Has It Ever Been Popular to Be a Nerd?
Since the "teen movie" came to be it seems there has been pretty consistent commentary on the status of teens in high school- the nerdy teens vs. the popular teens.
The cliché story goes something like this: popular girls get aren't very smart but they're pretty, wear great clothes, and get all the popular guys. Meanwhile the "geeks and nerds" are great at school, have quit a small amount of friends and and an even smaller amount of social skills. These nerds tend to be the ones that get pushed around and picked on.
This single story is limiting in many different ways. For one thing, the media portrays nerds as the smart kids who do their homework and get good grades but have no friends and no social life leading kids to believe that if they are good students, they won't fit in with the cool kids at school.
Rhett & Link Video: Nerds vs. Geeks Epic Rap Battle
This video is a perfect portrayal of nerds and geeks. Although it pokes fun at the differences between the two, the ultimate message is that nerds and geeks are smart kids who get good grades and do well in school but don't have a great social life.
Dwight on The Office
Dwight on The Office is portrayed as the nerd of the group due to his interest in "battlestar galactica" as well as speaking intelligently. The "cool kid," in this scenario, Jim, makes fun of the nerd for being smart and also simply because of his weird taste in movies and hobbies that are all stereotypical nerd related.
Tommy Boy
http://hollywoodlife.com/2015/03/31/tommy-boy-20th-anniversary-best-quotes-chris-farley-david-spade/
Tommy Boy is a college graduate who took seven years to complete his undergrad; he was a popular kid who didn't do well in school. On the other hand, his counter part is the nerd who wasn't cool in school, got good grades, and now works for Tommy's company in the accounting department. Thus proving again that nerds get gipped while the cool kids get all the privileges but none of the smarts.
Ross Geller on Friends
Although Ross ends up with a great girl, he is constantly made fun of for his nerdy taste in movies and books as well as his love for anything to do with dinosaurs. Because he uses correct grammar and was not as social in high school, he is often made fun of for his intelligence.
Mean Girls
The main character in Mean Girls, played by Lindsay Lohan, is a great example of a nerd. Only when she starts to get bad grades and not care about school does she become popular; but when she was a nerd and loved going to school, she didn't fit in with the cool kids.
Never Been Kissed
Never Been Kissed is a romantic comedy about a girl who isn't popular that can't get someone to kiss her. She is incredibly smart and does well in school, but the popular kids aren't interested in spending time with her. She grows up to the age of thirty without ever being kissed because she was such a nerd.
Josie is ready to go to the prom but her date, a popular guy at her high school, decides to egg her house instead and leaves Josie, the nerd, home alone the night of the big dance.
All of these stories show the limitations that the "stereotypical nerd" puts on kids who are smart and want to excel in school but feel that being intelligent is "not cool." This could lead to kids getting worse grades than they should as a means for trying to fit in with what's cool. High school is such a critical time for teenagers to find their identity and these stereotypes make it incredibly difficult to be to true to oneself.
Laugh at me... but this post reminds me of High School Musical and how Troy Bolton was afraid to be in the school musical because he was too cool for it. It would be interesting to know if there weren't so much media out that labels high schoolers into choir nerd or band geek or drama freak, etc. if those labels would still exist and if it wouldn't be weird for an athlete to be on the stage.
ReplyDelete^^^ Love the above comment
ReplyDeleteAlso, what an insightful post! I really loved your examples. It's so sad how we label intellegence and knowledge with somehow being "less." How weird is that? We should all be striving to gain as much knowledge as possible, and working hard for that is nothing to be ashamed of! This is such a scary "single story" and one I hope goes away before we all have kids of our own and this is what they begin to think when kids in school tease them for liking to read or spending more than 5 minutes on a homework assignment
Seriously! Why in the world are we portraying intelligence and a good work ethic as lame or "nerdy"? Kids are so impressionable and it's hard enough being a teenager. I think this is one of the most harmful single stories in our society.
ReplyDeleteI love this post!! I had never even thought about as nerds being single storied before, but you're totally right! I especially love your Friends reference! Ross always comes across as annoying because he is nerd. And it is so interesting the message that Mean Girls sends about being good at school! I had never even thought about those examples that way, but you're absolutely right! I love it!
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! It's so sad our society pokes fun at being smart and that kids sometimes worry about fitting in if they're good at school. It's scary that this single story appears in so much of our media--especially media targeting impressionable kids!
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