I find it is with some amusement that people seem to take pride in being a geek.
Personally I don't like to classify myself. Now I have read comics for many, many years, owned a comic book store, have enjoyed video games (very seldom anymore) and watch Star Trek, Star Trek the Next Generation, Farscape and recently a convert to Stargate, but I refuse to classify myself as a geek.
I have always managed to have a lot of fun with the opposite sex, never lived in my parents' basement, play some sports and in a poker game twice a month. I'm not overweight and I have seen the light of day and the inside of many nightclubs.
Still I'm writing a blog and participate in a comic book "radio" show. So Geek or No Geek.
My wife says I'm a comic geek, but after going a convention (for the first time in over a decade) I'm not even sure I qualify as a comic geek.
I prefer no labels and hope people judge me on what I present to them and bring to the party so to speak. I just don't get why some are proud to be a geek. Maybe they are cool geeks!
I've always said that everyone is geeked out over something. Some guys are gearheads who go nutso for cars. Some are meatheads who live in the gym and get off rubbing oil on other muscley dudes. Some women are geeky for shoes. Some go crazy for cookware. Everyone has something that they have an unhealthy obsession for. It's just that if you're crazy about sports or cars that's accepted; video games and comic books is not. We are all geeks and should learn to live in harmony with one another. After all, we are all together on this lifeship called Earth. Suddenly I have the overpowering urge to run out and hug my elm. Ta ta!!
ReplyDeleteJim - you are totally a geek... as I recently explained to Mike things such as football do not override your geekdom. And yes, there can be "cool" geeks. I mean look at Vin Disel... he's a gamer geek and people still classify him as "cool".
ReplyDeleteJeff - I believe if by geek we all have a passion, that is probably true, but is a passion being a geek.
ReplyDeleteCshiana - I would disagree. But it all comes down to how you define being a geek.
There are two types of geeks.
ReplyDeleteIt is like the Morlocks and the X-Men.
Some of us are cool, get married, seem normal. Others are rejects and are forced to live in the sewers.
Of course, you're a geek if you get the above comparison.
1 Right - Funny stuff. Of course I get the comparison.
ReplyDeleteLike the morlocks comparison, but remember what the X-men looked like under Morrison's pen? That was like the Morlocks moving into the sunlight where they deserve to be.
ReplyDeleteAs for geeks, they come in all shapes and sizes. I know sports geeks, motorcycle geeks, gearhead geeks, pottery geeks, board game geeks, and porno geeks. Sometimes it feels like the only kind of geek I don't know is the kind that likes to bite the heads off chickens. So fly your freakflag high and proudly!
I suppose it might boil down to how you define what makes a geek - their resemblence to certain stereotypes, or their participation in certain activities?
ReplyDeleteI am a 31 year old guy and I proudly call myself a nerd (geek always reminds me of a circus freek from the late 1900s).
ReplyDeleteI love Star Wars (the real ones), video games, cartoons, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, comics, action figures, the Muppets, going to San Diego Comic-Con, etc
On the other hand, I am married, own a house and car, work an office job in marketing and am a freelance writer. Those things make me seem pretty "normal."
On a third hand (haha), I haven't lived with my parents since I was 13 (I went to boarding school), I ran an indie record label for 8 years, toured 46 of the 50 states in a band, played at the Reading Festival in England, etc. Those are all things that the people in my office say make me seem "cool."
Now on a fourth hand, I have always hated sports, have athsma, social anxiety and a general dislike for physical activity. Again back to the "nerd" traits.
So... basically I don't think you can pin down people completely but calling myself a nerd has always been a way to wave my freak flag and feel free to do whatever I want. I guess it is just an identity thing. A lot of "nerds" freak me out but they freak me out less than "normal" people do.
No lie, when I was a kid I used to get the hell kicked out of me for being a "four eyed nerd" by a kid who wore glasses. I think that pretty much sums it up. hahaha.