Why is it if you like something sci-fi, you're a nerd who can't get laid? While we may be a rabid fan base, most of the people I've met or know from it are/have been married or involved with significant others. I have a pretty large sense of humor, but I found this to be grating.

I know being offended by the constant "ew--nerds" flavor the press loves to trot out is part of the reason I am a nerd, but it's an old angle.

That said, nice to get the mention, even if it is sort of backhanded.

(Someone smack me if I am taking this too seriously. :))

Dizzy | September 08, 01:42 CET

I think the paraphrase of what he's saying is: "If this is a nerd movie, you'll have to call me a nerd because I loved it."

The One True b!X | September 08, 01:44 CET

I guess. I am glad he loved it.

What can I say? I'm a bitter nerd who's having a bad day right now, so I'm cranky. ;)

Dizzy | September 08, 01:49 CET

[smack!] ;-)

Semi-seriously, though: I think Whedonerds are a different breed from the stereotypical sci-fi/fantasy/D&D nerd. Because of Buffy, which had a roughly even male/female mix of viewers (and because Whedon has written strong and interesting female characters in every show), Whedonerds aren't overwhelmingly male; thus, statistically speaking, there are fewer 40-year-old virgins. ;-) Buffy/Angel fans aren't limited to people who love horror/fantasy, and Firefly fans aren't limited to people who love science fiction; people who appreciate great characters and excellent writing can love them whatever the genre.

tehipite_tom | September 08, 01:51 CET

heh.... dizzy, you just reminded me of a couple articles, that some people like to quote about how nerds in general, can make better lovers.

Numfar PTB | September 08, 01:56 CET

Quick, somebody get the Love Doctors on the line! Where are zeitgeist and the barest_smidge when you need them (to talk about the restorative powers of nerd love)?

Actually, come to think of it, they're geeks, not nerds.

SoddingNancyTribe | September 08, 02:09 CET

It's good that he liked it, but I too dislike the comment. I firmly believe that if people went online to talk about sports and hyped up a match or something, then they would be considered normal, or if someone wanted to discuss and debate the works of Shakespeare, but people who want to talk about modern films or TV shows or books are usually dismissed as rabid and geekish.

I think that's really insulting, given how varied and intelligent the Whedon fanbase is. I for one do spend a lot of time talking about Buffy, Angel and Firefly, but I also spend a lot of time going out with my friends, participating in sport, playing an instrument and having an active social life. The average Whedonfan is probably just as likely to be a well adjusted person as the average person off the street.

Razor | September 08, 02:14 CET

I'm rather proud of being a nerd. You guys should read the essay "The Nerd Voice" by Sarah Vowell in "The Partly Cloudy Patriot". In it she mentions that one of the reasons people were so accepting of Willow even though though she was an uber-nerd was because of the self-deprecating sense of humor. That's kinda where I felt this Mike Standish guy was going.

ringworm | September 08, 02:18 CET

Trust me, people who debate the works of Shakespeare are not considered "normal" by the vast majority of Americans. The sports comment works though. ;-)

newcj | September 08, 02:28 CET

Certainly among the senior echelons of the then online massive Buffyverse fandom, there seemed to be a lot more female fans than male fans.

Simon | September 08, 02:31 CET

Hah! I passed 40 a while ago, and haven't been a virgin since before the Earth was flat. Being female may have helped; but let's step into the warped, mine-are-the-words-of-god mind of someone who makes his name writing movie reviews. Given the high horse this guy is coming from, he's eating humble pie with this review.

Nebula1400 | September 08, 02:44 CET

Don't want to go off-topic but since this is a thread about serenity I thought here would do. I just got back from watching Red Eye (pretty decent) but by far the best thing was the Serenity trailer airing before it. 1st time I've seen it at the cinema and let me tell you it was very exciting even though I've seen already. In fact I was sat next to one of the people I took to the screening and she was just as excited.

Paul_Rocks | September 08, 02:51 CET

Always lurking, and yes, sir, we are geeks! :) I will have to ask you to add the 'n' to her username, however. Them's fightin' words! ;) And since you called us out -- GEEK LOVE RULES! Happy now? :D

zeitgeist | September 08, 02:59 CET

Yeah, yeah he liked Serenity, yay! However, I'm most struck by this comment about Where the Truth Lies.

Only watch this trailer if you've fantasized about being in a threesome with Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth.

Um... hasn't EVERYONE fantasized about that? *ducks & runs*

[ edited by flashofgenius on 2005-09-08 01:14 ]

flashofgenius | September 08, 03:14 CET

I've seen some Andrews stay as Andrews (older. fatter Andrews) and some grow to be Gileses. I think the trick is to let go of the andrewity at some point and do some things that are really difficult, things that are not in your comfortable zone.

futile | September 08, 03:18 CET

Oy. The thread here baffles me. It's entirely obvious, from a writing standpoint, that what he was doing was just having some fun with the nerd stereotype.

The point being: He earlier thought this was going to be a nerd movie. Then he saw it and loved it. But he doesn't consider himself a nerd. Therefore it's not a movie just for nerds.

But he had some playful fun with the alternative implication: That liking the movie meant he WAS a nerd, so he played with throwing himself into the stereotype.

The One True b!X | September 08, 03:18 CET

As long as the movie score isn't performed by Nerd Herder, I think this movie is safe for us geeks.

MissKittysMom | September 08, 03:44 CET

*rings* Good evening, the LoveDoctress is in. And out. And in and out. *pause* Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I see. You and your partner want to try... with some.... in the back of a moving... huh? Well, I once tried something similar, and I would advise a tarp, a spatula, and some.... *a-hem* Oh. Sorry. That's not really what you meant, was it...?

Re: the Serenity review. Honestly, I thought it was all sweetness and reverence from someone outside the 'verse who realized he may have had it wrong. But maybe I'm an apologist because I can relate: said as much myself, if not worse, when I first started lurking here, and then when zeitgeist first invited me to wing out to Chicago for a screening. "What? Me? Wait on line? For a movie? A sci-fi movie, no less? I don't fit in here. That's not me. I don't know anything about TV shows or comics or graphic novels. I've never engaged in 'gaming' and am not even sure what that means. Last time I considered myself a 'fan' of anything, I was carrying a sunset-themed Trapper Keeper and there was a Ponyboy Curtis centerfold taped to my closet doors. That's just not me, so all this associated stuff just can't be for me."

Luckily, I stumbled upon just how wrong I was in time to reap the giant rewards. Being welcomed into this community of smart, funny, and articulate like-minded souls. Finding Serenity. Plus, that thing I found here that SNT refers to as 'Geek Love?' (I have some other, more descriptive names for this thing me and z have going on, but I'm thinking they're probably way too much information for y'all. ;D ) It's a helluva thing.

[ edited by barest_smidgen on 2005-09-08 02:48 ]

[ edited by barest_smidgen on 2005-09-08 02:55 ]

barest_smidgen | September 08, 04:26 CET

:D tarp and a spatula indeed... LOL

[ edited by zeitgeist on 2005-09-08 02:54 ]

zeitgeist | September 08, 04:51 CET

*snort* Dude, Serenity doesn't make you want to play D&D. It makes you want to make your own homebrewed rules for a Fireflyverse RPG, because waiting until they release the official RPG will take too long! Duh!

Uh, I mean... Dangit.

kishi | September 08, 05:27 CET

I've never played D&D and have absolutely no interest in it.

What's an RPG?

Nebula1400 | September 08, 06:07 CET

Role Playing Game, traditionally pen and paper and involving dice, imagination and booze :)

See also: Wikipedia entry

[ edited by zeitgeist on 2005-09-08 05:27 ]

zeitgeist | September 08, 07:18 CET

See. I can't be too much of a geek or a nerd if I don't know these things!

Nebula1400 | September 08, 08:00 CET

Well, joking or not, I'm sensing a disturbing divide-and-conquer anti-"sci-fi/fantasy/D&D nerd" trend here. They're our brothers-in-arms! We don't need to diss people who are able to use their imaginations to play games, rather than push buttons or move pieces around a board, in order to feel better about our own fandom. Has watching BtVS taught us nothing? Honestly . . . I was a proud D&D player, reader of fantasy, watcher of bad sci-fi flicks, and also, just as with Razor above, a social guy, a football and cricket player, a band member, and had the occasional girlfriend too. (Well, that last bit's a lie, I'm actually an approaching-40 virgin, but don't tell anyone).

I think theonetruebix nailed the intent here. No offense need be taken.

SoddingNancyTribe | September 08, 09:03 CET

The important thing is that "it was awesome" will be airing weekly on ABC radio.

jaynelovesvera | September 08, 11:55 CET

Yeah, I think so. But years of being a nerd has made me jumpy. I used to have a sense of humor, I really did. :)

Dizzy | September 08, 16:41 CET

Honestly I don't consider myself a nerd in general, I play tennis, watch college football, have an active social life, and the 40 year-old virgin thing isn't EVEN close...but when it comes to all things Whedon I can pretty much admit my freak flag is flying for all to see. The majority of my friends are NOT in any way nerds, but just yesterday they all went to the movies and saw the Serenity trailer. Needless to say that all my nerdy ravings paid off because they immediately knew what the movie was and now they want to go see it.

jabby | September 08, 17:20 CET

RPG stands for Report Program Generator, an ancient programming language that was made obsolete by the development of databases. As programming languages go, RPG ranks below Perl and only slightly ahead of APL in terms of (non-)readability to humans.

The fact that Iraqi insurgents are still using RPG to plan their attacks is a strong indicator of just how backward their culture has become.

MissKittysMom | September 08, 18:10 CET

And what's all this about people whose virginity has passed its best-used-by date?

MissKittysMom | September 08, 18:14 CET

MissKittysMom, you made your point. We lesser nerds must bow before you.
And btw futile: I like your observations about Andrews becoming Gileses.

TactGuy | September 08, 18:44 CET

But I am only a nerd of the absurd and forgotten programming languages. No one bows before me with offerings; they only come to laugh and point.

Woe is the life of the nerds who guard the cesspools of useless knowledge.

MissKittysMom | September 08, 19:34 CET

Well, joking or not, I'm sensing a disturbing divide-and-conquer anti-"sci-fi/fantasy/D&D nerd" trend here.

I hope I didn't imply that, because I think the sci/fi/fantasy/D&D nerds are the most intriguing and generally decent people alive. I just don't like stereotypes, because they are so often used to belittle people (who might secretly be saving the world with their super powers, or maybe just somebody's mom).

Nebula1400 | September 08, 20:02 CET

Check out those user ratings. A 92% five star mark. Yes!

Madhatter | September 08, 20:07 CET

I'm rather proud of being a nerd.

I'm not ashamed of being geeky about something I love, I just thought that particular comment was very harsh. There's a difference between being a geek and being a completely socially challenged wacko. I do think characters like Willow have really been good for our image. I remember watching a documentary on the Buffy season 6 DVD where Joss says Alyson was one of the, if not the only, actress up for the part of Willow who didn't wear glasses and act really unbelievably. That's what cool about the character, because she has so many good qualities that most of her peers failed to notice.

Trust me, people who debate the works of Shakespeare are not considered "normal" by the vast majority of Americans. The sports comment works though. ;-)

I get your point, because most people wouldn't, but a lot of academic people do. They would tend to look down at someone doing the same to Star Wars or Buffy. And the fact is, I don't think virginity is something to be sneered at. I certainly don't intend to be a 40 year old virgin by any stretch of the imagination, but I respect people who might not want to grab hold of the soonest action coming their way.

Personally, in my own experience, Buffy seems to be seen a a girly programme. The extreme of the attractiveness of the cast isn't a good enough reason for males to watch it, and just because the lead character is female they in fact shouldn't, at least in most people's opinions.

Online it is a completely different situation, because I think there is a good mixture of ages and genders. People can identify with the characters, appreciate the story and intelligent writing, and enjoy the action or horror or humour, regardless of who they are.

I was a proud D&D player, reader of fantasy, watcher of bad sci-fi flicks, and also, just as with Razor above, a social guy.

I feel really stupid, I hadn't realised SNT was a guy. I think the "Nancy" part in the name confused me.

But I really enjoy being able to talk about Joss's work with everyone here, and I have a number of really sociable, funny, likeable friends in the offline world who enjoy talking about movies and TV shows and music to the same extent we do here. And I heard some guys talk about a football match for about an hour today, the same match the whole time, yet that is viewed as normal, when talking about a film isn't, by the average person at least. What a world we live in.

[ edited by Razor on 2005-09-08 22:34 ]

Razor | September 08, 21:20 CET

I'm not a nerd, I'm a geek. There's a big difference.

electricspacegirl | September 08, 21:21 CET

I think he referred to the movie: "the 40 year old virgin" that just came out also by UIP (premiere was attnded by our BDHs), which features an uber-nerdy guy, who actually is in fact still a vrigin with 40 years.

Harpy | September 08, 22:04 CET

Considering what this guy's said in the past about Serenity buzz (I'm a rabid movies.com lurker), I took his comments as a huge leap towards a compliment.

riaspark17 | September 09, 02:49 CET