As anyone who has spent any amount of time with me, they can
verify I am quite definitely a nerd. Usually I identify myself more as a geek,
but “nerd” seems to be the preferred term that dominates the culture. If you’ve
read any of my blog entries (particularly this one) that should be easy to see. I know my nerd stuff. So when I see such horrible exploitations of people who
share my loves and interests, I have to respond.
There is a show on TBS entitled King of the Nerds. It’s
fairly typical of most reality programs. A group of people living together in a
house and each episode they perform various tasks and competitions around
whatever the show’s particular theme is. A few years ago it seemed like TV was
dominated by such shows. This show’s theme is Nerds. Each contestant has an
expertise in nerd-culture, such as comic books, video games, math, physics,
role playing games, cosplaying and a whole slew of others. To add the show a
bit more “nerd cred” the hosts are Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong, two
of the stars of the classic film Revenge of the Nerds. Just based on this
description it would seem that this show should be tailor made for me. And in a
way it is.
But while this show is trying to be a celebration of nerds, it
shines a light on a darker side of nerdom. There is a reason why many nerds are
considered social outcasts. Because most of us are. That’s not to say all nerds
are a bunch of friendless losers. Many of us are quite sociable. But when you
look at a particular nerd’s group of friends you’ll see that they usually tend
to be other nerds. Even more specific they tend to be the same type of nerds.
Nerds are not good at socializing with people who do not share their particular
interests. It’s a horrible stereotype but too many nerds are a perfect example
of it.
Since so many nerds have trouble being sociable we tend to
be extra focused on our passions (aka obsessions). This leads to super
competitiveness. Spend a few hours in a comic book shop (as I have) and you
will hear some Congressional style debates about the characters contained in
the four-color pages of the store’s wares (also guilty of doing). These leads
to nerds being super competitive. That’s right. Nerds are competitive. While
the stereotype is that nerds are not good at sports, they still have the need
to win, probably even more than the jocks who supposedly ridicule them. You can
see a perfect example of this on the show. Within the first fifteen minutes of
episode 1 of King of the Nerds, alliances and schemes are already coming into
play. People are already deciding who they want to eliminate right off the bat.
Also, the problem with this show is that it seems to have a
very broad definition of the word “nerd”. I hate to sound like some sort of
possessive jerk, but I grew up just on the cusp before nerd became something
cool. I read comics and watched sci-fi a lot as a kid and was picked on for it.
Being a nerd was part of my identity. Now it’s become something chic and
fashionable. Many actors and actresses feel it necessary to claim they were
nerds as children and to be fair I’m sure some of them were. But some of them
were cool and popular and are just trying to cash in on a trend. And the show
King of the Nerds has one or two same such people, though I will not say who
for not wanting to spoil the show. |
| "What have we done?" |
Don’t get me wrong. I am happy nerds are getting the
attention they deserve. I’m glad that Hollywood feels the need to aim its
entertainment at me and people like me. But don’t think for a second I don’t
realize as soon as “nerd culture” ceases to be profitable that the
entertainment industry will move on to greener pastures. And I will be left to
read my comics and watch my sci-fi in peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment