TWCL

[pdonz2]

Anyone else watching this show? Anyone else finding themselves kind of offended by it...but unable to not watch?

I feel like it's bad enough we've got shows like The Guild and Big Bang Theory, which are, to my mind, not really celebrating "nerd culture," but contributing to the consolidation and monetization of a variety of subcultures that *used* to be defined by being on the "outside" or whatever you want to call it.

I'm responding to King of the Nerds on two levels: first, I find it annoying that its clearly written/produced by people who have no respect for what makes nerds nerds. I'm thinking, "they're getting it wrong!" which I guess means I'm a nerd--the kind of person who's going to complain on the internet about a TV show getting things wrong

Second, I find myself thinking Dungeons and Dragons, Cosplaying, Chess, Batman, tattoos, etc. etc. are less cool--less desirable for me to admit to liking. Because many of the contestants are just unlikable (especially Alana). Which means I'm kind of becoming "mainstream" because I don't want to like the things these nerds like.

Not wanting to like the things I like, because I perceive them and therefore myself as uncool?? So--on another level it means I *am* kind of like Alana, who clearly dislikes herself.

So yeah, I don't know. Ever since my school days, my reaction to trends was to do the opposite. The show, and the cultural shift it is riding, make me unsure where to stand.

Am I just way over-analyzing this? What do you think about all this?
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[Zoe Robinson]

I haven't seen it but everyone who I've talked to who has seen it hates it. I'm thinking it's something to avoid.
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[wendyw]

I've never heard of it before.

I just watched the trailer and a couple of the meet the contestant videos and it seems a little obnoxious, not in any way that relates to the nerd element. It just comes across as very MTV reality show and I don't think I've ever come across one of those that I didn't find obnoxious, so I doubt I'll be bothering with it.
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[vulpeslibertas]

pdonz2 wrote:

So yeah, I don't know. Ever since my school days, my reaction to trends was to do the opposite. The show, and the cultural shift it is riding, make me unsure where to stand.

If you are doing something because everyone else is not doing it, then you are still riding the trends.

Who cares? Que sera sera. Like what you like regardless of what popular culture says.
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[mcmasters]

Somebody put a lot of work into a Wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Nerds

Whatever floats your boat!

[Casual Notice]

I've watched the first two episodes. It's not bad as far as Big Brother-style reality shows go. I find it hilarious that Robert Carradine is one of the hosts, since he hates all things "nerdish" and has said so many times (he has also said that he wishes he'd never done "Revenge", because it pigeonholed him as an actor).

I find modern nerdculture hilarious. If I may use Alana (who I also hate) as an example, she is the quintessential nerd, not because she keeps being excluded, but because she keeps being excluded and never considering why that is so. She never seeks to alter the behaviors that put her on the outside of any group, instead, relying on superficial features to convince herself that it's not "her fault."

The whole subculture=nerd concept is hilarious for that reason. Enjoying Star Trek doesn't make someone a nerd any more than wearing a flannel jacket shirt makes someone Kurt Cobain. Nerds are on the outside because they don't relate well to their peergroup and can't (or won't) alter the behavior--and it's not collecting Marvel Comics Action Figures--that makes them repugnant to those peers. Focusing on subcultures where geeks and nerds often find solace as being the definition of a nerd is mistaking the hundreds of thousands of years of human development that has created a situation where there wil always be outliers in every pack.

As a show, I have more problems with the way crime dramas take liberties with actual police procedure, forensic science, and the law, than I do with how Turner Broadcasting is playng Survivor-without-the-Lizard-Eating. At least, when it's over, I won't have to hear the King of the Nerds's overproduced masturbatory ballad every time I turn on my radio.

And for the record, it you're pissed off because somebody is making money off of something that you used to like, that doesn't make you a nerd. It makes you a hipster.
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Casual Notice--commentary, comics and an appreciation for snappy hats.
S*P*Q*R

[pdonz2]

Quote:

If you are doing something because everyone else is not doing it, then you are still riding the trends. Who cares? Que sera sera. Like what you like regardless of what popular culture says.

I know :/ I really really wish it were that easy for me, but I've always been a self-conscious person, and one who wonders what it means to like something. No matter where we're planting our flag, or why we're telling ourselves we're planting one, there's always an element of making an investment in cultural capital. No matter how much I just want to like the things I like, liking something is a way for other people to make money off me. And I guess my point is that this show makes me more aware of that dilemma.

Quote:

Nerds are on the outside because they don't relate well to their peergroup and can't (or won't) alter the behavior--and it's not collecting Marvel Comics Action Figures--that makes them repugnant to those peers. Focusing on subcultures where geeks and nerds often find solace as being the definition of a nerd is mistaking the hundreds of thousands of years of human development that has created a situation where there will always be outliers in every pack.

Well said! A personality quirk that makes it hard for you to self-reflect, and therefore learn social behaviors, etc. isn't something that can be monetized. But define nerd as the subcultures, and convince nerds that they belong to it, and suddenly you can sell them stuff because they believe it's part of their identity.

Quote:

And for the record, it you're pissed off because somebody is making money off of something that you used to like, that doesn't make you a nerd. It makes you a hipster.

Probably, haha. But to be honest I still like all those things despite myself. But that's actually a really good way to define hipsters!
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[vulpeslibertas]

pdonz2 wrote:

liking something is a way for other people to make money off me. And I guess my point is that this show makes me more aware of that dilemma.

Is this a bad thing? If someone gives you something that you enjoy, should you not give them something they enjoy in return?
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[pdonz2]

vulpeslibertas wrote:

Is this a bad thing? If someone gives you something that you enjoy, should you not give them something they enjoy in return?

I have no problem with capitalism or exchanging commodities. What I'm trying to say is the show highlights the fact that often our identities become commodities. And I don't want my sense of self to be bought and sold. But maybe I can't avoid it and I shouldn't worry about it.
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[ewomack]

Most of the best things in life are given with no expectation of return. The market seems to have somewhat dissolved that idea.
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Ed Womack

[vulpeslibertas]

ewomack wrote:

Most of the best things in life are given with no expectation of return.

Oh, really I think that's not as true as you think it is.

pdonz wrote:

And I don't want my sense of self to be bought and sold

If you don't sell it, it can't be bought.

If you like the show, and its worth the price, then watch it. If you don't like the show, or the price is too steep, then don't watch it. Does it cost you any money to watch? Would it make you feel better if the show's producers were starving in a gutter somewhere?

If you are getting what you like, then you aren't "selling out". No more than the show's producers are selling out by giving you something you want in order to make their money.
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[ewomack]

vulpeslibertas wrote:

ewomack wrote: Most of the best things in life are given with no expectation of return. Oh, really I think that's not as true as you think it is.

I think that people don't think it's true, which makes me sad. But I'm dealing with it.
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Ed Womack

[vulpeslibertas]

I don't want to go into too deep a discussion, as I... [a-hem]... may have been wont to do on [a-hem] rare occasions .

I'll just say that getting love in return is all that some people expect.
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[vulpeslibertas]

I don't want to seem hard-nosed. I'm just very passionate about the subject of liking things.
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[Casual Notice]

ewomack wrote:

vulpeslibertas wrote: ewomack wrote: Most of the best things in life are given with no expectation of return. Oh, really I think that's not as true as you think it is. I think that people don't think it's true, which makes me sad. But I'm dealing with it.

It's a matter of viewpoint, Ewo. VL is looking at it as a matter of incentive for action, meaning that any positive return, even if it's the slight endorphan rush one gets from providing charity, is a technical return on investment.

In any case, it's my view that if you (in the general sense) allow yourself to be defined by the things you like, then you're confused about what's important. As relates to nerdculture, someone was making money from every one of those items that are being "monetized" all along.
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Casual Notice--commentary, comics and an appreciation for snappy hats.
S*P*Q*R