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The Rise of the Nerd

Is this now more socially acceptable thanks to these guys?
Is this now more socially acceptable thanks to these guys?

Today’s guest post by Mandi Aylmore:

Is this now more socially acceptable thanks to these guys?

When I was growing up, being a nerd or a geek was completely taboo. It could get your head flushed, or have you mercilessly picked on.

Don’t know if you are aware, but I’m a MASSIVE nerd. I’m a Star Wars adoring, Think Geek shopping, Star Trek watching, hardcore gaming nerd. I drink Jack and Coke from a glass that has the Republic Symbol and advertises Blue Milk. My coffee is sipped from a black mug with the Imperial logo. I run around in a Sith Robe. And my favourite thing to do on a Friday night is to stay up until 2 am playing ARMA 2.

Nope. Not a nerd at all.

It seems that since the release of the TV show The Big Bang Theory, being a nerd or geek has become a little more mainstream and accepted. Thank you Leonard Hofstadter. And, I suppose, Sheldon Cooper. At this point I would like to mention I’m nothing like Sheldon. OK? Glad we got that cleared up.

It seems that gaming isn’t as nerdy as it used to be. Most kids these days have a gaming console or two. There are shops popping up all over the place selling all the PC and console games, and there are always people in them. Then there’s the rise of programs like Steam where you can download games and play with friends through this interface. Gaming has become much more “social”, playing co-op with friends, and strangers over the Internet.

Board games are on the up and up too. With YouTube channels like Geek and Sundry that have the web show Table Top, board games are coming back, and it’s no longer naff to want to play them. Thank you Wil Wheaton. I’ve got myself a nice collection, Star Trek Monopoly, Family Guy Clue, Star Wars Operation. See a theme? No? Moving right along…

This is what “Nerd” used to mean. But not anymore…

At what point did being a nerd become more acceptable? Is Big Bang Theory really responsible? I remember when growing up having to keep the fact I was a Trekkie secret. It was totally cool to like Star Wars, but Star Trek? Let me just set my phaser on stun. Star Trek was always considered so lame, Dr Who not much better.

But Dr Who has taken on a life of it’s own. Finally. Did you know that the first episode of Dr Who aired on the BBC in 1963? That’s infinity years ago! It’s had a quiet cult following for years, but now it’s cool to like Dr Who, and the cosplay at SciFi Conventions is awesome and proof of that (Note: cosplay = dressups).

And then there is my beloved Star Trek. The Original Series began in 1966 and ran for three seasons, but it also spawned numerous movies and other TV seasons (Star Trek: The Next Generation is my favourite). Then in 2009, the brilliant JJ Abrams filmed a reboot of Star Trek with the delectable Chris Pine as Captain James T Kirk, which was a hit. The sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness is scheduled for release in 2013. Can’t. Wait.

You know what though? Even though it appears that Nerdom is being accepted, Australia is super slow on the bandwagon. We have Oz Comic Con, but only in Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth. Then there is the occasional Star Trek Convention. And I have no idea where there is a good Comic Book store.

But the US? If you want to be a nerd, then America is the place to do it. Comic Con is AMAZING. There are panels for all the awesome TV shows, plus heaps of cool merchandise of all your favourite Sci Fi shows. Maybe I should move?

With the recent acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, and the announcement that Star Wars 7, 8 and 9 are going to be made, along with the Star Trek reboot, and Dr Who, science fiction is really out there. No need to hide anymore Nerds.

We will take over the world. Live long and prosper.

Are you a nerd? What’s your favourite Sci-Fi show? Or do you think this whole “nerd” thing is ridiculous?

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  • Sonja van Woerkom

    As a Whovian, an minor note: It’s ALWAYS ‘Doctor Who’ when referring to the show, and ‘The Doctor’ (or John Smith) when referring to the Time Lord – we never abbreviate to ‘Dr’. :)

    And yes, I am a D&D playing, Doctor Who loving and crazy book reading nerd. I’m marrying one too!

    • Sonja van Woerkom

      and by ‘an’ I mean ‘a’

    • Mandi Aylmore

      I stand corrected. Doctor Who it is.

    • An Idle Dad

      I think you’ll find the correct name for seasons five and six is “The Amy Ponds show”

      • Sonja van Woerkom

        Ah yes. The Ponds. I’m going to miss them a bit, I think, but not as much as I miss Rose. (Yes, I still miss her!)

      • http://tamsinhowse.com/blog Tamsin Howse

        Sorry I think you mean The Tamsin Show 😛

        • An Idle Dad

          Tamsin Drew? I’ve actually never seen those episodes

  • http://explore.johnanthonyjames.com/ John James

    Warning: Old Man Comment…

    The strange thing for me is, having grown up in the 1970s, there’s was no stigma in watching Doctor Who or Star Trek or Star Wars when I was a kid…you weren’t considered a nerd, because all the other kids were also watching Doctor Who (each night, right after The Goodies, both on endless repeats) – and we all loved Star Wars…

    This idea of fan boys and geekdom didn’t really take off until the 1990s, and it’s no coincidence that it parallels the arrival of the World Wide Web. The X-Files was the blue-print for an internet-based geek fanbase…

    You see, I love Doctor Who and Star Trek and Star Wars, but I’m not a Fanboy…that seems to be a phenomenon belonging to people younger than me…people who came to these shows and films second-hand, not when they were first shown…

    I’m not judging…just a comment about perspective I guess… :)

    • Mandi Aylmore

      It’s true. I wasn’t born until 1976, so Star Trek and Doctor Who were already out there. Star Wars A New Hope came out in 1977, and I remember vividly going to see both Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi at the movies. It wasn’t until I was in my early teens that my mum introduced me to Star Trek. At that stage Next Gen has JUST come out.

      So I guess it’s a difference between being introduced to it, or it just being around. Make sense?

    • http://tamsinhowse.com/blog Tamsin Howse

      Maybe the “nerd” stigma didn’t attach itself to Doctor Who or Star Wars, but it was certainly around as Revenge of the Nerds came out in 1984.

      The specific shows that made you a nerd may have been different, but the taboo, and therefore the crux of this piece, was still there.

    • An Idle Dad

      Like the Beatles, who existed before rock splintered and therefore are generally liked by everyone, so too Star Wars was one of the first big summer blockbusters.

      Jaws was the first, but was limited to teens. Star Wars was the first wide appeal blockbuster (the ground breaking special effects didn’t hurt either). There was something there for everyone, and everyone saw it. Plus it ran at the cinema for FOUR YEARS (a sequential screening block beaten only by The Gods Must Be Crazy a few years later).

      The nerdism applied to Star Wars is retrospective, as Sci-Fi became it’s own block buster genre.

      • http://explore.johnanthonyjames.com/ John James

        “The nerdism applied to Star Wars is retrospective” – Exactly!

        I was 11 when Star Wars came out…it was MY movie…only people my age can truly claim to “own” Star Wars… :)

        Mind you, Annie Hall came out the same year, but I was too young for that…but later on, I became a huge Woody Allen fanboy…

        • An Idle Dad

          I think Woody Allen movies were forced on me far too early for me to appreciate them. I still can’t get into Woody Allen. I blame my parent’s enthusiasm for them.

          • Ozgirl

            This is my problem with Stars Wars! I was too young to get I think… But old enough to be annoyed that I didn’t get it and therefore just decided to hate it!

        • Mitchell Osmond

          That’s not fair – that would mean I have to claim ‘The Phantom Menace’ as “my” movie… not going to happen… I’ll take A New Hope anyday.

          • Mandi Aylmore

            Bwahahahaha we can call your Jar Jar!

            Ok, not even I’m that evil :)

      • http://explore.johnanthonyjames.com/ John James

        Also, I think people my age were way-more nerdy and fanboyish about music than movies and TV – for me and my mates, it was all about learning as much as possible about Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett and Mike Oldfield, and yes, The Beatles…that was our geekdom…which was way more difficult in a world before social media than it is now…

  • Bek M

    Out and proud nerd here too! Great article Mandi. :-)
    I was just about to correct you about Doctor Who but I see Sonja has already covered it lol.
    I also play Dungeons and Dragons, computer and console games (RPGs are my fav) and have a soft spot for Star Trek (Next Gen was my first series so I’ll always love it, and of course Patrick Stewart).

  • An Idle Dad

    You know you’ve entered the mainstream – at least gamers have – when this happens

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/world-warcraft-gamer-reviled-hobby-wins-maine-state-senate-seat-article-1.1198312

    Tried to use it against her, instead, she won the senate seat.

  • An Idle Dad

    A few comments: Nerds always owned the world, they were just hidden.

    I guess the change is that for younger people, nerdism in some places isn’t such a negative. Everyone uses electronic gear all the time, so literacy and being techincal are more ingrained in everyone (which is a really, really good thing).

    Also: I told you about ComicCon in Australia.

    Lastly: Next Gen is naff and in places aging horribly, but overall pretty good (and can claim to have changed TV forever). Star Trek Voyager is the worst of the Star Treks. Enterprise is the greatest Star Trek series.

    • Mandi Aylmore

      Yes you did tell me about ComicCon in Australia Idle. Should have given you credit. My bad.

      Voyager was terrible. But I still watch it occasionally. And Enterprise was fantastic. Such a shame there was only 4 seasons.

      • An Idle Dad

        Wow, I didn’t think you’d agree. The cancelling of Enterprise was especially annoying as the story arc was so awesome. I genuinely blame the appalling opening credits as the reason for the cancellation.

        We’d be soulmate nerds if you weren’t a dirty Sith-lover.

        • Mandi Aylmore

          The story lines on Enterprise were so much better than the other series. Scott Bakula was a great chose for Captain. Did you see that special that William Shatner hosted called Captains? It was brilliant.

          And you should embrace the dirty Sith-lover. We are awesome :)

          • An Idle Dad

            The brilliance of Enterprise was it was obviously a parallel to September 11th, in a much more straightforward way than (the also brilliant) Battlestar Galactica reboot.

            I may have to start watching Enterprise again. At least I can skip the opening credits.

  • Hayley Ashman

    What about us ‘other’ nerds? The ones who love nothing more than to stay up until 2am on a Friday night reading a good book. Who purposely educate ourselves on the American Electoral College not just because we want to understand, but because we simply find it interesting. Who listen to podcasts on public transport about Stockholm Syndrome while everyone else has some form of dub-step blasting into their ears.

    I feel like we are not quite as accepted…

    Although…I LOVE Star Wars :)

    • http://tamsinhowse.com/blog Tamsin Howse

      I’d call that “an intellectual” and I’ve married into a family of them.

      • Hayley Ashman

        Oh I much prefer that term :)

  • Mitchell Osmond

    I’m totally a nerd… I love Star Wars and Doctor Who and most of Star Trek, more importantly I love Big Bang Theory as I can laugh at all the in jokes and references to the nerd-dom that exists.

    Remeber Tamsin’s ’12 Signs You’re Dating a Nerd’? Maybe it’s time she updates that to ’12 Signs You’re Running a Blog Inhabited by Nerds’… I’m sure you’ll find 12 resons in these comments!

    • http://tamsinhowse.com/blog Tamsin Howse

      Haha! I’m proud to be running a blog inhabited by nerds!! Although the Viking’s Dice Of Doom is the real nerd blog in this family.

  • melinka

    I’m a non-gamer nerd. Scientist by day, sci-fi-loving, book-reading, internet-addict by night. Well OK, internet during the day too but mostly work stuff.

    Also, I’m frequently so frazzled at work that I fear I *look* like a nerd. Fashion goes out the window. Not much point wearing pretty shoes under a lab coat (also not safe). Frizzy hair to go with the frazzle. You get the idea.

    But. I HATE the Big Bang Theory, even with Sheldon, and I can’t stand Star Wars. Sorry guys. Star Trek, Babylon 5, Doctor Who are my jam :)

  • Melissa Savage

    I’d just like to talk up Canberra’s awesome comic book store, Impact Comics. My husband has a standing order for a bunch of titles there plus they have all kinds of cool books and toys and stuff. They are very involved in the local nerd community as well!

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