Does being a nerd make you a better person?
“I walk into a room, and for this industry, I’m impossibly tall. When they find it hard to pair you up with the opposite sex, then what’s left for a woman? Either you’re the ball-buster or the not-so-attractive girlfriend standing by the lead. I mean, traditionally not so attractive. Because you have your starlets and then you have their best friends who are these character actresses. When you fall within the cracks, you thank God for sci-fi, because they’ll give you a gun, and they’ll say, ‘Go over there and conquer that world. You kick some ass, girl!” — Gina Torres
Back in 2013, Gina Torres rocked the Internet with her thoughts about sexism within the entertainment industry. The sci-fi world rejoiced at being singled out for praise by the Firefly star as being one of the few genres that allowed for a breakdown of the, shall we say ‘traditional’, standard Hollywood fare. That got me thinking, does Nerd Culture inherently make you a better person by virtue of its themes and what it presents? I would argue nerd culture presents fans with greater opportunities to see different perspectives compared traditional entertainment media.
Respecting differences unites people
Firefly had several strong female characters that owned their own space. Beyond Gina Torres’s character,Zoë, Inara was a woman, who owned her body above all else and also possessed of a fierce intellect and self-respect. Kaylee may seem like the ‘summer girl’ stereotype but she may well be the single best mechanic to ever live. Her strength is her ability to see the brightness in the world and work through her problems with a smile and positive attitude. The seamless blending of Chinese culture, art and etiquette norms into the world of Firefly was something we saw rarely. This enticed viewers to see new and different perspectives on the older Western tropes the show was based around.
The currently running The Expanse TV shows, is another great example highlighting different perspectives. Multifaceted characters abound. No character role is pigeonholed by gender, sexual orientation or race. Everyone feels like they earned their positions. Furthermore, the show and books take great pains to showcase a conflict that has no clear villain. Moral ambiguity is the norm. While people may act in unethical ways, you rarely feel the need to question why they would take the actions they take.
Gene Roddenberry: Talk about what you care about
In the 1960’s, Star Trek series creator Gene Roddenberry was interviewed about his goals and what got him started on the project:
“I was tired of writing for shows where there was always a shoot-out in the last act and somebody was killed. “Star Trek” was formulated to change that. I had been a freelance writer for about a dozen years and was chafing at the commercial censorship on television. You really couldn’t talk about anything you cared to talk about. It seemed to me that perhaps if I wanted to talk about sex, religion, politics, make some comments against Vietnam, and so on, that if I had similar situations involving these subjects happening on other planets to little green people, indeed it might get by, and it did.”
Initially backed by Desilu productions, the original series aligned with Roddenberry’s vision. The original Star Trek series was a landmark achievement because it showed how people of all genders and races could co-operate to end violence based in ignorance. During and after Rodenberry’s life,subsequent Star Trek series after the original kept true to this theme. It was important for the show to lay the groundwork for co-operation and showcase a multi-racial cast. This was especially true in Deep Space Nine as the first few seasons are devoted to easing tensions between the Bajorans and their former occupiers, the Cardassians. We saw time and again how the two sides were recovering from, and their differing perspectives on, the shared history and violence between their peoples. What’s more is that the lessons here were presented to both sides. You had Cardassian’s rightfully enraged at the loss of family and civilians at the hands of what they saw as Bajoran terrorist cells. You also had Bajoran orphanages caring for the unwanted mixed race children with more than a few allusions to them being the product of rape. This was juxtaposed with the Cardassian leader’s own half Bajoran daughter, the result of him falling in love with a Bajoran woman.
Which other genres embrace tolerance?
Escaping in Fantasy
Let’s look at the current series, The Magicians. It follows Quentin Coldwater, a bi-polar magician obsessed with the fantasy world of Fillory. He learns that magic is very real but also very dangerous. The main cast of heroes and villains are all well developed and multi-dimensional, each dealing with their own issues. The redeeming theme in the show is that none of their issues feel like they are trumped up. They are real and provide an undertow to all of the actions and decisions these characters make. You’re can better understand their issues ranging from behavioral disorders, family dysfunction, addiction and even the serious aftermath of rape and sexual exploitation by following the character arcs threaded into the main plot. At no point does Magicians’ talk down to its audience about these problems. They handle them in a mature, real manner.
Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings
Tolerance and acceptance is not restricted to modern fantasy stories since tropes critical about the world and people’s relationships have always been a cornerstone in any sort of fiction. In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, we see different factions of men working alongside elves and Dwarves to overcome the threat of Sauron and his armies. While the books and films get a lot of flak for being dominated by white male characters, the story is actually looking at the World Wars and how people of ALL creeds and nations must stand together to keep peace against the darker aspects of our nature. We see how these nations and races are different from each other but also learn of long standing animosity and divides between them. The more you learn about the Tolkien legendarium, the more you realize how deep seeded some of this hatred goes, particularly between the Elves and Dwarves. The main points to keep in mind, as previously highlighted, is that the reader can understand where and why these divisions exist. The reader is also capable of walking through and sees how those divisions are bridged.
Fantasy is as rife as Science Fiction with opportunities to explore the harsher sides of our nature and come to terms with what is fundamentally different from us. Be it the exploration of the Hitler Youth provided by Draco Malfoy in the world of Harry Potter, or the dozens of points of view and shades of gray we witness in the Song of Ice and Fire.
Exploring Our Virtues
It’s not all doom and gloom. The heroes of science fiction and fantasy give us examples to live by and aspire to. The tenacity of Samwise Gamgee and the inspirational leadership of Picard are the valor of humanity given form. Through these characters we not only are shown what could be, their popularity can serve as an indicator of where our own values lie. Events like the two Civil War story lines in Marvel Comics can show you a lot about what your own value set is. Do you believe in government regulation and licensing to properly train and hold accountable super powered beings? Do you believe that the role of heroes is to be, in part, outside of government control to serve a non-nationalistic good? If you had a reasonable suspicion that an individual would commit a crime in the near future, would you arrest them before any crime has been committed? Why or why not? These are important insights into not only what we deem as right and good but also allow us to explore WHY we think that way and what we want from our leaders and heroes in the real world. The understanding and exploration of this is just as important to building a stronger community as the recognition and empathy towards faults.
When nerdom is social, it transcends boundaries
Most convention spaces are filled with people who have the same level of love for these works as you do with plenty of invitation to meet and connect with others to share in that. Anyone who has made contacts through this shared experience will attest to the different walks of life you end up connected to that you would never have had access to otherwise. Outside of conventions this sort of shared experience is readily available through online forums where people discuss and share their thoughts about programs, films, games and books that they love. The people on the other side of that keyboard are similarly enthralled and the amazing part is, they could be anyone.
Local comic and hobby shops remain an amazing gathering place for nerds of all stripes. Anecdotally, at my local hobby shop on a given week I will have conversations about a half dozen shows, movies and memes with people who have served in the military, work as national level building contractors, students looking for their first job, and community organizers. We come from all different backgrounds and ethnic groups, political stripes and religious denominations. Under most circumstances we would never meet, but through a shared hobby we got talking, found areas of common interest, had meals together and built connections with one another through nerdom. What else transcends social boundaries the same way? What else lets you connect to the new and different to the same degree?
Nerdom opens doors to empathy and understanding
Does being a nerd make you a better person? No. Nothing just MAKES you into a better person. That is a choice we make ourselves. What being a nerd does do is provide us with the opportunity to make that choice. Through nerdom we can explore facets of our world in a safe way. Be exposed to different points of view, unique ideas, or experiences we haven’t personally had. Through the guise of the unreal, nerdom allows us to learn from aspects of life we may not be able to otherwise learn from. Because of this, nerdom opens doors to empathy and understanding like few other areas in media do. Through this we are able to better understand our fellow man, form connections and foster true acceptance. Being a nerd gives you a position of common ground with literally every other human being that enjoys the same things you do. That is extraordinary and I can think of no other aspect of our culture that offers the same ability to make connections as everything that has ever labelled a person “Nerd”.
