I mentioned this article in an earlier comment, but I'm absolutely fascinated with it, so I thought I'd give it an actual post here. Besides, it's pretty quiet news-wise this week. (with the exception of this earthquake in Cali right now.)
I talked about it with a friend of mine, and he just dismissed it as another trend... soon, something else will be cool, and the cycle will start all over again. But I can't help but think it's something more permanent, a tectonic shift in American attitudes towards obsession, alienation and academic achievement.
No doubt the popularity of LOTR speaks to this. And this writer certainly belives there's been a shift, or else he wouldn't have an article. Since so many members of this blof are from the U of C, that nexus of geekdom, I thought I'd ask -- what do you think?
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/10/29/dork/print.html
From the piece:
These days, it's tough to find anybody who doesn't think they're a dork. Dork sensibility and "geek chic" have become so prevalent that even the least dorky have glommed on to the title -- not just because the digital revolution made heroes out of nerds everywhere, but because adopting the "nerd" label gives a certain street cred to everyone's early child development. Even if most of it is revisionist history.
Alicia Silverstone: "I'm this weird, dorky girl." Freddie Prinze Jr.: "I was a dork in high school. I barely even got to go to the prom." Mena Suvari, Billy Crudup: "I was a dork." Almost every cheerleader, sorority girl, investment banker, novelist, model or movie star ever interviewed hastens to speak the words. This tends to piss off anyone who actually had their locker defaced, or finally went with their 16th choice to the prom, or used up cases of benzoyl peroxide every week in ninth grade, but it's a testament to the lasting power and redemption of geekery that everyone claims such fervent membership.
Comments (1)
I dunno, I think it's just people trying to appear humbler than they are. Same as when you read any interview with a model or beautiful actress and they swear up and down that they were "ugly ducklings" growing up. Fake modesty is all it is. ;-p The most impressive nerd admission I've seen to date was Vin Diesel admitting he was a D&D geek on Conan. That was pretty amusing. Then again Conan's always amusing.
Posted by Ben | December 22, 2003 3:54 PM
Posted on December 22, 2003 15:54