are and what they want. To me, being a nerd is all summed up in one word.
Understanding.
With understanding, we can accept ourselves and those around us.
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