I grew up in a small town. All the adults had grown up there and never left, and as such their children grew up in the same town going to the same school with the same teachers. I didn’t realize it at the time, but a lot of those old High School politics were still at play, and the residual side effects from it trickled down to the children. I was a geek, nerd, loser, outcast, what have you.

Then I moved to a regional school where everyone’s parents were from all over. Some were local, some were from other parts of New Jersey, some were from other states. They had blue and white collar jobs, some had divorced parents, some had dead parents, and others had perfect families while others had broken homes. Everyone was different, and yet they were all the same. There were still bullies, but instead of being made fun of by an entire town I was only picked on by a handful.

My elder brother would have me believe this is a generational gap, and that during his time in school geeks were always beat up and picked on all the time. There was no geek chic and it was in no way mainstream, even though all the kids grew up on Transformers and Mortal Kombat. I disagree. After all, Apple was founded by Steve Wozniak, a geek that knew how to build computers, and Steve Jobs, a “cool person” that had no geeky bone in his body and yet knew how to market things. If “cool people” never befriended geeks, then Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak would never have gotten together.

No, it is not “cool” to be geek these days, though it may seem so. I took my first trip to the local mall in months only to find my perceptions of reality challenged. Over there, an athlete wearing a Call of Duty t-shirt. That way, a bunch of kids with three inches of boxers showing discussing the appearance of the Cosmic Cube at the end of Thor. Coming down the hall is a girl with the styled hair, make-up and jeans of a GAP model sporting a Metallica t-shirt. All the aspects of pop culture that once made me feel outcast were now everywhere, and something about it felt unfair. Was I born too early? Was I at the cusp of geek culture becoming mainstream and popular?

Not really. People have interrupted conversations with friends to see what we’re talking about, and my cohorts often mutter “nothing, we’re just having a really geeky conversation” as if it is shameful. Other friends have mentioned that I am so unabashedly a nerd that it makes them feel more comfortable letting that aspect of themselves out.

What? Being a geek is shameful? But the top movie of 2009 was a science fiction film. Everyone’s talking about Thor lately, a film that’s not only based on a comic but also Norse Mythology. Be it on Facebook or smart phones or handhelds or game consoles, everyone is playing a video game of some sort these days. So why is it such a travesty to be a geek still?

Today’s article on Gamers With Jobs, titled Hauling Down the Freak Flag, explores this a bit through the PAX East gaming convention. If you recall, I happened to attend the event this year myself and had a blast. It was the first time in a long time that I felt like I didn’t have to care about social conventions, that I was just a person and anything that came out of my mouth would be understood. I didn’t have to worry about slipping a gag or reference no one would understand or talking about something that would bore the room. I was in my element.

Yet Rob Zacny’s post brought up a few points that seemed interesting to me. One of the quotes that kicked off the entire topic from another website in particular:

...The thing about how it’s cool to be a nerd now is a total lie, and it always has been. It’s cool to like Star Wars and video games, and be socially awkward in a cute and endearing sort of way. ...It’s not cool to be the sort of nerd who isn’t Hollywood-attractive, who is actually socially awkward in an awkward and uncomfortable way, the sort of nerd who can’t make small talk and takes things too literally and obsesses over things no one but other nerds care about (in case it’s not clear, I am describing myself here). So it makes me pretty angry when someone who perhaps self-identifies as a nerd but is a cool nerd comes into a space with non-cool nerds and tells those nerds to stop being so nerdy, already.

In other words, superficial geekiness tends to be cool. It’s funny to joke about “May the Fourth be with you” and other such things, but it’s entirely different to break down why Phantom Menace was trash. You may not have to be socially awkward, but it is still socially unacceptable to be the sort of person that dares take entertainment seriously.

That is, unless you are actually involved in the industry itself.

Geeks and nerds aren’t outcast for their interests, it is for taking their interests so seriously. Even though there is really nothing different between someone who loves anime enough to dress up as one of their favorite characters and someone willing to paint their face green, gold and white and wear cheese on their head, it is still socially more acceptable to do one than the other. People understand sports. We’ve been raised to believe sports are healthy and anyone can play them. Television, video games and film, meanwhile, are devices that will make us fat and feed us violent and sexually explicit imagery. Dangerous!

At the same time, there does seem to be some cultural clash, even acceptance, of the typical geek. As the numbers for NBC’s Heroes dwindled, their show Chuck (which I have discussed in the past) has become more popular. It is always at risk of being canceled, but the show is loaded with references to nerd culture and filled with geek-tastic protagonists.

Yet at the same time, it tends to be portrayed in the way the above writer spoke of. It’s sad and pathetic, but in a cute dorky manner.

Still, any television show willing to namedrop Final Fantasy IV (albeit as II) is definitely progress.

However, the author concludes with an excellent retrospective.

Because nerd culture isn’t just about our hobbies, but the baggage we carry from earlier lives. It’s our defensiveness and sense of separation that led us to define ourselves as nerds, and that is what drives the culture wars here in Nerdistan. I come to a convention and instead of kindred spirits, I find people I’ve always imagined I disdain or resent. There is my freshman year roommate or, worse, self, who covered every surface in anime wall scrolls and wanted to go kimono shopping. There’s the guy who would talk with me for hours about Quake 3 maps and EverQuest zones, and then acted like a stranger when he was with his “normal” friends. I find the people who made me feel bad about what I like, and who I am. But that’s only because there is a part of me still looking over one shoulder, afraid to find someone judging me.

Once again I am reminded of my friends, the less geeky ones, those who fit into “normal” society, and how they’ve told me that my personality is refreshing because I don’t seem afraid of judgment. I am a geek and I wear that badge proudly. I’m not afraid to crack a joke that no one will get, and when I begin discussing a topic that I am passionate about I allow my excitement to show rather than trying to hide my enthusiasm so as not to bore anyone else.

Maybe this is the problem. It could be that my friend saying “We’re just talking about geeky stuff” is only giving people the impression that it is sad and pathetic. Tom Sawyer didn’t get kids to paint the fence by making it seem boring or hard, he made it seem exciting and fun. While being a geek is exciting and fun, the rest of the world won’t realize it until they actually see us having a good time.

Which is a bit tough when there are so many neckbeards in the world trying to ruin it.

Geek is not mainstream. Nor is there such a thing as geek chic. There are plenty of elitist geeks out there that thrive on the concept of being a minority. In truth, though, the only thing that really separates us from anyone else is how much we like to discuss and analyze our interests. Instead of pretending to be better than other people or being ashamed of our hobbies, we should allow others to see the pleasure and excitement we get from it all. Dissecting what makes a video game fun or a film entertaining provides for great discussion and interaction. It enriches the movie-going experience and time spent with comrades on and offline. Meanwhile I stroll through the mall and hear nothing but inane conversations of gossip and drama in the school hallways or office cubicles.

There’s a reason Hollywood is filled with so many comic book movies these days and computers are everywhere. Geeks know what’s cool and are, in fact, the pioneers of awesometown. We may suck at talking to people (and not just girls, but people in general), but only because we’ve not only been convinced by society but convinced ourselves that there’s something shameful about our past times.

I say do not be ashamed and do not be afraid. Geek is cool. You want to be one of the cool kids, don’t you?

P.S. Sorry for a lack of images. Got a new computer and there’s still some functionality missing.