|
|
|---|
Relax, this won't be as heavy as it sounds.
I've been a geek my whole life--and I've received every disparaging comment one might expect as a result. But it was always about people making fun of me. I never considered such hatred as an insult to "my people" or "my community". That is--until last night:
This is Entourage, and while definitely not the nerdiest of programs, it's one of my favorite shows--and despite what I'm about to relate here, it remains one of my favorite shows(though, granted, I've only seen up to season 5).
So last night I'm watching an old rerun on Spike TV from season 2. Vince(for the uninitiated, Vincent Chase is an up and coming young star, and the show deals with him and his childhood friends as they try to make it in Hollywood) has just landed the lead in the new Aquaman movie, so the studio sent him to San Diego Comic-Con to promote the film--and to meet with a popular internet jornalist whose fansite has the power to make or break a movie like this.
Folks, I saw this episode a few years ago and thought nothing of it. However, since then my time online, both here and on sites like(of course)Topless Robot, has given me a sense of belonging, a feeling of community and fellowship with my brother and sister geeks. And from this new perspective, this innocent episode took on some disturbing and sinister overtones.
I think I'm beginning to understand how American Indians must have felt when watching old cowboy movies, or, to be more contemporary, how Italians feel about Mafia films(or worse, Jersey Shore). I'm not claiming to truly understand the pain of bigotry--but I can sympathize with the idea of watching a depiction of others like myself and thinking: "But that's not who we are!"
Every geek shown at the Con was one variety or another of obnoxious or pathetic, and most were markedly unattractive. The few characters we met who were there to sign autographs and meet fans were varying levels of scornful, condescending, and exploitive.
Understand, there are a LOT of people in our community who deserve every derisive comment and slur one can hurl. No one knows this better than we do--point of fact, we're usually the ones leading the charge against such individuals as they make the rest of us look bad. But would it have killed them to include one or two remotely cool geeks? Hell, a hot cosplayer or two would've helped(and given the nature of Entourage, I'm rather stunned that they didn't take advantage of this opportunity--for fuck's sake they had Furries in season 4!)
And then there's the interview with the web journalist, and before I launch into another diatribe I've gotta point something out: Before the interview started, Vince was given a packet of background information on Aquaman by his publicist, so when the interview started he could appear to know the ins and outs of the character, the comic, the artists who drew him, and so forth. What distresses me is Vince did such a good job of impersonating an actual Aquaman fan that if TR existed in the Entourage universe, we probably would've stuck him in one of the Nerdiest Celebrities lists. I know it's just a show, but the very idea leads one to question the true nerdiness of anyone who has something to gain by appearing geek-friendly.
The Journalist was the real prize--observe:
That's Rainn Wilson, who some of you may know from "The Office". First, I'm willing to overlook the pains the costume and hair people went to to give him the most stereotypically dorky look possible. The character he plays, RJ Spencer, runs a website that gets over a million hits a day. Studios bow and scrape before him in hopes that he'll give their movies his approval. In his case, it's not his appearance or his geekiness that makes him offensive, but rather his complete lack of integrity. Vince cut their interview short when Spencer began asking some unpleasant personal questions. Spencer responded by promising to trash the movie on his site, later offered to reverse his position for $350,000 in cash, and finally agreed to write a glowing endorsement after Vince's boys hooked him up with some porn stars who were at the Con promoting their own comic book.
Moral of the Story: Run of the mill Geeks are pitiful, sad, and mildly grotesque. Geeks with power are unscrupulous douchebags who'd sell their mothers for cash or pussy.
As I stated before, Entourage was and still is one of my favorite shows, and I suppose you can't really blame them for falling in line with the poular conception of my people(yes, MY PEOPLE. That's where I'm at with this shit). After all, they have to play to their audience, which--apparently--doesn't include nearly enough geeks for us to get a fair shake.
What's truly important here is what I learned about the nature of stereotypes and slurs. Insult me all you want--I'm used to it.
Insult my peeps--and we got ourselves a problem.
23 Scootdoo
