Beauty and the D&D Geek!

[Gez]

But I can't for the life of me understand why someone would pretend to be stupid, or take pride in such. Leaving me wondering whether the "being dumb" is a lie, or whether "being dumb is just an act" is a lie.

There's a certain famous person, whose exact identity and position I can't talk about because it could result in a Grandma-upsetting tangent, who claimed that all the books he ever read could fit in his car's glove compartment.

Now, this was quite obviously a lie, as I don't believe it would be possible for anyone with a Harvard education to have read so few books. But if you think about what could have been the intention of such a claim, and what has been the result in 2000 and 2004? It could explain stuff about the "dumb girl act" celebrity bimbos are pushing.

 

[WizarDru]

I haven't watched the show in a couple of seasons, but when I did watch it, it certainly didn't appear to be about mocking gamers specifically. If you don't see anything amusing in publicly admitting to being a Dungeon Master, then I'm not sure what to tell you. It's a funny thing to someone who doesn't play the hobby...and to some of us that do.

In that show, they edit to enhance the perception that the girls are shallow and dumb and they edit to enhance the perception that the boys are all socially inept losers. As the show progresses, they bond, help each other and come to realize that they aren't really all that different. It actually comes off rather nicely. Both beauties AND geeks develop more self-confidence and they all get together at the end of the season to discuss how they've all improved.

If anything, this MAINSTREAMS gamers, because it shows them as being pretty regular people. Sure, they play up the nerdiness and the stupidity for spectacle....it's a 'reality' TV show. With 7 million active WoW players and D&D in the mainstream media more than ever, I'd say that gaming is becoming less and less of a punchline all the time.

 

[boerngrim]

Or it's poured down her cleavage. Or down her leg. She's a living lewd drinking glass.

It's not what her Daddy hoped she'd grow up to be.

That's true sometimes, but there are some bars where shotgirls are just hot girls who carry around a tray of shots like schnapps or some such and try to flirt guys into spending money on shots. Sadly It doesn't take much for a hot girl to convince a lot of guys to spend money on anything. i know from experience. Being a gullible guy er not being a hot girl.

 

[Desdichado]

Why.....why does the general public take every opportunity to make gamers look stupid?
...
So the whole time it's showing these girls and their professions are always "waitress, model, beer model, bartender, ect ect". But then it shows this "geek" talking and his profession was, "Dungeon Master".

Hold on there, pal. Sounds like this guy made himself look stupid. Don't go blaming "the general public."

That kind of stuff bugs me a lot. It's embarassing & disrespectful. If they're going to do that to the "geeks" on the show, shouldn't those bimbos professions read: "Bar Fly", "Tramp", "Drug Addict", or "Gold Digger"?

Uh... no. That's absurd. Be very careful that you don't get into "mundanes bashing" or you turn yourself into exactly the kind of person that is being made fun of here.

 

[Celebrim]

There's a certain famous person, whose exact identity and position I can't talk about because it could result in a Grandma-upsetting tangent, who claimed that all the books he ever read could fit in his car's glove compartment.

Not to upset the thread, but I'd love to see that quote in English somewhere, like with a time and place it was made to suggest that well, it was actually made and not merely one of the stock 'ism' jokes that I've seen going round and round for decades now. Simply the phrase I'd need to google for it would be enough. Because I'm inclined to see very different explanations of human behavior.

I bet if you took a poll, the majority of men would say that they would prefer an intelligent spouse.

I bet if you took another poll, you'd get a bi-modal distribution in how intelligent men wanted the women that they dated to be. Some would still pick the intelligent partner, but some would be differently motivated. Very similar polls. Very different results.

 

[Desdichado]

No, it makes me confused.

a) The joke really can't be 'got' unless you are a gamer, but its made at gamer's expense (you are apparantly supposed to be laughing at, not with, gamers).
b) The joke could really only be writen by a gamer.
c) Internally to the commercial, the person playing the joke on the 'dorks' would have to have been a gamer to play the joke. But, this essentially destroys the joke. If the joke teller meant to make fun of the 'dorks', then the joke is also at his expense. If the joke teller did not mean to make fun of the dorks, and was truly ignorant, then he's the butt of the joke again. But this later case is basically impossible, because you have to know what 'Dungeon Masters' and 'levels' are which reveals you aren't ignorant enough to not be condemned as a geek with the rest.

Did it make anyone laugh?

Yes, absolutely. It made my laugh. It made my non-gamer wife laugh even harder.

You don't have to be a gamer to get it, although there is an esoteric "deeper level" to it that you do have to be a gamer to get. But it's freakin' hilarious to anyone who isn't a gamer or doesn't know much about gaming, but who knows a gamer.

Or to anyone who played for a year or two in the mid-80s.

 

[kenobi65]

Doesn't the US Cellular commercial make you laugh?

The one where the other phone company guys have the US guy in a van
and he asks them what level dungeon master they are.
One of the others replies "Dungeon Masters don't have levels." "DorK"

Well, first, obviously, the ad didn't work too well for you, since you attributed it to the wrong brand (it's an Alltel ad ).

I also note that I only saw that version of the ad for a few days; they seem to have rotated in a version with a different ending (one of the nerds pinches the Alltel guy; no mention of dungeon masters). I have no idea if the "dungeon master" version is running anymore, or if that version was intentionally pulled.

 

[kenobi65]

There's a certain famous person, whose exact identity and position I can't talk about because it could result in a Grandma-upsetting tangent, who claimed that all the books he ever read could fit in his car's glove compartment.

Now, this was quite obviously a lie, as I don't believe it would be possible for anyone with a Harvard education to have read so few books.

If you are referring to the person to whom I believe you are referring, he actually went to Yale as an undergraduate (though he later attended Harvard Business School).

 

[kenobi65]

I assume that's a joke. I've known many brilliant, and beautiful women who wore glasses, and yes, been interested in several of them.

Well, actually, it's a phrase that's been around for decades. I believe it's referred to in "How to Marry a Millionaire", a 1953 movie in which Marilyn Monroe's character (who needs glasses) refuses to wear them when on dates, because of that belief. I have no idea if it predates that.

If there ever was any veracity to the phrase, maybe it's changed now...50 years ago, roles and expectations of women were very different than they are now.

And, I have a feeling that a gamer board may be a bit un-representative of society's general view of women/glasses/beauty.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Well, actually, it's a phrase that's been around for decades. I believe it's referred to in "How to Marry a Millionaire", a 1953 movie in which Marilyn Monroe's character (who needs glasses) refuses to wear them when on dates, because of that belief. I have no idea if it predates that.

It's a Dorothy Parker quote.