Friday, December 14, 2012

Rant Extension: Fake Geek Girls

To add another side of my opinion to the explosive "Fake Geek Girl" rant (here), so as to be perfectly clear, I'd like to state a few things.
What angered me about the "fake geek girl" topic was the obvious sexism and ego problem.
But, I cannot discount part of this attack on "fakes"
There are girls out there, AND guys, who are what you could call "fake geeks"
These people don't really have a passion for geek/nerd culture, they've just noticed the sparkly boat and want to jump aboard, because it's suddenly "cool" to be a geek.
These are the people who scan a Wikipedia page so that they can add snippets to a conversation about Star Trek.
They're the "Gamers" who played their older brother's PS3 one time.
In short, hipsters who want to jump on the "geek wagon" for a little ride.
Now, I don't know how many of these people actually exist, but you'd think they'd be pretty easy to spot.
For one thing, people like this don't usually stick to one cultural fad.
A hipster is a hipster, and whatever is "cool" is what they are.
So, I guess we should be looking for an individual wearing a Green Lantern shirt, goth pants, a fedora, and a hand knit bag?
All this to say, how is this even that important? Does the above person seem so dangerous?
They're softies.
If someone is so insecure that they need to pretend to be someone else so to feel like they are acceptable, they really aren't a threat.
And how many of these people, realistically, can there be?
They have short attention spans, they'll wander off.
It's isn't like there are hoards of sword-brandishing fakers wearing 3D glasses with the lenses pushed out, galloping around and threatening our awesomeness.
We are geeks because we know what we are, and know what we like, and we won't back down from that, even when faced with social humiliation.
That isn't going to change.
The only thing this wave of "fake geeks" is bringing us is more acceptance in the "real world"
AKA less swirlies.
I, personally, wouldn't want "geekery" to become a really popular urban culture. Hell no.
But, I have faith in the heart of the geek, and I firmly believe the stuff I like is AMAZING.
So, why wouldn't I want to share it?
As long as someone has a genuine interest in something, I'm not going to cry "fake!"
It isn't an elitist club, it's a group of amazing people who accept the weird, fantastical, and generally unpopular things of this life.
If the world changes, and suddenly everyone starts looking on these "unpopular things" with a kinder eye, it just means humanity is getting a bit smarter, and I'm all for that.
So, please, before you accuse someone of being a "fake geek", think of how you felt when you got picked on in school for being a Trekkie.
That's how you are going to make that person feel by calling them out on their treachery, or when you prove their geek-ignorance with a quiz on the creators of Avengers.
Bullies use words to hurt others, which is lame, and very un-Whovian of them.
What would the doctor do? Don't stoop to their level.
Instead, give 'em a good smack on the head with your (authentic) replica of Gandalf's staff when they aren't looking. They'll get the picture then. Besides, physical abuse is so much cooler and assassin-like...
But seriously, all joking aside,  it is stupid and wrong for these people to stick their Walmart light sabers in the door of our world and try to force it open just to get a "cool points". But, I just feel sorry for them.
They'll never be this sexy.

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