Poll: The worst offender of "geek" themed entertainment.

[Therumancer]

After looking at the remarks on the one episode return of IT Crowd (one of the few good examples of geek themed tv) I realize most geeks don't like geek themed entertainment. No surprise, most of it is stupid, vacuous, and sometimes even offensive.

What do you think is the worst offender?

And (be honest) don't you watch them sometimes anyway?

While it was short, I'd have to say "Otaku No Video" an old anime thing about a normal, fairly successful, athletic guy who falls apart after getting into various geek activities and sets out to become the "king of all nerds". The anime cuts out periodically to have interviews with "real fans"... and let's just say it gets increasingly painful as time goes on... that's the worst in my experience.

That said I don't think anyone who isn't a nerd or geek can really "get" what it is to be one, and really most entertainment involving nerds or geeks as the focus usually uses the geeks and nerds as the punchline to the whole situation for normal people. Even in something like "Revenge Of The Nerds" the overall "joke" is that this group of dweebs win, where they never would in real life.

I think a lot of it is that at the end of the day what makes a nerd or geek what they are is that they are social outcasts from the rest of society due to their interests, and/or how far they take them. As a whole nerds and geeks are viewed with scorn and picked on, until someone wants to take advantage of their area of expertise, at which point they are nice only so long as they get what they want. Most "nerd themed entertainment" seems to largely be a continuation of the same kind of picking on and drumming down they get throughout high school and perhaps college, everyone likes to laugh at these guys, so when they can't do it in real life (especially since the real world/adult workplace frowns on things going as far as college) the media will provide shows where they can do it vicariously.

It can be argued that the nerds in many cases win in the end in the media, but again, as I mentioned in response to "Revenge Of The Nerds", that's a punchline, not any kind of acceptance or validation.

 

[Rad Party God]

Spoiler: Clicky snip.

Every CSI-esque show where the victim or murderer was a gamer or geek makes me groan the instant that episode's theme is clear. These shows consistently feel like they were written about some preconceived notion of geeks and nerds formed in the 90's, somehow unaltered over the decades. Pretty much the entire show is spent spreading misinformation to the viewing audience, or simply patronizing the shit out of people deemed to be living 'childish fantasies'.

Shows like that are why I cut my cable TV a long time ago.

SO. MUCH. THIS.

They don't even do any research about how a real game works, goddamit >.<'


If I could do any of that in Second Life, I'd play the heck out of it. Or maybe not.

 

[GonzoGamer]

It can be argued that the nerds in many cases win in the end in the media, but again, as I mentioned in response to "Revenge Of The Nerds", that's a punchline, not any kind of acceptance or validation.

I would hope not. The only one of the examples I laid out which I find kind of offensive is Revenge of the Nerds and that's because the "heroes" go straight from being pacifists to being rapists and stalkers.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

The worst geek offense I've ever experienced was BBC 2's The Review Show discussing Modern Warfare 2. And for those of you who don't know, this is a program that generally reviews books and plays. So yeah, you can image how that went.

Is that on youtube? Sounds hilarious.

It's right here for your viewing pleasure.


You have to wonder why in hell they thought they had to review this, seeing as they haven't reviewed a game before or since. It just makes you fall to your knees and thank God for gaming journalism.

...I don't want to watch that. I'm afraid that if I do, I'll cringe so hard that my facial muscles will tear the skin off my head and curl it up into a little ball in the centre of what used to be my face.

But I think I might have seen a clip from it before; does it basically play out like five people who've never seen a movie going to watch Transformers and then complaining about how horrible all movies must be because of that?

 

[themyrmidon]

On TBBT: yes, it is a caricature. Or at least that's how we are capable of seeing it. The problem is I know many people who don't see it that way, and because they take it seriously when they watch it I cannot endorse it. I'm also unsure as to the creator's intent, although I have a pretty good idea as to what CBS thinks about it.

Combine that with the extremely overbearing laugh track and that I just don't find a lot of it funny it was the easy vote for me. If you enjoy it then more power to you, but I can't get over the way same people perceive it.

 

[Bestival]

I've only watched Big Bang Theory, I watch it every week, and it only annoyed/offended me like, 3 times.
Worst one was where they said you can have sex in WoW, that was just stupid. They could have made it Age Of Conan, which I believe they actually played in a later episode where Penny gets addicted, and it would have been fine.

Did see Revenge of the Nerds way back when, but I was just a young horny boy then, and anything that gave me tits was great in my book.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

Having a child with cystic fibrosis and then watching the thing you love slowly die as you're thrown into financial turmoil by the american medical system is funnier than the big bang theory. The show is like if they made a "Scary Movie" called "Nerdy Movie" but by proxy, because the it's like a bunch of characters talking about that hypothetical movie. HE SAID STAR TREK EPISODE 143! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Like I don't even find it particularly "AHHRGHAD THEYRE MAKING FUN OF ME!" Because I pretty much just like videogames and I'm not that sensitive. I'm just really put off by the few episodes I've seen, wherein all (and I mean literally all) the jokes have been the reference "humor," making the reference conversationally. So it's like reference humor without even having the initial spontaneity or "LOLXDRANDOM" factor of the actual reference popping up like it does in bad internet cartoons.

 

[Phuctifyno]

I'm sure everything on your poll fits the bill, but does anybody remember Fanboys or Grandma's Boy? Those were pretty fucking aweful.

I guess I kind of get a kick out of seeing non-geeks in entertainment imitating geeks (because that's what's cool now and $$$) and failing, but then I get sad because there are a lot of people out there falling for it...

Like, oh Sheldon briefly mentioned the Doppler Effect/Schrodinger's Cat/String Theory/Quasars/Soilent Green and now I'm laughing because I've heard of that and the laugh track tells me it's funny and nerdy and funny cuz it's nerdy, yet there was no joke. Or maybe there was a joke. A lame one. Hmf.

 

[Casual Shinji]

...I don't want to watch that. I'm afraid that if I do, I'll cringe so hard that my facial muscles will tear the skin off my head and curl it up into a little ball in the centre of what used to be my face.

But I think I might have seen a clip from it before; does it basically play out like five people who've never seen a movie going to watch Transformers and then complaining about how horrible all movies must be because of that?

Well, you know those times when a game is released that is so massively popular the mainstream media feels like it has to cover it, eventhough they dont know what the hell they're talking about? That was one of those moments.

That's why I say, thank God for gaming journalism. Because no matter how bad it may be, at least it's in touch with what it's covering.

 

[Scott Rothman]

Here is how Big Bang Theory goes:

Gang: Man, we are really nerdy
Sheldon: We're so nerdy we know *insert specific scientific fact*
*Laugh track*
Penny: I don't understand that because I'm a woman
Sheldon: Bazinga!
*Laugh Track*

 

[Jordi]

I don't get TBBT hate to be honest. I like the show, I can relate to many of the characters (honestly I'm a watered down Sheldon in real life), and while I do think the writing has gone more traditional sitcom and less affectionate prodding at geek culture while also glorifying the better parts of it I still find it fun.

Though some of the worst offences might go to certain episodes of NCIS. I love the show and often their references are accurate but sometimes you feel like asking if the writers are intentionally getting it wrong.


To be fair, I half understand what he means by "high score" if you assume the MMOs have player ranking systems but still.

That is NOTHING compared to this little gem:


OT: I really like the Big Bang Theory and seriously don't get why people find it offensive. Yes, the characters are stereotypes. Welcome to television. But for all their (stereotypical) flaws, how are they depicted? Pretty great guys, right? They are smart, kind and passionate about the things they like. Despite being misunderstood by "the world", they actually have pretty nice social lives and do lots of fun activities. That is just so much better than the traditional nerd depiction of a completely anti-social, boring, perverted loner.

It seems pretty clear to me that the audience is supposed to sympathize with the protagonists. If the show is saying anything to the world, it's not "hey, come laugh at these nerds", but it's "hey look, these nerds are actually pretty great people".

 

[Therumancer]

It can be argued that the nerds in many cases win in the end in the media, but again, as I mentioned in response to "Revenge Of The Nerds", that's a punchline, not any kind of acceptance or validation.

I would hope not. The only one of the examples I laid out which I find kind of offensive is Revenge of the Nerds and that's because the "heroes" go straight from being pacifists to being rapists and stalkers.

I suppose that's a matter of opinion. Their behavior in the movie is pretty much an exagerration of rowdy collegiate behavior with panty raids and all of that kind of stuff, they just take it in a nerdy direction by doing things like rigging a suerveillance system in the girl's dorm.

I suspect it's creepier now that people have actually done stuff like that, than it was at the time the movie(s) were made. At the time it was the kind of wierd thinking that might come out with a bunch of randy, drunken, frat boys talking, and the joke was that these nerds could actually do something like that.

If you want to get technical, you can find similar stuff in just about any comedic "coming of age" movie, ranging from "Porky's" to "American Pie" to whatever else, with all of the totally unscrupules and stupid things people will try and do to get laid or peep some girl they like. In context I don't find this any worse, especially given how crazy it was at the time, this movie was made LONG before you had real nerds getting caught peeping girls using webcams on their computers and such.

To be fair, there are also various romantic comedies/chick flicks where there are girls who are just as insane in their pursuit of guys or whatever.

In short I guess what I'm trying to say is "the fact that it is so wrong, is why it is funny". Of course that type of humor isn't for everyone.

The thing about "Revenge Of The Nerds" though is that the punchline is more or less that for all of their talent, the only way the nerds could get even was by peeping the other guy's girlfriends using what was, especially for that time, some pretty advanced technology. The nerds "win" but only by being progressively more ridiculous and unbelievable which is the point.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, it's been a long time since I saw that movie, but I don't remember it being paticularly terrible considering similar fare. I actually think "Porky's" was even more wrong, that's a movie where you have a guy peeping girls in the shower, and he slides his thingy through a hole in the wall, where it is grabbed by a teacher who later (after his escape) wants to strip all the boys in school so she can handle their privates and find out who it was. The whole situation is just messed up and wrong on so many levels that it's funny. Understand these movies are genrally not saying the behavior in question is "okay" indeed that it's not is kind of the point.

 

[The_Echo]

The N64 example I used perfectly describes the "humor" in TBBT.

No... it really doesn't. The N64 scene wasn't even supposed to be a joke; you can tell by how the dialogue was written and delievered. The audience was just plain retarded in the early seasons.

Watch this and then come back and say that the jokes are good at all http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKS3MGriZcs

And here's a clip from Seinfeld doing the same thing. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDYck1aEkxI] And Friends. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLvB_ybcKt0] I'd find others, but they're lost in a sea of TBBT-no-laughtracks because of the immense vitriol that show receives (or just plain non-existent).

I dunno about you, but removing the laughtrack from any sitcom makes it less funny. That's just how they are.

Bernadette is also used as cleavage material and Amy is a grab to extend the jokes of Sheldon, she has no character except as a female answer to Sheldon.

She rarely wears clothing that shows much cleavage. In some ways, I think she's supposed to replace Howard's mother. Amy's cast as the awkward (like, more so than the others) character with an unfulfilled sex drive. She's more like Sheldon's foil, and has plenty of jokes based around just her. She could be analogous to Myra of Family Matters, as Sheldon is to Urkel.

The character I was talking about was the woman that worked on the university with the guys, don't remember her name.

Alex? Sheldon's assistant? Yeah, she shouldn't have left. I liked her interactions with the other characters.

 

[miketehmage]

I voted Hackers because I didn't originally intend on posting, but to be honest Gamer was way worse and genuinely offended me.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, it's been a long time since I saw that movie, but I don't remember it being paticularly terrible considering similar fare. I actually think "Porky's" was even more wrong, that's a movie where you have a guy peeping girls in the shower, and he slides his thingy through a hole in the wall, where it is grabbed by a teacher who later (after his escape) wants to strip all the boys in school so she can handle their privates and find out who it was. The whole situation is just messed up and wrong on so many levels that it's funny. Understand these movies are genrally not saying the behavior in question is "okay" indeed that it's not is kind of the point.

To tell you truth, I find both those movies funny. I guess when I say offensive I don't mean, it's horrible ban it immediately. When it comes to movies with peeping I prefer Student Bodies. Remember that one?
I guess the worst part of Revenge is when the guy fucks the cheerleader who is under the pretense that it's her boyfriend. In real life, he'd be put in jail...we can hope.
And I'm not suggesting people stop making this crap, I like to vedge in front of crap sometimes. It's just not very good: and being about as good as your average sitcom, isn't that good.

 

[Vausch]

I don't get TBBT hate to be honest. I like the show, I can relate to many of the characters (honestly I'm a watered down Sheldon in real life), and while I do think the writing has gone more traditional sitcom and less affectionate prodding at geek culture while also glorifying the better parts of it I still find it fun.

Though some of the worst offences might go to certain episodes of NCIS. I love the show and often their references are accurate but sometimes you feel like asking if the writers are intentionally getting it wrong.


To be fair, I half understand what he means by "high score" if you assume the MMOs have player ranking systems but still.

That is NOTHING compared to this little gem:


OT: I really like the Big Bang Theory and seriously don't get why people find it offensive. Yes, the characters are stereotypes. Welcome to television. But for all their (stereotypical) flaws, how are they depicted? Pretty great guys, right? They are smart, kind and passionate about the things they like. Despite being misunderstood by "the world", they actually have pretty nice social lives and do lots of fun activities. That is just so much better than the traditional nerd depiction of a completely anti-social, boring, perverted loner.

It seems pretty clear to me that the audience is supposed to sympathize with the protagonists. If the show is saying anything to the world, it's not "hey, come laugh at these nerds", but it's "hey look, these nerds are actually pretty great people".

Oh that little bit of infamy. Yeah that's what sad, usually those writers put a lot of effort into references and they're one of the few that managed to avert Pac-Man Fever on several occasions but that was just stupid.

 

[Kyber]

I HATE Big Bang Theory, just HATE it. The characters and the jokes are atrocious and horrible, and it's aimed at the worst kind of people.

 

[Quaxar]

The character I was talking about was the woman that worked on the university with the guys, don't remember her name.

Alex? Sheldon's assistant? Yeah, she shouldn't have left. I liked her interactions with the other characters.

No, he means Leslie Winkle. They literally just stopped with the character because the writers found it too hard to write dialog for her. Apparently writing lines for a female scientist is so hugely different from a male one that it was practically impossible.

Like, oh Sheldon briefly mentioned the Doppler Effect/Schrodinger's Cat/String Theory/Quasars/Soilent Green and now I'm laughing because I've heard of that and the laugh track tells me it's funny and nerdy and funny cuz it's nerdy, yet there was no joke. Or maybe there was a joke. A lame one. Hmf.

Yeah... you know the worst part was how two supposedly "brilliant" physicists completely miss the point of the whole Schroedinger's Cat thought experiment and instead go with the pseudo-philosophical "there's a cat in a box and, like, until you open it, like, you don't know if it's, like, alive or dead, man. mind = blown".
The Doppler Effect costume on the other hand was great, I give them that. But as I said earlier, the first season had its moments, it's just now that they decided to turn all the characters into bland TvTrope geek-Mary-Sues I can't get myself to laugh a single time during an episode.

 

[MetalMagpie]

NCIS. The use of science and technology in it is just.... no. (Although it's often entertaining in the same way that watching a man step on a rake is entertaining.)

Then again, the only one on your poll that I've actually seen is Hackers. So I could be missing out on some really god-awful stuff.

 

[The_Echo]

The character I was talking about was the woman that worked on the university with the guys, don't remember her name.

Alex? Sheldon's assistant? Yeah, she shouldn't have left. I liked her interactions with the other characters.

No, he means Leslie Winkle. They literally just stopped with the character because the writers found it too hard to write dialog for her. Apparently writing lines for a female scientist is so hugely different from a male one that it was practically impossible./quote]Oh, I completely forgot about her. I don't see how it would have been hard to write her; all she did was antagonize everyone.

I thought they got rid of her 'cause she didn't really have much to do, or 'cause she wasn't well-received or something. She was only in eight episodes over the course of the first three seasons anyway.