Some geeks really enjoy The Big Bang Theory because there is a lot of genuinely geeky content in it.
I can understand this, as I too feel a shiver up my spine when hearing Star Trek reference accurately. But I absolutely hate the show. Here’s why.
Being a nerdfighter is not about making your interests mainstream. A Nerdfighter is at his or her core, proud of who they are and unashamed to admit it.
Shows like The Big Bang Theory, bring things like superheroes and string theory out into the mainstream TV, and that’s fine, but the geeks and nerds on the show are still portrayed at social crippled, physically weak, and only ironically attractive.
Now, allow me to introduce you to Community. Positively full of hotties.
The primary King ala Nerdfighter is Abed.
He is basically an Encyclopedia of nerd-lore and has one of the best self-esteem monologues I’ve ever heard. He says “I’ve got self esteem falling out my butt”
His best friend is Troy.
Troy is a football player, a total hottie, and an avid cosplayer just like abed himself.
Their roommate is Annie.
She is the smartest and the hottest of the bunch. And if she’s not a fan of Hermione Granger then I’m a creationist. She didn’t blossom into her titties until college, and she wasn’t popular in highschool.
Jeff is supposed to be the suavest and the coolest of the group.
But the truth he only acts “cool” because he is so insecure. He manages to pick up on every single one of Abed’s references, and the two are pretty close because both of them clung to TV and movies because of absent fathers.
There are a lot more things in Community that rage against the stereotypical geek or nerd. But my point is not that we should pretend to be something we’re not. If you are social inept, I am sure that you are the bombdiggity online, and that is a-okay.
My point it that all geeks do not fit the stereotype. Geeks are me and you, they’re your mom’s best friend and the six year old down the street. There are all kinds of geeks and nerds, and all that The Big Bang Theory does is present them in such a way so that “normal people” can laugh at oh how silly they are, without having to recognize that all kinds of geekery have substance.