Recently I heard the word geeksploitation

[zoobyshoe]

Recently I heard the word "geeksploitation" in reference to a new movie. It occurred to me that there has been a lot of this going on on TV. "The Big Bang Theory" was discussed last year in a thread here, and shows like "Bones" and "Criminal Minds" are heavily populated with expert geeks, not to mention "NCIS" and "Numbers".

I am wondering if you watch any of these shows, and if so, if you like, or identify with, any of the geek characters? I am wondering if these characters are actually embraced and applauded by geeks, hence increasing the show's number of viewers, or if these characters are actually designed for non-geeks to look down upon as weird, albeit useful, (and often amusing) concomitants of these show's scientific backdrops?

 

[Proton Soup]

nope. I'm more X-Files, and now Fringe.

 

[Willowz]

I'm still waiting for JJ. Abrams to consider making a season about how Hugo and Ben spent their time on the island.

 

[KingNothing]

My GF showed me "the big bang theory", and I hated it. I thought that it just played on stereotypes.

 

[Jack21222]

I once heard of the Big Bang Theory referred to as "geek blackface," but I can't remember if it was here or another forum. I tend to disagree. I consider myself a pretty big geek, but I don't find the roles offensive, and I identify with many traits portrayed in the show.

Comparing, for example, Leonard from the Big Bang Theory to Steve Urkel from Family Matters, I think we've come a long way. Especially when you look at the later seasons of BBT. I feel like the stereotypes have been toned down a little, and the geek in-jokes have been ramped up.

I watch almost no television, so I cannot comment on the other shows mentioned, but I'm personally glad to see geek culture moving more into the mainstream.

 

[rhody]

Recently I heard the word "geeksploitation" in reference to a new movie. It occurred to me that there has been a lot of this going on on TV. "The Big Bang Theory" was discussed last year in a thread here, and shows like "Bones" and "Criminal Minds" are heavily populated with expert geeks, not to mention "NCIS" and "Numbers".

I am wondering if you watch any of these shows, and if so, if you like, or identify with, any of the geek characters? I am wondering if these characters are actually embraced and applauded by geeks, hence increasing the show's number of viewers, or if these characters are actually designed for non-geeks to look down upon as weird, albeit useful, (and often amusing) concomitants of these show's scientific backdrops?

Am I seeing and reading what I am reading, Holy Crap... nice to hear from you Zoob.

You know the answer to that question what it comes to me, a very big GEEK. I think the shows try to have it both ways, on the one hand they admire them in a strange sort of way, and on the other poke fun at them every chance they get. I may be wrong but from the few times I have watched "Big Bang" that's my impression.

Rhody...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

You have to give TBBT a little time. At first I too found it offensive. But after a few episodes it grew on me. After a few more I was completely hooked. They do "get" the nerd thing - no surprise given that they have a physicist on the writing staff. There are many many jokes that may work generally but have special meaning to engineers and scientists. The fact is that there have been dialogues that could have been taken from posts here. One example that comes to mind was from an early episode in which Sheldon wants to play a mind game [how many of those have we had here] and then cites a highly complex set of rules. The similarity of this with some of our threads here had me in stitches!

No one says they are supposed to be "typical" physicists. In fact, in one episode they had someone who was supposed to be a visiting star in the world of physics who was cool, rode a motorcycle, got the good looking girl, and made our cast of four look completely uncool and super nerdy. Beyond that, as a stardard plot device, even most physicists think Sheldon is nuts [actually, everyone thinks he's super neurotic, socially inept and insulting, including his mother!].

Unfortunately, my wife swears I'm a Sheldon-Leonard hybrid. While I can't claim to have a "beautiful mind" like Sheldon, I have to admit that there have been quite a few gags that hit right at home.

 

[Evo]

I love Bones, but the scientists are intentionally over the top *brilliant*. The characters are portrayed as nerds, charming and funny, with a definite wild side. You definitely have to leave credibility at the door when you watch this funny show.

The premise is that these scientists work at the The Jeffersonian Institute, a museum based in D.C. (think Smithsonian), but for some reason there is a single FBI agent that works with them. Any time a murder victim is found, the scientists are called to the crime scene where they take over, take the body back to the Jeffersonian (no police, no coroner's office, no morgue)where they do all kinds of out of this world forensics, and for some unknown reason, the FBI agent (out of his jurisdiction) and one or more of the scientists hunt down and capture the killers, interogate suspects at the museum, and make arrests.

I love this show!

 

[Ivan92]

Numb3rs and The Big Bang Theory are the top 2 that I watch. I found out about The Big Bang Theory before Numb3rs but I started watching Numb3rs before The Big Bang Theory. I remember seeing that the Big Bang Theory on TV Guide Channel, so I decide to tune into see what I thought would be a short 30-minute documentary on the Big Bang. It wasn't what I thought it would be, so I changed it back to TV Guide. Then years later (a few months ago) I started watching all seasons of Big Bang Theory and currently awaiting the 5th season. I'm still watching Numb3rs but it's taking longer to catch up (40 min episodes vs 21 mins).

 

[daveb]

I don't really watch any of them. I tried TBBT for about 6 episodes but couldn't get into it, despite tht the "geeks" weren't especially attractive. The "geeks" were very much the stereotype. On ther shows such as Bones, the "geeks" are attractive. I'd like to see some normal looking, and normal acting geeks. Of course, that wouldn't make for very entertaining tv, would it?

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

In most shows it seems they are trying to make the geeks attractive, particularly female geeks. I was watching a show recently on Hulu called ReGenesis with a set of characters that are almost all scientists. They were almost all "hot" too (or maybe all, and its just my tastes that make me say almost).

 

[BobG]

The last TV show I watched that had a "hot" geek was Gilligan's Island where Jon Gabriel played The Professor, a high school physics teacher that wandered the island with his shirt unbuttoned to his navel or no shirt at all.

http://www.bobdenver.com/Gilligan_s_Guest_Stars/The_Pilot_Page/the_pilot_page.html

[PLAIN]http://www.bobdenver.com/Gilligan_s_Guest_Stars/The_Pilot_Page/ProfGinger30.jpg
The Professor and Ginger

I haven't watched much TV in recent years.

 

[zoobyshoe]

(By the way, I don't know if there's a distinction between a geek and a nerd. I think of them as synonymous, but I could be wrong.)

As for attractiveness, it's pretty much conventional that everyone's more attractive on TV than in real life: cops, doctors, lawyers, housewives, you name it. A couple of you seem to have reacted to the notion of an attractive geek as unacceptably unrealistic. Most have offered remarks about The Big Bang Theory, where the geeks are the most realistically unattractive, and the same people seem disinterested in, or unaware of, the other shows, notably Bones (and Num3ers), where ALL the lead characters are geeks (save the one FBI agent, as Evo described).

This leads me to wonder if geeks/nerds just won't acknowledge someone alleged to be one of their own, if that person displays too much attention to wardrobe and grooming, as if it betrays an unspoken code. Or something. I'm not sure.

In general, I am seriously unsure who the producers of these shows thinks their target audience is. On the surface it would seem to be the geeks portrayed since, as Evo pointed out, they do superhuman feats with technology, catch the bad guys, and are the champions. They are the brain power without which the merely police-like characters (includes FBI and NCIS) could never find the criminals. If geeks/nerds aren't embracing these characters, then who is?

 

[Evo]

It appears the definitions of geek and nerd differ depending on who is writing the article, so either works, IMO.

Acccording to wikipedia, nerds are intellectual

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerd

Geeks are technical.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek

But read another source and they both excel at both. i'd just call 'em GERDS, but I had an operation to stop GERD and it wasn't good.

More about Bones later, It's my favorite!

 

[zoobyshoe]

It appears the definitions of geek and nerd differ depending on who is writing the article, so either works, IMO.

Acccording to wikipedia, nerds are intellectual

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerd

Geeks are technical.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek

But read another source and they both excel at both. i'd just call 'em GERDS, but I had an operation to stop GERD and it wasn't good.

More about Bones later, It's my favorite!

What I get from the wikipedia articles is that "nerd" refers to the general properties, while "geek" highlights the excessive, eccentric enthusiasms exhibited. However, I think the words are probably getting smeared together in general parlance. I've heard people called, for example, "math nerd" almost as often as "math geek".

I've never been called either. I think of myself as a generic academic or intellectual. However, a friend of mine here (in real life) informed me that the reason she and I get along so well is that we're both dorks.