Nerds are back. A nerd is what you are when your life exists
around a strange preoccupation and you're not rich. Rich nerds are called
Englishmen. Rich perverse nerds are called eccentrics. Nerds are not
sociopathic. What we essentially need to know for the moment is that the
difference between a nerd and a geek is significant. A nerd is someone whose
strange attraction to what is generally an intellectual pursuit, or a general
state of intellectuality itself, renders him socially unattractive. The nerd wants
to be socially attractive, knows he isn't and despairs. The geek, on the other
hand, is either casually or purposefully indifferent to his apparent social
unattractiveness which makes him perversely attractive. The geek tends to be
more sociopathic than the nerd. The nerd throws himself at the mercy of
society, the geek flaunts it. The geek may do things to enhance their geekiness
and makes sport of their oddity, the nerd does it entirely by accident often in
the attempt to overcome their social problem. Clear?
The other day, I purchased from the local 7-11, along with a big bite hotdog
which I have recently come to find almost irresistibly delicious, a dog-tag for
Halo 3. That's very geeky of me, I know. I'm blogging about it.
A thoughtful reader has hipped me to the fact that black Halo players are
nerds too. I would suggest first of all that perhaps the reader is not
familiar with the sort of game that Halo is. It is a strikingly violent and
competitive game which is full of trash talk. Sure there are plenty of nerds
and geeks who play videogames but online shooters tend to draw a different
species of male, not particularly geeky or nerdy. In fact, there is almost no
redeeming value in completing the single player game in the context of Halo
fandom. It's all about online rank. It is inherently social. In other words
it's all about the fragging and teabagging.
Nevertheless there is something to the shape and color of the new nerd in the
mediasphere this fall. (And yes I am watching the new TV sitcom 'Chuck' and I'm
digging the inside jokes). Surely it started with Charlie from the dramatic
series 'Numbers', and there has had to be an update of your classic computer
nerd since the 90s. Remember that data jockeys are some of the most respected
professionals in America according to the New York Times survey. (Yeah I know,
don't hate me because I'm beautiful).
So it's not surprising that nerds are back in the social sense, and it should not be additionally surprising that GenX blacks have an adequate quota of nerdiness. I know that there is a kind of deep 'positive black images' argument implied in the thought piece, but I don't want to go there. Hollywood will always abstract and it always has. Even Roseanne Barr's funky house was nowhere near as funky as it should be had it any bearing on reality - as phony as reality shows are, they're more real than any Hollywood fiction. So to promulgation of accurate black images in Hollywood is all just marketing, just as any complaint against Hollywood's portrayal. Besides, who can you trust to be inspired to nerddom because of an accurate media portrayal of nerds? "I wanna be a black Screech" just doesn't parse.
There is no revenge to take for nerds. Nerds, by definition can only do one thing to save themselves, which is to get the girl. Meanwhile, the adventures of 40 year old virgin basement gamers will provide yucks for all of us with TVs. But don't be surprised when there are professional gaming leagues and girls go for the guys with the quickest thumbs. These guys aren't nerds, if anything, they're geeks. In 10 years they will be sports heroes, just like X Gamers. Meanwhile, here is the guy you really are looking for. His name is Karma.
Karma.
Recent Comments