Long time no see, soapbox.

[secondlina]

Drawing by Yllya because she resumes it so well and I love her.

Around the LJ has been circulating some kind of  *express your geekdom* thing, du to the fact that the Sci-fi channel is changing it's name to Syfy to attract a larger demografic, play shows that don't fit in the Sci-fi style and also avoid being pinned as *a television channel for geeks, nerds and dweebs.*

Working in communications, I can see why they did that. Even if being a geek, or an otaku, or a nerd, or whatnot, is now a culture in itself rather then just a cultural sideline to the cool and normal people, most people still see it as a sub-culture of sweaty fanboys. Sci-fi (or rather Syfy) is not trying to offend geeks. It's trying to attract the muggles who still believe in the fanboy stereotype. I just hope they do it well, because in the process of gaining a larger audience, they might scare off their original audience who already openly mock them for trying. I admire them for trying, but I wish to remind them that a hell hath no fury like a geek wrongned and that while they try to call in the muggle democrafic, they gonna make sure not to flip off the geeky demographic that paid for their programming for 16 long years.

But back to the geek pride thing. Yes, geekdom has alwats been kindoff a sideline to the muggles. But now, it's a culture. And it's a pretty rich and economically flourishing culture. The same way homosexuality is now associated to a culture when it used to be all hush-hush. Now geeks stick out their palm pilots and wear their leet t-shirts outside in the real world because geek is chic. However, the flop-sweating fanboy still exists. That's the thing with stereotypes, they don't concern everybody, but the fact that they exist and resist to time so gosh darn hard is because they do live and breathe and small numbers. And those small numbers are what the muggles see because... well, the chic geeks look too close to muggles. They aren't scary and are therefore ignored (unless you climb a mailbox and scream yatta!) when the awkward fanboy in a corner is pointed and laughed at because he's got obvious defects. Ah, fear of the unknown...

The way it breaks down to is that ALL social groups are stereotyped in some way and that all social groups feed off the stereotypes of the other groups. The jocks, the pops, the fashions, the geeks, the nerds, the goths, the greasers, the punks, etc. Please confirm that like...a million stereotyped images jumped in your head when you read that. Otherwise you are lying.

Bottom line is, be proud of your demographic, and realise that others will always see in you a stereotype. But then they get to know you and realise geek is chic and you're pretty cool. Whether you're greatest memory when you were twelve was kissing that awesome boy in class or beating the crap out of Secret of Mana it's all okay. What's important is how happy you are. Don't be a geek just because you don't fit in with the other groups. Be a geek because you love it. I know I do.

As a final note, I think the best part of being in a democraphic like *geek* and loving it is that you yourself, get to openly mock your own stereotype.



Over and out.

-Isa

Comments

[dqbunny.livejournal.com]

*giggles* Yes, part of the fun of going to the Ren Faire is to openly mock it. And get pretty intricate braids in your hair. And buy candles. That's about it. ANLISE WOULD LOVE IT.

Somehow I see Renge coming on panel and going, "Well, your current dress is the only way you're ever going to get any boobs..." I miss Renge and Anlise.

I do realize that yes, the stereotypical nerd does still exist, but I think they're doing the PR on it wrong. When the current president says that he wants to create a more "human friendly" network, it also really slams the people who have supported their network in the past. There are better ways to do this, and in order to reach out you also need to remind your core audience that they're still important. To me, this is PR101 gone really really bad.

[secondlina.livejournal.com]

Like I said - I understand them for trying to open up their demographic, but they better make damn sure their PR is top notch. Because up to now, it ain't.

I'm thinking of maybe actually going with this rennaissance fair idea for a comic. Hummmm... Black knights anyone y/n?

[dqbunny.livejournal.com]

You totally could!!

Anlise: Yay! We're going to the Ren Faire! And we're going to do all the things in Isa's comic and more! *sparkles* And I'm going to volunteer to have Renge be the damsel in distress!

Renge: Why me???

Anlise: Because they forbid Lina after she cast a Burst Rondo on the guy picked to play the knight last year. Apparently he tried to rescue Gourry instead. Kept calling him 'Lala-san'.

Renge: *bangs head against wall*

[fenmere.livejournal.com]

And webcomic authors feed of their own stereotypes!

The girl clutching the Nintendo bag makes me happy inside!

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

I'm a walking, talking stereotype in more ways than one! The 'nerd' (since I don't like geek) aspect being just one. But it's true, SciFi/Syfy is like many other corporations finding themselves pulling up short when it comes to making money. Nintendo actually turned away from its 'target audience' when it launched the Nintendo Wii, trying to go after non-gamers. Oh, how the 'hardcore gamers' howled! It was kind of funny though, since many hardcore gamers don't even play Nintendo, so they were making a big stink for nothing. As for Nntendo? It's kicking Microsoft and Sony butt since it has taken the leap to bring in new blood to the gaming circle. I mean, even grandmothers and grandfathers are now willing to try out video games thanks to the Wii!

I'm all for being loyal to your fanbase, but if you never bring in 'new blood', then you will eventually die out. (We're already seeing this happen to the newspaper industry, which has done little to attract new readers.)

And personally? I always found Ren Fests a bit....weird? While I think it's cool to dive back in time to another time and place, I never ever wanted to walk around in a dress. And yes, I wanted to dress up like a knight, or at least have a loose tunic and pants. No dresses!

And sadly, the unwashed socially unskilled men still exist. Even here at BYU-Idaho they're always lurking in the shadows.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

Geek Pride!!! I admit it took me a while to accept myself, but now I have and I've embraced it fully. It helps that I have like-minded friends (who are awesome, BTW. I luv you guys) to geek out along with me.


REN FAIRE!!!! Sweeeeeet!!!

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Syfy? You gotta be frakking kidding me.

Ah, what difference does it make ... that channel hasn't been the Science Fiction Channel for years, with all the horror, fantasy, "reality", and wrestling programming they put on. Probably the wrestling is the closest to science fiction they'll get, once BSG is off the air.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

The "SyFy" rebranding is stupid because the non-nerds will just think the name is dumb (and they might not even be sure how to pronounce it since the spelling is so wacky). And the nerds will predictably howl about how dumb the idea is.

I guess Sci-Fi/Syfy is turning into yet another G-4/Spike TV clone. Its a shame, too because Sci-Fi had some cool things going on lately.