Nerds and Pop Culture: The Wil Wheaton Phenomenon By Aeryn Murasaki

So, I was watching the SyFy network the other day and could not believe my eyes. Wesley Crusher has his own comedic nerd show where he comments on all things belonging to the realm of, well, nerds. Now don't get me wrong, being an out and proud nerd myself, I can appreciate that Wil Wheaton has finally been given the opportunity to once again participate in television (though I guess he did have a role on my fave show; Eureka). However, somehow, I got a bit pissed off. Not because the show is poorly done or anything, but simply because it seems that all things that I was teased about as a socially awkward youth are now cool, hip, and relevant. Apparently, being a nerd is sorta in. Suddenly watching and reading fantasy(Game of Thrones), making endless reference to Star Trek(the Big Bang Theory) and worshipping Loki (Tom Hiddleston)  makes you super awesome and not socially awkward. Really? When did nerdom become so fashionable? When did warp drives, theoretical physics, and Wesley Crusher become important themes in pop culture?

"Wesley Crusher" has a Show: The Wil Wheaton Project

I think it all started with Hollywood deciding to make all those comic books that I use to hoard into to blockbusters. It all started with the remake of the Batman franchise, which lead into the Avengers, X-men and finally Star Trek. Star Trek was a real kicker, because all of a sudden, this new flashy packaged representation of the genre was made available to the movie hungry masses. Yeah, J.J. Abrams definitely dumbed Star Trek down (I watched the Next Generation while study for my GRE's because of its use of words like esoteric, equivocal, eclectic, and aberrant) and added all the flash and glitz that draws the common man like a moth to the flame. Yet, the fact that I hear hipsters talking about warp drives and bikini babes mentioning how they love Kirk (at least they know who he is, right?), shows that my taste for fantastical science, honey wine, men with long silver beards and HOT Spock/Uhura/Kirk fan fiction, is finally somewhat acceptable. Yet, I feel like I am loosing something. Something that I worked so hard for, something that hours of Settler of Catan and Final Fantasy gave me. Wil Wheaton can't be cool! I mean, not in the pop culture sense of cool. He is for me and my friend Spencer, who used to get teased for wearing makeup to school and for speaking Klingon to those that bullied him.

That awkwardness, that knowledge that I know every model of star ship, can recite full paragraphs from the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and kept a moth collection during high school, makes me feel slightly annoyed that now folks like myself are sorta neat. Yet, I am happy, in a sense because I'm getting validation that all the things that I love so dearly are actually, well AWESOME. The fact that the rest of the population is just now figuring this out is fine. It could be a fad, but if anything, at least it will produce more Wil Wheatons.

-Aeryn Murasaki is a SFA guest writer. Stay tuned for more of her rants. Thanks!