We are being laughed at. A ranty article purely for debating purposes.

[BriarMonkey]

I tried watching Big Bang Theory once - and only got about 5 minutes into the episode before I gave up on the whole thing. It was pathetic. It was like they were trying too hard to be geeky/nerdy/sciency and thus everything felt forced. The humor was lame and the attempts to endear you to the characters really just made me question why the show had such a following. I may be a bit of a geek or nerd myself, but I found nothing redeeming or with which I could connect in their portrayal.

There was another show, a game type show, King of Nerds I think? They had a couple teams of geeks and nerds that partook in challenges such as trivia, costume design, etc. Anyway, I saw a couple of those episodes. Again, it was pathetic. Part of the challenges were designed, at least in my opinion, to exploit the stereo-typical pigeon holes that geeks and nerds are placed into - meaning, they were designed so others could laugh at them. Sure, there were challenges that they were good at, but those were actually set up to be quite boring and still, they managed to turn some of those into events for mockery. Another two thumbs down.

While I haven't seen the other shows which have been mentioned here, I can sympathize. I can laugh at myself, and do so often, but I don't need to be told by mainstream media that everyone else needs to laugh at me too. That is reserved for my friends.

 

[Leviatham]

Oh, and I personally thing the Big Bang Theory is a piece of sh**, because it's designed for people to laugh at geeks.

Hear hear!

The Guild on the other hand is funny because it's meant for geeks to laugh at themselves. I mean, the woman in charge, Felicia Day, is a gamer. She's pointing out that we do a bunch of stupid stuff in our hobbies, but she still does it with love.

Uhmm... I can't see that, sorry.

Fistly I don't bite that "it's been done for geeks and thus is fine to laugh at us because she loves us".

Secondly, even if that is the case (let's give her the benefit of the doubt) that series is available for other than geeks to watch and, trust me, they believe people are like those characters. They laugh at us and, unfortunately, there are people out there stupid enough to believe we're all the same and also that we deserve the mockery.

And Eureka is funny because everyone laughs at everyone. The sheriff is a charming dolt. The scientists have a nice mix of personality types, but everyone has a flaw, be it foolishness, egocentrism, or various obsessions with their own pet projects. (Except for Allison, who is just an all-around bad-ass.)

They all also fall into very stereotyped cliches like the father or mother figure. And they're still laughable. The mix of personality is not to show idiosyncratic traits, but to show flaws and, when needed for the resolution of an issue, some resilience.

Sorry, but I still can't see how they do that in a healthy way.

Have you seen The League? It's a show about Fantasy Football guys. It's clearly made with love, and they make fun of each other like crazy. Now, sure, we don't have a super serious drama about RPGing, but most of the comedy out there is not done out of malice or mockery.

I haven't seen it, so I don't have an opinion on that one. I'll keep an eye for it.

I don't care if it is not done with malice, to be honest. Lack of malice doesn't make its effects any less pernicious.

Except, I reiterate, for the Big Bang Theory, which is atrocious.

Hear hear!

 

[Leviatham]

The Big Bang Theory does, indeed, laugh at geeks. It also laughs at Penny's stupid sporty boyfriends (hell, one was so dumb he was worried they were going to blow up the moon) - it's a sitcom. It laughs at the characters in it. This one happens to feature geeks as the main characters; there are plenty of sitcoms which feature sportsmen or waitresses or manic hotel owners played by John Cleese or the last human alive on a mining spaceship. We laugh at them, too. I don't get why you'd think geeks are being singled out. Sitcoms laugh at the characters in them; this one happens to feature geeks. Sounds like your issue is with the sitcom format, not the geeks.

I won't argue with the fact that most sitcoms are all about laughing at things and that's indeed part of my issue.

However I am talking about the sitcoms that affect geeks and the ones that portray geeks, not the rest. The fact that the genre in general is built upon mockery doesn't take away my point that it mocks geeks, which is what affects me.

If anyone else feels they should fight for sitcoms not to mock them in a different area, then they can feel free... I'm on my corner here!

 

[Morrus]

I won't argue with the fact that most sitcoms are all about laughing at things and that's indeed part of my issue.

However I am talking about the sitcoms that affect geeks and the ones that portray geeks, not the rest. The fact that the genre in general is built upon mockery doesn't take away my point that it mocks geeks, which is what affects me.

If anyone else feels they should fight for sitcoms not to mock them in a different area, then they can feel free... I'm on my corner here!

I think singling out geeks as the only people who shouldn't be the subjects of a sitcom is even more insulting. Unless your point is just that sitcoms shouldn't exist; and that isn't something I can get behind at all. In that world, we don't have Fawlty Towers or Blackadder (laughing at hoteliers, soldiers, butlers and more) and that ain't a world I want any part of !

 

[RangerWickett]

What are we supposed to be able to laugh at, then? Humor is the result of unexpected or awkward elements juxtaposed or presented at a distance so we can laugh instead of worrying about the consequences. Everyone's lives have moments of unexpected awkwardness. Life is supposed to be funny. And I think you're misinterpreting normal jokes as being somehow intended to hurt or mock.

 

[Leviatham]

I think singling out geeks as the only people who shouldn't be the subjects of a sitcom is even more insulting. Unless your point is just that sitcoms shouldn't exist; and that isn't something I can get behind at all. In that world, we don't have Fawlty Towers or Blackadder (laughing at hoteliers, soldiers, butlers and more) and that ain't a world I want any part of !

I haven't said that. At all.

I have said the sitcoms that target geeks are the ones I am talking about. If anyone else wants to argue about other sitcoms that mock someone else, they're welcome to do so.

Also I am not saying sitcoms shouldn't exist (no idea where you get that from reading my posts), but I am saying the way they laugh *at* and not *with* in unhealthy. It's a sign of bad writing that they laugh at anything.

Also about the two examples you give: Fawlty Towers doesn't laugh at hoteliers. It laughs at *one* of them. And it's not because he's a hotelier, but because he's an obnoxious idiot. Complete difference.

As for Blackadder, it's a historical comedy done with way more taste than any sitcom that features geeks and better than 90% of today's sitcoms. Not sure how many people can identify with a 15th Century butler...

 

[Morrus]

I haven't said that. At all.

I have said the sitcoms that target geeks are the ones I am talking about..

Ah, well I'm afraid then that I don't grasp the fine dinstinction between "I don't think sitcoms should target geeks" and "geeks should not be the subject of a sitcom". A little too subtle for me!

 

[Leviatham]

What are we supposed to be able to laugh at, then? Humor is the result of unexpected or awkward elements juxtaposed or presented at a distance so we can laugh instead of worrying about the consequences. Everyone's lives have moments of unexpected awkwardness. Life is supposed to be funny. And I think you're misinterpreting normal jokes as being somehow intended to hurt or mock.

Not at all. Also let's not pretend that the fact that there are no consequences in the sitcom itself doesn't mean there aren't consequences outside.

I have a friend who is single for reasons that are not relevant. He is 37. We were at a social gathering and decided to tell that he likes painting minis. "Oh, you must be a virgin then!", was the attempt - rather tasteless - of a joke.

The reason? That woman had seen "The 40 Years Old Virgin".

Believe me, it wasn't funny.

My own experience: Recently I met a guy at another social gathering. I explained the reasons why I was traveling to Edinburgh (Conpulsion) and that I was a bit of a geek and love games.

His response: "You don't look like a geek or act like a geek. You might have geeky interests, but you are not a geek! Geeks don't come to this sort of places and talk to people".

We aren't supposed to laugh at anyone. We might laugh at anything, but not anyone. That is not healthy. At all.

 

[Morrus]

Not at all. Also let's not pretend that the fact that there are no consequences in the sitcom itself doesn't mean there aren't consequences outside.

I have a friend who is single for reasons that are not relevant. He is 37. We were at a social gathering and decided to tell that he likes painting minis. "Oh, you must be a virgin then!", was the attempt - rather tasteless - of a joke.

The reason? That woman had seen "The 40 Years Old Virgin".

Believe me, it wasn't funny.

My own experience: Recently I met a guy at another social gathering. I explained the reasons why I was traveling to Edinburgh (Conpulsion) and that I was a bit of a geek and love games.

His response: "You don't look like a geek or act like a geek. You might have geeky interests, but you are not a geek! Geeks don't come to this sort of places and talk to people".

We aren't supposed to laugh at anyone. We might laugh at anything, but not anyone. That is not healthy. At all.

The issue there isn't anything to do with geeks, though - it's that your friend met an obnoxious person. Obnoxious people will find other ways to be obnoxious. I'm sure that woman was obnoxious to plenty of people at that party.

In many ways, geeks have never had it better. I do believe that shows like BBT and Doctor Who and so on have helped destigmatise geekdom. I appreciate that you don't feel that's the case, but I believe it is.

 

[Leviatham]

The issue there isn't anything to do with geeks, though - it's that your friend met an obnoxious person. Abonixious people will find other ways to be obnoxious.

In many ways, geeks have never had it better. I do believe that shows like BBT and Doctor Who and so on have helped destigmatise geekdom. I appreciate that you don't feel that's the case, but I believe it is.

She wasn't obnoxious, she just wasn't funny and cracked a joke based on a silly movie that gave her the impression that people who pain minis are saddos with no social skills or the ability to get a girlfriend.

Dr Who has nothing to do with geeks.

As to how BBT has helped destigmatise geekdom escapes me... Comunity maybe, but Big Bang Theory? No chance.