Geekscape Declares: Geek is Dead

I work at a movie theater in West Los Angeles, where we show midnight screenings of various cult movies on a weekly basis. We’ve shown older, hipper movies like Quadrophenia, some totally obscure horror flicks like In a Glass Cage, the occasional freakout film, like 1977’s House, and a lot of more predictable recent cult fare like The Big Lebowski.

A few weeks back, we had a screening of Edgar Wright’s 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which has, over the last year, managed to amass a passionate cult following, and has become a sub-culture unto itself. The Canadian comic book on which the film is based already had a passionate following, and the audience seemed to translate directly to the film. The film itself is rather funny, even if it is a bit too rambunctious for its own good. I wrote a review when it first came out, and while I did give it a very positive review, I have to say I’m a bit baffled by the level of devotion and passion toward the film. I didn’t understand why this colorful and stylish movie managed to garner to devotion it did.

But then I looked around at the crowd who had trekked out at midnight to see the movie, and I came to a stirring and disturbing conclusion about Geek Culture that might rattle some of you. I saw the scads of people in their two-in-one pop culture t-shirts purchased off of TeeFury. I saw the women proudly proclaiming that they played videogames, and had the hipster-wear to match. I overheard well-thought-out quibbles about Hollywood’s most recent summer blockbuster, and how the newest superhero flick was going to get a grand treatment on Blu-Ray. I heard the giggles, the comments about bacon, and the usual misappropriation of words like “awesome” and “fail.”

I make the following declarative statement: Geek is dead.

Geeks once prided themselves on their outsider status. They used to be ecstatic doughy dancers who would evoke Terpsichore in the joyous sunshine of happy mutanthood. They celebrated their adolescence without having to depend on the curious and maddening cultural tolerance to arrested development that has sprung up in this country in the last decade or so. They were like punk rockers. Anti-establishment weirdos who had little interest on what the mainstream had to offer, and attempted to find a different niche in their genre interests. But whereas punks wanted to take down the system, start fights, destroy music, and put forth a general philosophy of nihilism, geeks were content to stay quietly on the outside, playing D&D, obsessing over the details in obscure sci-fi novels, and trying to gain enough sense memory to beat the first few “Final Fantasy” games with their eyes closed. There was a time when geeks could only share information but subscribing to handmade ‘zines, gathering in small groups in high school, and comparing notes on reruns of “Star Trek.” Geeks used to be socially awkward wimps with a mind for the classical, technical skills, and obsession with smaller back corners of popular culture.

I can’t say when things started to shift in earnest, but it did have something to do with the success of superhero feature films, and the ubiquity of the internet. What was once considered niche and outsider became (and is still becoming) increasingly mainstream. Millions of dollars went into a Spider-Man feature film. Comic books experienced a boom. Video games most certainly had a lot to do with the shift; kids who played video games never gave them up, and eventually became programmers, causing the video game industry to effectively supplant the record industry as the leading edge of pop moneymaking. What’s more, an event like Comic-Con now fetches hundreds of thousands of people every year, and shows no sign of abating.

There is, however, still a defensive tone to much of geek discourse. If you surf around the internet, you’ll find long, well-thought-out essays from hundreds of would-be geeks explaining why comics are a vital and viable medium, or why certain genre films paint a better picture of the human condition than any old-fashioned book, or why e-readers are superior to books (note: they aren’t), or why technology should be worshiped, or how (and this one still baffles me) playing video games is an artistic act. There is a lingering attitude of defense amongst geek writers, comic book readers, and internet-dwelling video game fans. As if The Mainstream is still this gigantic opposing force to their geek interests, and their geek interests still need a passionate aegis to dwell within.

But geek interests, I declare, need no defense. Look around you. How much of what permeates popular culture these days could be considered “geek?” People are obsessed with iPhones, which can be considered a techno-gadget, once relegated to well-connected engineering students. As I said, video games make billions. The most successful film of all time is a sci-fi flick with monsters, dragons, an imaginary language, and cutting-edge computer special effects. Is someone who knows all about the Na’Vi a geek? I would say not. They’re just another person who shelled out to see Avatar.

Geek, just like punk, used to have a willing stigma attached to it. It used to be less about the flavor of interests, and more about the outsider status. And, as geek culture grows, we need to acknowledge that our interests are no longer on the fringe. Our geek interests are the mainstream.

This happens to all outsider trends. I mean, heck, it’s often argued that rock ‘n’ roll was once solely in the purview of the black community, and was co-opted by whites. Harley Davidson used to stand for criminal biker attitude, and was not a luxury item for weekend warriors. How “alternative” was alternative rock once millions of people began going to Lollapalooza? The edgy outsider stuff often leaks into the mainstream, and loses its teeth. It’s curious that the same should happen to geek, as it was never edgy; geek is kind of gentle and passive.

What geek has become is, and I hate to keep hammering on the punk rock parallel, a kind of fashion. A way to dress. A genre. A real punk rocker has scars. A poseur only has access to hair dye. The same can now be said of geek. The true believers are still outcasts, and have their social scars to match. Just because you have an interest in video games, genre movies, and superheroes, doesn’t make you a geek. It just means you like geek stuff.

It’s weird to see geek culture get co-opted the way it did. A lifestyle that once banked on being uncool is now selling itself as cool. People who are clearly not geeks are claiming to be. Jessica Alba once declared that she was a geek in school. I’m sorry, but anyone who looks like Jessica Alba and has a thriving career as a Hollywood actress was not a geek.  She never experienced the pain and humiliation of being shoved into a line of lockers for saying you like to watch “Star Trek,” or actually enjoy figuring out math problems. Olivia Munn IS NOT A GEEK! She’s some hot chick in a bikini who talks to geeks for money. There’s another blow to the culture: Geeks used to be sexless dweebs. Now they meet at conventions, flirt, inter-breed, and intermarry. Geek has become sexed up. Hot girls now regularly dress in Slave Leia outfits, and savvy nerd boys can seduce them. Geeks are sexy. And while I admit that I find the geek girl look as hot as the next nerdy boy, there seems something wrong about the mainstream acceptance of the hot geek gal. Those women used to be ours. Quit stealing them.

So I declare: Geek is dead. There is no longer such thing. It’s a fashion trend. A genre of entertainment. A transmutation of popular culture. Some people may see the mainstreaming of geek as a triumph; Like what they wanted all along is finally being fulfilled. When else, for instance, would we have been able to see a feature film about The Avengers? I see it, however, as remaking something that was once meaningful and refreshingly difficult, as easy, stultified instant gratification. Geek should be hard work for smart kids. Smart geeks aren’t ruling the world. Bully geeks are. I’ve pointed this out before, but a lot of geeks, now that they’re in the spotlight, have started to rely on shame tactics when talking to other geeks. They’ll make them feel bad for not knowing about their particular niche. This is what the bullies used to do to us, guys. Knock it off.

Are there still real geeks in the world? Indeed. Just like there are real punks, real exploitation filmmakers, real engineers, real metalheads, or real anything that was once fringe, and is now mainstream. But the only way to be sure if the person you’re chatting with is a geek is to talk to them extensively, and read their passions. A true geek will live by their passions. They will pursue what they love, even if it’s not readily available. Especially if it’s not readily available. They will be marked by their sincerity. They will live with a quiet humility, and will never resort to being arrogant (Unless, of course, they’re just genuinely socially awkward; you see those guy behind the counter at the comic book shop.). Geeks will read the comics they love. Geeks will memorize the music they like. They will be well-rounded, intelligent people who can’t talk to others all the time. It’s not enough that you wear the t-shirts. The t-shirts are meaningless. You have to love. Oh God, you have to love.

Are you a geek?

Are you?