This week I stumbled upon a music video called ‘I’m The One That’s Cool’ by Felicia Day and the rest of the cast of the fantastic online show ‘The Guild.’ Okay, so maybe not so much stumbled, as it was all over my Twitter feed because, surprise surprise, I follow a lot of geeky types, and this is right up their street.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFhgupR565Q&w=460&h=370]
While this video is more comedy than serious, the lyrics are certainly empowering for anyone who has felt marginalised or been picked on for being different. There’s no denying that it feels awesome to be able to look at school bullies as an adult and feel that you’re the one who triumphed. And apparently, this is quite a common experience for geeks, as numerous articles and blog posts would suggest that the formally despised are revelling in the fact that their culture is now desirable. Geek, nerd, gamer, whatever you want to call it, I think we can all agree that in school, it wasn’t cool to be into comics or tabletop games. But that’s all changed now. Comics are more mainstream with blockbuster movies featuring spandex heroes raking in millions. Being a geek is now cool.
Or is it? Online it seems everyone is a geek these days. A lot of people identify as such for various reasons, and that’s great. We should be more accepting of peoples’ individual quirks and obsessions. So that would seem to prove Felicia Day’s point, now we are the ones that are cool. And yet, in my real world life, it doesn’t feel that way. For me, as I’m sure is the case for plenty of other geeks, nothing much has changed. There’s no way that the other mums at the school gate, my old school friends or even my family would label me as ‘cool’. Being awesome at Heroclix hasn’t made me any more popular, and our geeky décor can sometimes bemuse guests. It’s safe to say, I’m not the one that’s cool. And yet, this claim that being a geek is suddenly cool is everywhere.
So, are only certain geeks cool? Maybe if you’re famous or successful, like Day and her co-stars, or incredibly good-looking with a body that was made for cosplaying in lycra, then yes. Geek is chic. But that’s not been my experience of it. I think being a geek is cool. My kids certainly appreciate having a mum with a solid knowledge of Transformers and dinosaurs alike, and having multiple lightsabers in the house makes for some pretty fun Jedi based games. I just have to wait for the rest of the world to catch up, which, according to this video, and plenty of similar themed blog posts, should happen any day now. Until then I really do have my comics and video games to console me.
OK, since growing up I did participate in athletics and spent some time trying to be in the “cool” crowd I feel this only half appies to me, but I was always into games (video and tabletop), comics, sci-fi and many thinks Geek. I did have some run-ins with kids who looked down on my likes and activities and was made to feel less than on more than one occasion so I can relate to this, completely. Awesome find and post, and yes, it is rather funny that the Geek culture has become somewhat mainstream. Still, those of us who actually lived the life understand that there’s more to it than wearing trendy Geek clothes and having the latest game on your tablet or smart phone. I think the fact that we endured being outcasts and find our lives are still full and satisfying is something that we should all be proud of, and proud to admit.