Jimquisition: Fake Nerd Girls

[Entitled]

I guess the only reasonable feeling would be disappointment, as you think there's somebody who shares interests with you, and then it turns out they're sort of putting it on. Again this is assuming they exist. I mean I claim to like American Football but if I occasionally get mixed up with certain players or retarded phrases they use to describe elements of the game it doesn't mean I'm lying. Surely its just more likely that the interest in nerd culture may be a bit exaggerated rather than simply false.

That, too.

There are lots of people who keep making basic Star Wars references, or watching summer blockbuster superhero movies, and call themselves nerds on that account, but it is more likely that they got used to a definition of the word that is genuinely different from the definition of someone who lives on the Internet, than that they constantly say themselves "Today I will pretend to be a nerd just for shits and giggles."

 

[Chris Mosher]

I think the problem that Jim didn't talk about was exploitation.
Rather than simply being angry because they perceived these girls as wanting attention, I think the bigger issue that many people were irritated about was the ones that are doing it solely to drain as much money as possible from geek culture.
Unlike what I agree is the comparatively harmless desire for male attention based on outlandish outfits inspired by video games and comic books, this would seem to me and others to be an entirely different ballgame, and more deserving of at least a mention in this episode.

What???? People really think this is an issue????? Seriously?????

Sports guys, car guys and porn guys have been dealing with this for damned decades. Sex sells, live with it. This is just a sign of how mainstream games have become. If you are so gullible that something simply having breasts attached to the item causes you to no longer be able to rationally purchase a product, I don't think that problem with the company who is using hot chicks to market their wares.

 

[Something Amyss]

Jim, this has been going on for a while. this is not a complaint, but more surprise, as you usually have your finger on the pulse of current events. There's been a meme, a counter meme, a counter counter meme, and a counter counter counter counter meme.

Now, I'm not exactly pissing myself over the "Fake Nerd Girls" thing, but there isone element that bigs me a little: I resent being patronised. And I belive you, Mr Sterling, have expressed similar feelings in the past. Now, that doesn't mean these girls exist or exist in large numbers, so I'm not losing sleep, but I find the concept itself to be kind of irritating just because of that. I don't like being patronised here or anywhere else. I don't like lowest common denominator pandering or the concept that I can be dragged around by my penis.

And that's where this all seemed to start. A couple years ago, this was all about how Hollywood and the gaming industry were both trying to lure us with fake geeks in a shameless attempt to grab money. Megan Fox came up frequently. Is she a fake nerd? I don't know. She's a shite actress and that's enough for me not to care. She lacks sufficient personality to play a blender, so no amount of nerd cred means anything to me.

Now, that's probably the grain of truth this ball of crap has wrapped itself around, but still.

Also, I do sort of resent the notion that we can only associate with our own. This doesn't so much affect a woman cosplaying at some con, but again goes to the notion of corporate condescension. Like we can't possibly relate to ZOMG A WIMMINZ without her being so dorky she has an opinion on whether Han or Greedo shot first. Or unless she's a 2-D sex toy, but that's another story.

However, with this tirade over, I still will say my Rosaries: Thank God for Jim.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Now, I'm rather annoyed by pretenders in general because I dislike disingenuous, but I've never actually judged someone immediately. I usually wait until they start talking and betray a lack of actual knowledge of the subject matter they pretend to be interested in before calling them out. But in all honest, I've never actually met a "fake gamer girl." Met a few fake nerds (boys and girls both on that), but never a fake gamer. I've met a few people who say they'd like to be gamers, but can't figure games out (which doesn't surprise me, because there aren't really that many good games out there that are good for teaching non-gamers how to get into hardcore games anymore, versus the 8 and 16-bit era, where every game was a good introduction to gaming), but that's usually as far as it goes.

Now, there's a subject to discuss. Anybody notice how a lot of hardcore games are really hard to get into if you haven't been a gamer all your life. Games today are built so much around the assumption that you already have the basic skills acquired from a lifetime of playing the simpler games of the earlier eras that they're impenetrable for a new audience.

 

[Naeras]

I think the problem that Jim didn't talk about was exploitation.
Rather than simply being angry because they perceived these girls as wanting attention, I think the bigger issue that many people were irritated about was the ones that are doing it solely to drain as much money as possible from geek culture.
Unlike what I agree is the comparatively harmless desire for male attention based on outlandish outfits inspired by video games and comic books, this would seem to me and others to be an entirely different ballgame, and more deserving of at least a mention in this episode.

Wait, how does that work?

 

[Entitled]

I'm not sure either if it really exists IRL, and you obviously shouldn't be stereotyping gamer girls in general ('cause that's just mysoginistic), and obsess over who is and isn't a true nerd ('cause that's just sad), but there MIGHT be occasional blatant cases that feel insultingly manipulative.

Even in this case, most of the manipulation is being put together by men, not the women you're seeing in front of you. It's a predominantly suited, rich, male few who run the industry, as I said at the end, and if you should be mad at anybody for being patronized, it ought to be them.

Look who's pulling the strings if you're sick of being treated like a puppet.

Yes, and likely that is what many of the complainers already mean, when they comment that "Lol, that ad just pulled a Fake Nerd Girl", or "that actress is just played up for Fake Nerd Girl appeal".

But your video just covered the worst possible conclusions of why one might use the phrase, while associating them with everyone else as well. That the very idea is inherently stupid, and everyone should feel bad about themselves for considering to bring it up.

Shaming everyone who might use a phrase or discuss a trend, rather than the people who misuse it.

 

[Fappy]

Um, can someone please tell me what is the name of that game with big burly men running through walls?

I was going to ask the same thing. Actually looks pretty fun XD

Well done Jim, though this situation was a lot worse a few months ago... at least in this community anyway.

 

[DragonWright]

The idea that some guys could be so arrogant as to assume that a woman only shows an interest in video games because they desperately want to... somenottosviolatingword a nerd is what get me.

Also that they think this is a bad thing. "Ew, icky girls want to touch me!"

 

[KeyboardSnorlax]

I don't really have a problem with fake game girls, my issue lately has been these 3DS commercials that go along the lines of "I'm blerhblah and I'm not a gamer, but with my 3DS I'm a blibbitybler" ect. Would be interested to hear Jim's thoughts on that one

 

[Roofstone]

Fake Gamer Girl? Never really noticed an issue with such thing, the closest thing I can think of is the hipster with fake glasses that go like "Lol I'm such a nerd!" on facebook. I wanna slap them in the back of the head and go "No, you're not".

That is the closest I can get to hating fake nerd girls..

 

[burymagnets]

I think people get annoyed by cynical media, I don't like alot of internet personalities, both male and female, because I don't think their informed enough to give noteworthy opinions.

The problem with attractive women having success with it, is that geeks/gamers have to look at the people they consider their community and realise that they're just a bunch of horny idiots like everyone else (probably moreso).

 

[veloper]

I never noticed that this thing is as big as Jim claims. He really must have had very little inspiration this time.

Still, if someone is a fake, calling him or her out for it is justified. It's also fun.

This is not something exclusive to gamers. Posers are never popular, whether it's music, politics, anything really.
This is also not about the booth babes who are obvious advertisement. Similar thing as with tv commercials, which only have actors.

 

[vun]

Oh, a Jimquisition that, at least in my opinion, misses the point a bit. Or at least avoids a point that shouldn't be.
I think part of the problem here is that people generally don't like fakes, not just limited to the gaming community.

In short; people don't like it when other people get undeserved attention for pretending to be something they aren't. Or something.
I'm not really able to word myself properly here without getting terribly philosophical, which is why I was hoping Jim would. But he didn't, so you'll have to live with my poor wording until someone else manages to do it right.

That said, it has probably been blown up to a bigger issue than it really should be.

 

[ms_sunlight]

This is not a new thing. Why do people think this is a new thing! It's just more visible. I'm 38 years old, a woman and I've been a gamer since the 1980s and a "hardcore" gamer (I hate that term) since the 90s. When I meet guys who are into games, I have often got the third degree, like they're trying to catch me out and prove I'm somehow a fake because you know, girls aren't into that stuff. It's more visible now, because women are becoming a larger percentage of the visible gamer population, but believe me this has always been there.

The "gatekeepers" always seem so disappointed when a woman proves she's not a fake. One guy became irritated when I proved I could discuss the relative merits of the combat systems in Final Fantasys VIII and IX. Another changed the subject when I started to talk about turn-based strategy games because I obviously knew more than him. Funny, it's almost as if they don't want women to be real gamers because then they'd have to let them in their silly little club.

 

[WoahDan]

I like how many people are pretending this isnt a thing... when it has taken place on this very forum. Seriously guys, yes this is a thing, if you havent seen it its because you are willfully blind to it.

Also: congratulations to Megan and Jared

 

[Wolcik]

The intro and outro are just extras, so they could be bad - even though they are always at least well scripted.
As for the topic of this one I have to say that if anything bad it's sad that woman are still exploiting their looks to get attention and the second this is that we live inside bodies that cause sexual tension and violence - if only we could become spiritual beings like this one floating around in Futurama or something XD

 

[Catfood220]

I'm sorry Jim, I was distracted by the woman dressed as Juliet Starling. What were you saying?

*reads thread*

Right, I think I get the jist of it and I have this to add. Women can do whatever the hell they want and if it involves dressing as Juliet, then I'm perfectly fine with it.

 

[Akytalusia]

the problem is that they're lying, to your face, and believe you believe them, calling you a gullible idiot through their teeth. it's insulting. the people who get up in arms over this do it in order to say they're not idiots. they're defending themselves.

there is no intrinsic problem with girls liking games. no one is saying that. sorry jim, but you really missed the point here.

 

[SonOfMethuselah]

I...
I didn't know this was a thing.
How long as this been a thing?
I know girls who play video games. I know girls who don't play video games. I know girls who only play a certain kind of video game. I've never had any problem with any of them.

 

[wizzy555]

What evidence is there that this wasn't started by a "true nerd" girl?