Because it’s become so trendy to admit you’re a geek—and because you can now be a geek of things that were formally considered 100% cool (a sports geek, a rock music geek, an organic food geek, etc.)—the word has lost a lot of its meaning.
So there’s an opening for a word to describe people with south-of-mainstream taste. (Nerd doesn’t qualify.)
While you mull over that, mull over this: over the years I’ve come to notice that, whatever else I am, I am also a certain subset of geek—someone who tends to prefer the weaker, lamer, less edgy, or simply less cool member of a famous pair.
It started, appropriately, with me preferring vanilla to chocolate. But in pop culture terms:
Superman vs. Batman – I like Superman better
DC Comics vs. Marvel Comics – DC
Beatles vs. Rolling Stones – Beatles
John Lennon vs. Paul McCartney – McCartney
Fonzie vs. Richie – Richie
Simpsons vs. South Park – Simpsons
Brandon vs. Dylan (90210) – Dylan
Seinfeld vs. Friends – Friends
Bruce Springsteen vs. Billy Joel – Joel (I don’t think many actually size up these two together but I did read a comparison at least once)
The Empire Strikes Back vs. Return of the Jedi – Jedi
This brings me to one pair in which I do prefer the cooler of the two:
Luke Skywalker vs. Han Solo
I trust you can guess which is which.
If you can add any such pairs to the list, please do so in the Comments.
star trek or star wars? Star Wars
ReplyDeleteGinger or Mary Ann? Duh ... Mary Ann
vampires or wizards? there seems to be a minor divide between my students on the topic.
ReplyDeletemy halloween costume confirms my preference for the latter :)