I think it’s definitely fair to say that geek culture has gone mainstream. The internet seems to be bursting with blogs about celebrating your inner geek, the convention circuit is thriving and it’s suddenly cool to be geeky. And to this I say “Hurrah!” I adore the fact that so many people are happy to let their freak flag fly, and now it’s more acceptable than ever to enjoy a bit of geekiness.
That being said, the concept of “geek culture” comprises a huge number of fandoms. It seems to me that if you identify yourself as a ‘geek’, then it will be assumed that you love certain things. But in reality geekiness is a little bit different for everyone. Each geek has their own interests and fandoms, and may have no fascination with some of the things that are thought to be traditionally ‘geeky”.
A while ago, Gamer Wife, hosted a link-up titled “geeky confessions’, encouraging geeks to air our geeky secrets. I’ve been eager to jump on this link-up, and now I’m finally ready to reveal my biggest geeky confessions.
It took me ages to get into Harry Potter
Although Harry Potter is one of my favourite fandoms, I was very late to jump on the Hogwarts Express. I was about eleven when the Harry Potter books first became came out, and I shunned them because they were ‘popular’. I was reading at an adult level at this point, and wouldn’t deign to lower myself to read a lowly children’s book. Fast forward to when I was nineteen and one of my Potter-obsessed mates loaned me her copies of the books when she went away to college. I read the series from book 1-5 in two and a half weeks, while sitting under a Japanese tallow tree in my parent’s backyard. I was hooked. I wish I had gotten into the fandom earlier and not been such a snob about trying something new just because it was ‘mainstream’. I was such a hipster in my pre-teens.
I don’t find Benedict Cumberbatch attractive
Lately my social media feeds have been exploding with fangirls exclaiming over the dreaminess of Benedict Cumberbatch. One of my friends told me that just looking at him causes her to ovulate spontaneously.
But….I just don’t see it. Sure, he’s not unattractive. He appears to be a well-groomed young man. In interviews he seems witty and polite. But I’m just not feeling the sex appeal from Mr Cumberbatch.
I’ve never watched Star Trek
Nope, not even once. Not the movies, not the original show and not The Next Generation. I will get around to it eventually, I’m just not drawn to it right now.
I really like Jar Jar Binks
Jar-Jar Binks is something of a joke among Star Wars fans. All the fan frustration and crabbiness gets taken out on Jar-Jar. Everyone seems to find him intolerably annoying. Everyone except me, that is.
Now, he’s not my favourite character (that would be Yoda) but I really like Jar Jar. The first time I watched The Phantom Menace, I thought he was hilarious. I still have a bit of a soft spot for him. I love an underdog.
I’ve given up on Dr Who.
This one really pains me. I used to adore Dr Who. Each Sunday morning I would bound to my computer to check out the newest installment in the Doctor’s adventures. I would dream about being whisked off in the TARDIS for a series of thrilling adventures with Doctor Number 10 (David Tennant…drool!). But then things started to turn a bit sour.
Don’t get me wrong, I still adore the earlier seasons of the rebooted Doctor. But from about mid-way through season 6, I began to lose interest. I got bored with Rory and Amy as the Doctor’s constant companions. I was fed up with the tired story-arcs and recycled villains. Most of all, I was sick of the sloppy writing and gobbledegook explanations for every occurrence within the Doctor’s universe. I held out hope that once Peter Capaldi entered as the 13th Doctor, there would be something of a fresh start and the show would get good again. But it just didn’t. I watched four episodes of the newest season before I came to terms with the fact that I just wasn’t enjoying it anymore. Sad, but true. So I stopped watching.
What are your geeky confessions? Do you speak Klingon? Do you have no idea what a portkey is? Do you make a yearly pilgrimage to New Zealand to visit the spot they shot Lord of The Rings? C’mon, out with it!
Nessbow 
Oooh, this is an awesome post. Honesty rocks and you know, I rather admire it when people come right out and say, “sorry, but even though everyone and there dog lives for X, I’m just not a fan it”. We all mark to the beat of our own drums and just because the masses (or masses within a given subculture love something, it doesn’t mean you have to!).
♥ Jessica
It’s so true. A while ago I wrote a post about how I don’t like Pride and Prejudice and it’s one of my most popular posts ever. I like it when people are brave enough to speak out and say, “Yeah, lots of people like this, but it’s just not for me”.
I wasn’t super crazy about Benedict Cumberbatch at first, but I have since been converted! I think it’s his voice. It’s all deep and lush, and *sigh*
And I think Doctor Who is suffering because of Steven Moffatt. I liked him at first because when Russell T. Davies was still the showrunner, I noticed that a lot of my favorite episodes were penned by Moffatt. And the 11th Doctor is my favorite, I think he did a great job developing him. But he just DOES NOT know how to write women! Amy’s HORRIBLE, and I really liked Clara, but the way she’s starting to unfold is just shoddy and unimaginative. This season has been kind of a let down not because of the actor, but because of the writing. Peter Capaldi is doing a great job considering what he’s been given to work with. <– okay, that rant went on for a bit. Haha!
I am totally with you here! I don’t think I’ve liked any of the female Dr Who characters since Donna Noble. Amy was alright but she was just too impulsive and selfish and I find Clara pretty bland.
I actually really like Peter Capaldi as The Doctor. I was looking forward to seeing how he interprets the character. But I’m finding the writing unbearable. They need some fresh writers I think.
Hahaha OMG thank goodness I’m not the only one who doesn’t find Benedict Cumberbatch attractive. He kind of creeps me out!
I’m glad I’m not alone here. I don’t find him creepy, and he seems like a pretty funny and intelligent guy. I just don’t quite get what all the fuss is about.
I am a geek but haven’t watched star trek and don’t find Benedict Cumberbatch attractive.The only reason people are finding him attractive is because he has money and fame not because he’s actually good looking. I totally agree Dr Who has gone really down hill with the script I mean If you watch BBC Sherlock and this new series of Dr Who I’ve found that the lines are the same and incorporated the same idea. Dr Who really needs new writes.If you have a spare minute please check out my blog.
Sophia
I still haven’t watched any Sherlock. I will get around to it eventually though.
I find the Doctor Who one the saddest, but mainly because I kind of agree and it’s heartbreaking! I was a HUGE Who fan in the early years of the reboot, I was really involved in the fandom, I loved everything about it including the silly, over the top, dumb writing. But since Moffat took control, it’s just been going down hill. He’s constantly trying to be “too” clever, which ends up being a complicated, muddy mess. I LOVE Matt Smith’s Doctor and I’m enjoying Capaldi’s too, but the writing is just such a mess sometimes. Never thought I’d miss the RTD days of farting aliens.
I completely agree with you. Moffat seems to try to make the storylines really complex, but they just wind up muddy and confusing. I liked it so much better in the earlier days when the episodes were more self-contained and they didn’t try so hard to create those over-arching story arcs for each season.
When I started reading Harry Potter I immediately identified with Ron but once I reached order of the phoenix Luna Lovegood became my favourite character. Cool Spectaspecs too! I feel the same way about Doctor Who unfortunately. Nightmare Before Christmas and ParaNorman are my other favourites.
Aw, thank you so much! I made these spectrespecs myself and I really like them. Although they are falling apart now.
I still haven’t seen Paranorman, but I think I will like it when I finally get around to watching it.
Fun!
I watched Serenity at the movies with a friend and HATED it. I’d never seen Firefly so it all went over my head, but the experience scarred me so much that I will never ever watch it.
I don’t understand the appeal of Legolas. Aragon all the way.
I like video games but can’t bear anything violent, so when Charles played Bioshock Infinite I had to leave the room. So so violent. Love mario and animal crossing to bits though!
Same with Game of Thrones – I hate all the characters, I hate the violence and the rapes and the meanness. Good theme song though.
My favourite things are Xena (warrior princess) and Hercules (the legendary journeys), Star Trek TNG (seriously don’t bother with any of the others, tng is wonderful), and the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy. With pretty much everything else, I don’t get the reference!
❤
I am with you on the video game issue. I like games that are cute and fun, like Mario Kart and any of those classic Nintendo games. My all-time favourite game is Yoshi’s Story for Nintendo 64.
I don’t like violent games. A few weeks ago I tried playing Silent Hill and I had to stop because the movement of the game was making me feel ill. I had the same problem with Portal as well.
HAHA I think Jar Jar Binks is adorable!
And as for my geeky confessions… I’ve never seen ‘Star Trek’ either, or ‘Lord Of The Rings’, ‘The Matrix’ or just about any other “big” movie!
Another one of my confessions (that didn’t make it into this post) is that I’m not a fan of Lord of the Rings. I read the book and enjoyed it, and the films were fine. I just never got into them.
Also, I hated The Hobbit movies. They are just too damn long and I get bored easily.