One of my friends, Chris, recently stated that he is not a fan of Tron. He was not impressed by the movies or by the cartoon. One of my other friends joked that Chris might lose his “geek card” for not liking Tron. He was only joking but this got me to thinking. How should we define being a Geek?
Different people will define one’s geekhood by different parameters. One friend of mine doesn’t believe he is a geek. He likes science fiction and fantasy television series. He gets upset when I am not not current on latest Doctor Who episode because he wants to talk about it. He would like to attend the San Diego Comic Con. Yet he doesn’t consider himself a geek because he doesn’t dress up for movies or events nor does he have any geek toys, posters, or books decorating his home or office. That is his definition of being a geek.
Some people are under the assumption that being a geek is gender specific. They believe geeks are only males. This mindset has prompted some of the fake geek girl controversy. This has lead to the isolation and discouragement of a portion ladies who consider themselves geeks.
Here is a quote from British Actor- Simon Pegg. “Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection. It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something. It’s basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult. Being a geek is extremely liberating.”
I agree with his quote. Being a geek is about a mindset and affection for something. I refer to myself as a geek because I have a huge adoration for science fiction, fantasy, and comic books. I fully embrace it with great gratification. I have an office full of geek stuff that I personally love. I am a geek through and through.
I am not one to define geekdom for other people. I don’t give people geek card and I don’t take them away. If a person views themselves as a geek then that is awesome. I don’t care if they are really into history or band or computers, or sci fi, or Winter Olympic Curling. If they don’t see themselves as a geek because of their definition, then I am fine with that also. I don’t believe we should judge the geekiness of others based on our definitions of the term geek.
I also like and agree w/Simon Pegg’s quote. People started calling me a geek in high school, but every time I responded with, “What does that mean?”, nobody could explain it, or even tried to explain it. Not sure what it meant before 1981 (I am class of ’81), but I think Simon Pegg get’s pretty close to what I think it means now. While I don’t own any action figures (the Kirk and Spock Christmas ornaments, uh, and the classic Cylon ornament, stay on the tree and get packed away w/the other ornaments), I do own a kickin’ Mojo Jojo doll (it’s a doll, not an action figure), complete w/hat that comes off to expose his brain. While I do not play w/the doll, I take it out to show the rare geek visitor who might appreciate this Power Puff Girls relic. 🙂