Thoughts by Mike

That awkward moment where you go to reblog something and realize that it was originally something you posted.

Being a nerd these days is trendy, surprisingly so actually. If you had told me 10 years ago that there would be a #1 show on TV that was about Nerds and their love of science, comic books and how they couldn’t get girls I’d had laughed at you. If you told me that it’d be trendy to know everything about Spider-Man or Batman or even that going online and playing video games together would be cool activities for teens and adults I don’t think I’d had stopped laughing. The reasons why aren’t really what this is about (That’s a rant for another day) but one thing that has come out of this is a love for “nerdy” girls. 

Now let’s me clarify. There is a big difference between actual nerdy girls and this:

OMG!! I’M TOTES A NERD!! LOLZ!11

Slapping on a comic book t-shirt from Hot Topic and a pair of hipster glasses does not a nerd make. That’s like saying because someone has Nikon camera all of a sudden they’re a photographer. What I’m talking about is that rare jewel who actually knows a bit about what we can call for lack of a better term “Nerd Culture”. They take the time to educate themselves on various parts and pieces for conversationals or even because —-shocker here——they are into it. 

RARE INDEED. 

Part of the reason why this is so shocking is because in my honest opinion it requires a large amount of intelligence. That is sexy within itself but it does take a special breed to be able to look past simple pictures on a page and see that within these comics are some storylines that rival anything on the NY Times Bestsellers list. To be able to look past the simple controller set up and understand that within a game there can be competition, camaraderie that builds and even a chance to let loose some built up aggression that has built up over the long day. That within small or large pieces of pop culture pieces like a Thor statue or a Captain America shield that there are some of the best artists in the art world putting themselves into it and creating something that is actually worthy of being in a museum and is a marker of the population that embraces it. That is just being able to understand it. To understand why someone would partake in these things. It’s a whole other thing to actually take part within it.

That’s where the magic happens. When you get a girl who is beautiful, intelligent and can toss aside the social constructs of what “girls are supposed to like or do” and pick up controller number two or tell you to hand them the latest issue of (insert title here) or even get excited about going to see the latest adaptation of a comic/book on the small or big screen and want to discuss it after. It is truly a rare thing to get a girl who genuinely is like this on her own and who enjoys these things on their own. 

There will always be posers on both sides, people who think because they know that Sheldon sits on a specific side of the couch or that Penny works at the Cheesecake factory that they are “TOTALLYZ A NERD!11” but even their own group usually ferrets that out. I’m glad it exists though, it won’t last forever and I’m sure people in high school are glad to be able to read comics or talk about the latest episode of Game of Thrones without someone calling them names or giving them crap for it. I hope it continues as long as possible and really shows everyone the awesomeness in something that for the most part has been shunned by the popular kids but I always have a soft spot in my heart for that girl who was already at the finish line and enjoying the spoils while the rest of society is racing to catch up.