http://geekgirldiva.entertainmentearth.com/2010/04/dear-geeks-this-is-why-we-cant-have.html
Back? Good. I started to write a comment and realized how long my response was. I agree and have a few things to add. First, know that when I say geek, I mean the population who like to think of themselves as a geek, and when I say Geek, I mean the true, minute subculture that actually understands what this word means. When I say "tech toy" I mean the newest piece of technology, usually Apple. When I say gadget, I mean a true tool for Geeks.
I would like to thank Tina Fey for making nerdy brunettes attractive and cool. I'm sure she's contributed to the local high schools seeing football players and cheerleaders in AP classes rather than in the hallways shanking (pantsing?) the honors kids or in the bathrooms giving them swirlies.
I do believe she has done us a disservice in part, though. For example, she has made it vogue to be nerd. This has had a widespread effect which has made its way to Geek. The difference between geek and nerd has long been a point of contention among the cultures, and is one I won't address in full here because I am bad about tangents and this is a response not a post of my own.
As I was saying, she's made it vogue to be considered nerdy (and by extension through confusion of terms, geeky) and smart. Which seems awesome, yes? Noooooo!!!!
People, this means that there is a large portion of people out there who think it is cool to be a geek, and also think you can just be one by acquiring the next and newest hot tech toys! They think that being geek means watching box office hits about superheroes based off comics long into adulthood, means acquiring the newest tech toy or going with Apple over Microsoft because it's what all the geeks use rather than for any intelligent argument. They think it means being hyper-connected to social networking sites, using Foursquare, and Tweeting links to their Tumbler pages! (God save you if you actually read every tweet!).
What does this mean? It means that your technology companies are growing like wildfire. Companies that would have failed due to lack of budget and funding are given opportunities to grow and thrive because these geeks want the hottest technology to prove their geekiness.
Meanwhile, Geeks are bemoaning the fact that these companies are putting out toys rather than gadgets. GET A CLUE!! It's the toys that bring in the MONEY to make your gadgets, people!!!! If you Geeks keep ripping these companies then they will desist with the Geek gadget making and ONLY do the geek toy making!! THEN where will you be? In the midst of where you were before - a culture that isn't fond of Geeks, and thinks that what they have is brilliant and intelligent.
Same thing goes for your books and movies - when someone makes a Hollywood movie out of your comic book and changes the ending, or it doesn't compete with the action flick, the hot girl flick, the chick flick, or the kid flick, don't call it a failure! Come ON! Look at the people you're competing with: fast cars and sexy women, chicks who don't do comics and are looking for a happy cute romance or a good cry, and KIDS! The fact that Batman grossed a huge amount is awesome, yes. The fact that a movie like Transformers grossed enough for a sequel (and yes, it WAS lousy and interminable, but again... cars and hot chick) is also pretty monumental. The sequel was god-awful but remember the general rule... Sequels Always Suck. It's a rule, people, not an exception.
When you complain and moan about how film makers ruin Geek monuments and great things... you end up with a culture that decides not to have ANY Geek stuff... Think about it. No Firefly or Serenity. Relegated to small-budget indie films. I've already heard that "Dr. Horrible is bound to suck if it goes to the big screen." People!! Self fulfilling prophecy much?? I don't know about you, but I have a LOT more faith in Joss than that. Serenity went big screen and maybe it wasn't up to your happy little Geek snuff, but it was a solid, great movie that did relatively well in the box office (thank you action movie fans). Let's look at Star Trek, too. Sure, they screwed a lot up, but think about the ramifications. It put Star Trek out there. That makes the different shows possible. It ensures the franchise's continued existence on television and brings about the possibility of even more new material, which you rarely get these days. Name another point in time when Hollywood would have even toyed with the IDEA of something as Geek as Star Trek being made into a relatively big budget movie, or a time when it would have had enough success to run as well as it did, take a few awards, and sell?
Geek Girl is right in her post! Put up or shut up! Stop complaining about things that are helping us. Sure, that particular thing is geek and not Geek. But it is the geeks who allow companies the budgets to make pet projects and truly Geek things. If you don't like what's being offered.... You call yourself Geek and look down your nose at geek... Go make it yourself!!
No comments:
Post a Comment