New kids on the comic block
UrbanDictionary.com defines a geek as someone you pick on in high
school and end up working for later in life. A real dictionary defines
the word as “an enthusiast or expert, especially in a technological field or activity.”
A geek doesn’t have to be particularly smart; he or she just needs to have a huge passion and knowledge of something. There are geeks of all kinds of things, from traditionally geeky fields like math, science and history to mainstream interests like music, movies, games and sports. As long as you store vast amounts of useless knowledge about your muse, you are a geek.
With famous geeks like Stephen Colbert, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Joss Whedon showing that being a geek is cool, more and more people are starting to embrace their inner geek.
In a 2010 poll, 66 per cent of young people thought that being called a geek was a compliment. With geek culture becoming mainstream, it brings us to the question: What is a geek and how did this come to be?
In the past 10 years, superhero movies have taken the box office by storm and now rake in billions of dollars. This trend started with Spiderman in 2002, when it broke box office records and showed audiences were interested.
Spiderman opened the floodgates for swarms of revamped series like X-Men, Iron Man, the Batman trilogy and The Avengers to break records in ticket sales with every release. It was now becoming the norm for people to skip the bars on the weekend and instead grab their friends, dress up and head down to the theatre to watch superheroes save the world.
Television shows like The IT Crowd and The Big Bang Theory brought nerd culture further into the mainstream. Fans loved these shows’ brands of geek humour and related to the characters’ social awkwardness.
Geeks could laugh at the many science and pop culture references and it made them feel smart. These shows were both instant hits and appealed to all demographics with The Big Bang Theory pulling in close to 20 million viewers every episode. For God’s sake even my parents watch this show.
Celebrities started talking about their love of video games and dressing in geek chic. People like Justin Timberlake, David Beckham and multiple NBA players were pairing large horn-rimmed glasses, with suspenders and high trousers.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Steve Urkel, who once was picked on for being the King of Geeks, was now praised as a fashion icon.
Events like Anime North, Comic-Con and the E3 conference are Woodstock for geeks. Celebrities at these shows are like rock stars, with fans driving hundreds of miles to see them. Fans will spend many hours and thousands of dollars creating costumes to earn respect among their fellow geeks.
Walk into any record store or clothing shop and you will be bombarded with geek culture. T-shirts with geek jokes, Star Wars Lego sets, The Big Bang Theory calendars, Doctor Who scarves cover the walls, and fans gladly snap it all up to show off their geek pride.
I think the original hardcore geek is becoming extinct and the new age of geekdom has begun. Everyone always secretly liked geeky things, and now it’s acceptable to admit it.
No longer are people stuck about talking about golf or the weather around the water cooler. Men, women and children (okay, maybe not children) can all bond over that Game of Thrones episode and discuss what they think will happen next.
Instead of taking a vacation to Florida, the whole family can head to Comic-Con to get their geek on. You can take someone on a date to an arcade instead of a fancy dinner. You can ditch Go Fish with grandma and swap in Magic the Gathering.
I say, embrace these changes and wear your geekiness with pride. If someone calls you a geek, just adjust your horn-rimmed glasses, squeeze your Yoshi plushie a little tighter, and tell them, “thank you.”
A geek doesn’t have to be particularly smart; he or she just needs to have a huge passion and knowledge of something. There are geeks of all kinds of things, from traditionally geeky fields like math, science and history to mainstream interests like music, movies, games and sports. As long as you store vast amounts of useless knowledge about your muse, you are a geek.
With famous geeks like Stephen Colbert, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Joss Whedon showing that being a geek is cool, more and more people are starting to embrace their inner geek.
In a 2010 poll, 66 per cent of young people thought that being called a geek was a compliment. With geek culture becoming mainstream, it brings us to the question: What is a geek and how did this come to be?
In the past 10 years, superhero movies have taken the box office by storm and now rake in billions of dollars. This trend started with Spiderman in 2002, when it broke box office records and showed audiences were interested.
Spiderman opened the floodgates for swarms of revamped series like X-Men, Iron Man, the Batman trilogy and The Avengers to break records in ticket sales with every release. It was now becoming the norm for people to skip the bars on the weekend and instead grab their friends, dress up and head down to the theatre to watch superheroes save the world.
Television shows like The IT Crowd and The Big Bang Theory brought nerd culture further into the mainstream. Fans loved these shows’ brands of geek humour and related to the characters’ social awkwardness.
Geeks could laugh at the many science and pop culture references and it made them feel smart. These shows were both instant hits and appealed to all demographics with The Big Bang Theory pulling in close to 20 million viewers every episode. For God’s sake even my parents watch this show.
Celebrities started talking about their love of video games and dressing in geek chic. People like Justin Timberlake, David Beckham and multiple NBA players were pairing large horn-rimmed glasses, with suspenders and high trousers.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Steve Urkel, who once was picked on for being the King of Geeks, was now praised as a fashion icon.
Events like Anime North, Comic-Con and the E3 conference are Woodstock for geeks. Celebrities at these shows are like rock stars, with fans driving hundreds of miles to see them. Fans will spend many hours and thousands of dollars creating costumes to earn respect among their fellow geeks.
Walk into any record store or clothing shop and you will be bombarded with geek culture. T-shirts with geek jokes, Star Wars Lego sets, The Big Bang Theory calendars, Doctor Who scarves cover the walls, and fans gladly snap it all up to show off their geek pride.
I think the original hardcore geek is becoming extinct and the new age of geekdom has begun. Everyone always secretly liked geeky things, and now it’s acceptable to admit it.
No longer are people stuck about talking about golf or the weather around the water cooler. Men, women and children (okay, maybe not children) can all bond over that Game of Thrones episode and discuss what they think will happen next.
Instead of taking a vacation to Florida, the whole family can head to Comic-Con to get their geek on. You can take someone on a date to an arcade instead of a fancy dinner. You can ditch Go Fish with grandma and swap in Magic the Gathering.
I say, embrace these changes and wear your geekiness with pride. If someone calls you a geek, just adjust your horn-rimmed glasses, squeeze your Yoshi plushie a little tighter, and tell them, “thank you.”
