What do you think about the depiction of nerds in Main Stream or any media?

so, ok, in the interest of full disclosure, i feel i should state at the outset that i am ashgasm's proto-husband carbon based critter. I'm the guy that makes her say, "gimme that sweet, sweet bendis, baby." and she knows that i planned to write this letter, but still, I only feel right if i claim my affiliation at the beginning.

anyways...

So, my question has been digging in my brain-meats for some time. We, nerds, look a certain way in film, on television, books, comics, whatever. American culture is media, and goddamnit, it has no love for us, I believe. So what of it, huh? What can be said about the character of our depiction in MSM? The way we are framed (and we are), does it matter? Is it fair? What are the implications, you know? That sorta thing. The way i see it, we get poked in the eye with the shit end of the stick in a few ways:

-The most egregious is that nerds are often presented as nebbish, greasy, socially autistic fucktards, vainly fellowshipping our way to Mount Doom, usually characterized as acceptance by the world at large and warm place in the pants of the one hot chick who acknowledges us.

-Another take on nerds in MSM is as the Magical Negro film trope. We become the above mentioned fucktards who allow everyone else in the world to learn something about themselves, and we get fuck all. Warm platitudes and back slaps, hollow cheers of "NERDS! NERDS! NERDS!" but that's it! The Revenge of the Nerd is all about this. Well, that and a badass synth-pop song near the end. And hooters, can't forget them.

-The last, and this is my most favoritest, is the nerd as a beautiful freak. Napoleon Dynamite, Angus, fuck loads of early John Cusack movies, Sixteen Candles (hell, most of the Shermer, Ill movies), each film has a nerd as star, and the point of the film is watching the spastic, cow-eyed gibbon dry hump his ('cuz the star is often a guy, another misdeed!) way to popularity. And he gets it, not because he deserves it or earned it but by default because that's the story. He has to win.

Exceptions, there are many: Xander Harris, Luke Skywalker, Holden Caulfield, Henry Rollins in Johnny Mnemonic, Patton Oswalt, and everything staring Simon Pegg (Spaced Rules!)but that's not enough.

So, tell me what you all think, or kill this rancorous diatribe with many flames and public shaming. Either way, love the site and love the scathing wit in the Powers letter column.

Simon Q Runaway

ASHLEY

Is it fair? Not at all. MSM nerds are framed by Hollywood's elitist h0rs, the ones who likely played football in high school and beat up actual intelligent kids like you, but could never compete with you intellectually.

I love the Lloyd Doblers and Xander Harrises of media for being realistic and oh-so-cute. I loved Duckie, too, but he was always after the wrong girl. Not that nerds cannot get with non-nerds, just that the non-nerds are usually not worth it. Fuck Molly Ringwald. If she can't appreciate him for what he is, she doesn't deserve him, anyway. Xander, too, was always after Cordelia, when Willow was right there, adoring him, and it's not like she was exactly a wildebeest. Willow was cute! But even Xander, King of Sunnydale Nerds, totally spurned Willow in the love department because she was too nerdy. So, even though I love him, not a lot of sympathy there, sorry. If you go after a girl just because she's got big tits, and that's her only positive feature, you're probably going to get a dumbass who doesn't understand you and gives you gifts of Star Wars: Episode I action figures instead of dressing up as Slave Leia for you for Halloween.

When I think of the nerds I've known in my life, only a very few--maybe only one--has been a social fucktard, and...he's creepy. He's not like his media representations. There are no Urkels. There is a whole category of nerd who really doesn't know how to get along in society, but even they are not as pathetic as what we get on TV. Most of the nerds that I know and love, and there are lots, are smart, are funny, provide the best conversations--because they're usually deep and insightful and always have knowledge that extends beyond makeup and football--they know that all people are different, or are supposed to be, anyway. They're generally just more interesting people altogether because they know that lightsabers and vampires and elves are more interesting than makeup and football. They're usually a lot more like the people you named in your exceptions category. And some few people in media, like Joss Whedon, know how to create realistic nerds.

I love you, honey. :-)

Mary: You can cut out that last line if you removed his disclaimer from the question and it thus no longer makes sense. :-P

NESSA

Good question I'm so sick of the way media portrays nerds and all stereotypes. Although I work in film and television, I have to say that for the most part they do it to every stereotype. If a character is a football player then they are cast as handsome and portrayed with no brains and if the character is a nerd they are ugly and smart (with a pocket protector). They are symbols for the general public to read because they are not trusted to think for themselves. A complex nerd character for the most part is something the networks shy away from. I wish that it wasn't the case. It just teaches our TV and film watching youth to not think for themselves and grow into stupid adults. And why are the nerds always pining for the shallow beautiful person. If the character is supposed to be smart they would want some one that not only is fun to fuck but that is fun to talk to and hang out with. There are so many different types of nerds it is little minded for television and film to generalize us into one type.

If we like a show we need to make it known. Don't watch the mindless shows because you are bored, show the networks that we expect more.

LAUREN

I think what I find most distressing is that there is no lead female nerd characters in the msm. When can I pay my $7.00 to go see a group of girls sitting around smoking a bowl and debating whether it would be cooler being in the Rebel Alliance or the United Federation of Planets? Unfortunately, female nerds get less limelight than the males, and they always look even greasier. And slightly more pathetic. Until someone saves them from their nerdy doom. (i.e. She's All That)

When Spiderman 3 came out, a coworker mentioned how shocked she was when Tobey Maguire was cast for the role. She assumed he should be hunky because he was Spiderman; she thought since it was a superhero he should be anything but Tobey Maguire.(I don't think she knows who Peter Parker is.) The sad reality is that the general public doesn't like to think and it is much easier to accept a stereotype of a sub-culture then to acknowledge the fact that nerds, like other humans, come in all shapes and sizes. We even get laid without paying for it.

At the very least, can't the mainstream media portray nerds as normal people with accelerated interests?

MARY

Lauren, didn't we have that same conversation one morning after working third shift at ye olde home shopping network? I wholeheartedly agree. Where is my female Harold and Kumar? Damn Nessa & Lauren, I think we may have a movie there!

I think the nerd as a beautiful freak is my ulimate fave. We may not always be portrayed well. We still always win. That makes the sting less painful. We are a novelty to the public. We aren't portrayed awesome unless nerds write us. Tina Fey is a goddess. I worship her. I love all of Joss's nerds and nerd women. For the ladies, I loves me some Mary Stuart Masterson as Watts in Some Kind of Wonderful and Lori Petty as/in Tank Girl. (We also have an upcoming Powers related question regarding the character of Watts. Stayed tuned for that CNG readers!) The most realistic may be American Splendor. I don't know how that makes anyone feel. We are all so different. That would be what makes us nerds/geeks/dorks/spazs, wouldn't it?

"So, tell me what you all think, or kill this rancorous diatribe with many flames and public shaming. Either way, love the site and love the scathing wit in the Powers letter column."
-Simon Q Runaway

Gee, thanks Simon! I was emulating Bendis in the column. I read all his work I poured my heart into it. I don't try as hard in this mighty blogosphere. I try to be nice and approachable here. I love nerds. I felt a bit bad about the harshness of the column. Not too bad since some of the folks that write to Bendis are obviously nuts. (Myself included? Hmmm...food for thought.) Nobody that has written to me has been weird, mean or crazy yet. That isn't an invitation. Or maybe it is! A challenge perhaps?

Sorry for that recent lack of questions. The majority of my thoughts and some time have been monopolized recently by officers of the law. I am fine, don't worry dears! I'm not even in trouble. I hate authority figures though. The police scare me. I don't want to talk to police if I can possibly avoid it. I don't trust the man.

Glad to be home and safe away from the 5.0 in introweb land!

What is Mary doing on Saturday?

I know you are all truly fascinated in how I spend my free time. This is what I am doing on Saturday. I recommend you come here, buy Bud's book and get autographed copies on Saturday. If you don't live close enough to get drunk with me, Bud & Danno, email Bud. He sell you your very own copy of Muscles & Fights 2: Musclier & Fightier!

Bud Burgy and Cream City Comics invite you to a celebration of one of the most brutal anthologies of all time Muscles & Fights 2: Musclier & Fightier!

Battle and claw your way to the burliest of parties!

WHEN:
7:00pm-10pm(or later)
Saturday, January 19th, 2008

WHERE:
Diamonds Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, MN 55418

WHO:
Meet the contributing artists of the book! They will be making live art, giving battle demonstrations and signing.
Copies of the book will be available for $12.

WHAT:
Original artwork (from the book) for sale and on display, beer and other beverages, music, live art and food!

PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED. THIS IS A FREE EVENT.

QUESTIONS & MORE DETAILS:
Bud Burgy & Amado Rodriguez
budburgy@yahoo.com
amadosaurus@hotmail.com
http://www.musclesandfights.com/

Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles and Whitechapel

Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles is terrible. I apologize for being excited to see it.

Here is something completely unrelated yet awesome I wanted to pass it along for all my indie comic pals. I saw this bulletin on ye olde myspace from Warren Ellis:

The Indie Comics Stage

Right. I opened my new little message board WHITECHAPEL towards the end of last year, to shake it down before the webcomic project it's bolted to, FREAKANGELS, gets launched. We're a month away from launch now, and I want to warm the message board up a bit.

So. If you create an indie comic, Whitechapel go to this thread and introduce your work. Indie comic? Anything that isn't published by Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, a book publisher or an Image studio (but I think Image Central counts). "Indie comic" includes webcomics, minicomics, phonecomics, whatever. You get the idea, right?

So go to that thread and show off. Whitechapel is built on HTML, not BBCode -- use the reply interface to post images, links, etc. Don't swamp it with eight full pages of art or anything, but, you know, show people what you've got.

There are currently 1700 people on Whitechapel. Many of them have money. And since I'm also posting this on my website, LiveJournal, MySpace and Bad Signal, there will probably be a few more people than usual taking a look.

Incidentally, if you're starting out as a creator and/or looking for a place to talk about making comics, you should really visit Panel & Pixel as soon as possible.And, obviously, those of you who don't make comics, but like reading them, should watch that thread to see what interesting stuff turns up. I'm hoping for a few nice surprises myself.

What Spidey Suit is the best?

So I have one Question for ya, What Spidey Suit is the best? Black Symbiote or Original Red/Blue? And why? (if you have a favorite)

JerkBoxJoJo

WHITNEY

The red and blue will always be my favorite. I don't mind 'updates' of super hero costumes but complete redos kind of bug me, like the X men movies. I don't expect to see Rogue in an 80s leather jacket with poofy hair, but keep something original. The black suit looks cool and all, but it's just not the same.

ASHLEY

While Black Symbiote looks really cool (who doesn't look cool in black?), I have to go with Original. The very first thing that suit makes me think of, even today, is an ancient ViewMaster reel I had as a small child with an image of Spidey on the side of a building. (I don't remember specifically which reel that was; I think it also had King Kong and Welcome Back, Kotter in it.) I'm very addicted to nostalgia.

NESSA

Black is sexier. The Blue and Red say little boy PJs to me.


LAUREN

This is definitely a good one, made my palms sweat a bit...

Are you asking if I like the Black suit or the Symbiote suit?

Alright, alright, I won't be a pain.

I really like the black symbiote suit because it brings out this entirely new side of Peter that even he didn't know existed. The portrayal in Spiderman 3 was sort of lame and I wish they would've went darker instead of flashy narcissistic boy with emo hair. Even though the red/blue is classic and you can never go wrong, I do like my Petey dark.

MARY

My favorite alternate Spidey suit is red and gold, the Stark Armor, Iron Spider.



JoJo, I know you want to love black Spidey. Face facts, he is an evil alien symbiote. (In most comics.) Peter isn't happy as black Spidey.

If you are talking about Spiderman 3, I have no answer for you. Although I did laugh my ass off in the theatre during the uber emo Tobey Maguire dance scene.

CLARIFICATION!

JoJo asked about Black Symbiote, not plain ol' black Spidey. I like Iron Spider as best alternate Spidey. I like the standard the best. I am still allowed to think Iron Spider is the prettiest other than original. It may have something to do with red being my favorite color. Oops...my vagina is showing, isn't it? I mean that literally and figuratively. Who took my panties?

Photos of the dead?

Dear CNG,

A weird and blasphemous (possibly offensive) question:

What's your standpoint on taking pictures of recently deceased loved ones?

I ask because there's been a falling-out between people I know, because one had the audacity of taking a picture of her father on the death-bed. She thought it would be cathartic to reflect on it later. Her family took offence whereas I think she has done nothing wrong.

Is this sacrilegious to you? Or can one maybe avoid eternal damnation and loss of respect by merely asking special permission from, let's say, the partner of the deceased? We're talking about a person close to you, not the headless corpse stacked in a garbage bin in your basement.

Sincerly,

Rembrand

WHITNEY

I think this is something that is entirely up to the person taking the picture. Personally, I would want to remember a loved one in life and not have a visual of their death, but I can't judge someone for wanting to. As far as it being sacrilegious, I don't see it that way as long as it's only used for personal emotional well-being.

ASHLEY

I personally see nothing at all sacrilegious or taboo about it, and if somebody wants to do it, that's fine. I do recognize that some people would be offended by it, and so would probably ask permission first.

I don't see myself ever doing it, however, because I would find it extremely creepy. That's why it's important to take lots of pictures now, while the people around you are living, so as not to have to take pictures of corpses later in order to remember someone's image.

NESSA

While I do fully support being sacrilegious whenever offered the opportunity, I'd have to say that out of respect for the other family members it would be polite to ask before you take the photo, but hardly a requirement or something to get all Hatfield and McCoy about. The dead don't care if you take their photo. I would never care if a photo was taken of a dead family member of mine. I might question why one would want a picture of deceased as I figure birth and death get far too much attention versus the actual day to day act of living,but to each their own.

I will admit though that I've been fascinated with Book of Dead after I read about a touring exhibit of the photos. They were used to remind the families of their lost loved one.

Personally I would rather hang living photos of my loved ones around the house, but hey Nessa likes her peoples alive. They look like they are sleeping but don't look at them if you are sensitive, some are children.

All of that said there definitely appears to be a pretty significant cultural moray against such things, even if I personally don't see what the big deal is. And though Thomas Condon wasn't a
family member I think there is still some info on the subject to be garnered from looking at the case of photographer, Thomas Condon

LAUREN

Dignity, always dignity.

That's why you ask permission before you become a shutterbug and take that final pic when a loved one is at their worst. Most people like to be remembered for the person they were, not the shell that they became. When my aunt was on her deathbed not too long ago, a part of me longed to take a picture because I knew I was saying good bye and this was my last chance for a photo op. If they are unable to grant that permission, I am sure that asking the partner would be permissible. I don't think it's odd, but in some cases it could be destructive for the grieving process when you have a picture of a corpse. I guess you could put it side by side in the album; this was when I was fishing with Aunt Grace, and this one here was when she was dying of cancer. Ok, ok, so you probably wouldn't do that. But I definitely don't think that it's grounds for estrangement.

MARY

Fuck, as long as she didn't stand next to the body giving a thumbs up to the camera, it is fine. She didn't dress him up and walk him around à la Weekend at Bernie's!

I am guessing this is possibly older family members that were upset. The techie generations understand using technology to connect and disconnect with emotions.

Unlike the other girls, I could see myself doing this. Photos help me process. I have an obsession with going to back to school for mortuary science. I am already a videographer/photographer. Seems natural to me.

I love both the links that Nessa provided. The Thomas Condon story is disturbing yet I do still understand the artistic statement he is making. I am a minority in that though, I'm afraid. Book of Dead is absolutely fascinating to me.

It is respectful to ask for permission to take photos of the dead. However, if this was a daughter taking a photo of her father, she doesn't need permission. It is her father. She gets to deal with it however she deals with it. Photos of him to remember how sad the end of his life was could make her more grateful he has passed on to whatever high holy crap.