Geeks?
 

Do you consider yourself a ‘geek’? According to an article in The Ottawa Citizen, people who like movies such as LOTR, Harry Potter, Spiderman and Star Wars are geeks! What do you think? Are most people who like these movies geeks/nerds? Are we being type-casted? Is this fair?

Disclaimer: No offence implied to geeks/nerds.

That really isn't fair! Just cuz we watch some kind of movie doesn't mean we are geeks or nerds!

Hmm...this might be more comfortable in the movies section...

But anyway - since when is being a geek a bad thing? (I assume we're not talking about the original meaning of the word - back in the day, a geek was someone who ate raw meat at carnival stunt-shows; not generally the most respected gig out there). Yes, I would call LOTR, Spider-Man, etc geek movies in the sense that they tend to be very popular with people who are bookwormy or do a lot of technology work, which is a generally accepted definition of "geek" these days. (My husband does software development in a company that's 95% genuine geeks, and the number of three-inch-thick fantasy novels they have lying around the workplace is not to be believed). If you think that's an insult, think of it this way - would you call, say, "The Scorpion King" a geek movie? Didn't think so. Would you call it even vaguely comparable in quality to LOTR and even Spider-Man? Didn't think so again. Outsiders might think that calling it a geek movie is an insult, but to those who really appreciate these things it can be a badge of honour [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img].

- Kalimac (Geek of Letters)

I consider myself to be a geek [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Aside from being a total LOTR freak, I'm also a hardcore Trekkie. I'm sure that's plenty to make me a geek! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] I love Elijah Wood's quote where he said that geeks are generally the most interesting people!
Arwen, Queen of Gondor

I'm pretty much a geek, but hey, who cares? In movies, the geeks get the pretty girls...
Too bad that's just the movies [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Hey. I'm true geek material... yay! I just can't be bothered to be anything else.
Happiness is a geeks life, though I have to say I haven't heard the term 'geek' in over a year.

I don't really like putting lots of people into one big group. That's why I don't consider myself a geek. However, I'm pretty confident of possessing certain geek properties!

I do not see how it is possible to type-cast us all as one thing, other than that we all love the film. We are all such different people, which you can tell from the diversity of posts on here. Because we are all so different, we cannot all be put in the same category. Some of us may be geeks, though that word in itself covers a wide range of different people.

generalizations...closed minded people...the us-them mentality.

it isn't fair at all, unless you trtuly associate yourself with something you are truly dedicated to. heck. it's their problem for nit understanding what we LotR fans really love... [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

haven't seen you around for quite a long time, Starbreeze. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Yes, I consider myself a geek. Aside from liking LOTR, I am very bookwormish and stuious. I also have the glasses-and-braces look going on. I think that in order for one to truly appreciate the Lord of the Rings and the like one must have geekish qualities.

Namarie

Nice to see you again Neferchoirwen, I was wondering when I would see someone I knew.
[img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with being a geek - it is often those classed as geeks that do well in life.

<---GEEK

I partied too much, and they took away my geek badge.

Honestly, who cares?

I am not a geek. I am a Tolkienite. I come from a family of Tolkienites. Do you want proof? My brother's middle name is Curufin. My dog's name is Sauron. My sister's first name is (go figure) Galadriel. I am not even going to bring up the fact that I also come from a family of Trekkies and consider myself a Trekkie.

Geek? Nah... just a little... eccentric and overly interested in certain fandoms. Although, LotR is probably the best. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Dammit, why couldn't I have been called Aragorn or something...?

I'm envious, Cúdae.

But, I consider pretty much any regular in these forums (including myself) a geek. But, hey, it's better than being a

<<<<< WARNING: STEREOTYPE ALERT!! >>>>>

stupid jock or something.

Cheers [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[ November 17, 2002: Message edited by: Manwe Sulimo ]

i am a geek and darn proud of it. let them call us geeks! what are they-the alleged not-geeks-watching? typical hollywood slop? good for them. if LOTR is a geek movie, then that paper has just affirmed that geeks have *exceptionally* good taste. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
so they also put HP in the same ship with LOTR? theres asking for trouble. mayve i'm just being extremist, but my theory is that when good ol' harry blundered onto the scene with its movie, and then LOTR followed, ingorant people put them in the same boat because there first impression of HP was "juvenile fantasy," so thus they made the same judgement on LOTR. does anyone agree? maybe is should start a thread...

Keep being envious, my real first name is Aranrúth (wonderful, I'm named after a sword), my youngest sister's name is Aredhel, my cousin's middle name is Thingol and my other cousin's first name is Aragorn. Oh no, people don't think my family's wierd or anything...

Some definitions of 'geek'

this gives a variety of very different definitions. What exactly do you think a geek is? Is a geek diferent then a nerd?
Me too! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

That's so funny! Just last week I bit off the head of a live....

[[[This portion of the post has been censored by the SPCA. Have a nice day.]]]

....isn't that weird?

Cudae, are you serious?? That's so cool!!! Why couldn't my mom have named me Eowyn, or something? Dang, some people have all the luck...

Me? A geek? Of all the--well, yeah, I am. Always been. Even before I really got into LotR. Then I was a ReBoot geek. (Please please please don't ask...) I'm a real bookworm, not particularly studious but occasionally one-track-minded. "Hey, guess how long it is till TT?" "SHUT UP!!!" "No, thirty-one days." "SHUT UP!!!" "And two hours..." "SHUT UP!!!" "...and forty-one minutes." "Eru, why do you test us so?"

~*~Orual~*~

Well, I hadn't thought about it before, but all of my friends are geeks, nerds, and so on and so forth. Dreamers with our heads in the clouds. My boyfriend is a Final Fantasy addict and now he's on to LotR (besides, he even looks geeky... don't tell him I said that). My best friend is a Tolkienite and he just "disclosed" that he's a Trekkie as well. In fact..... ok, fine, all of my friends are Tolkienites or not-yet-Tolkienites with great potential. Like friends, like me? I guess I'm a geek too.
I just dislike how it's classed as a crime to be a geek. I had to reassure my best friend that it's not a crime to be a Trekkie- that I really don't care, and that at least he has something he feels strongly about.
Look at it this way: would you rather be obsessed with history and the deeds of good against evil, or your makeup or cars?
Go geeks! We rock and we ought to know it!
------------
If you're having problems with being a geek, really, I think you're cool anyhow. When I first got to highschool, I saw all these people who I thought were freaks and weirdos and I'd never hang out with.... now we're inseperable. The outcasts are oucasts for a reason: we're interesting where society is dull. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] I think we win.

what do you say when confronted by someone callign you a geek?

coolness runs in your family Cudae! Pretty soon, my family'll sound like yours! --->but for now, the dogs will sound like Hobbits...

Giving it more thought, I wouldn't mind it at all if I were called a geek...Whenever I talk Tolkien to my friends, all they react with the whole thing is "didn't have anything else to do?"--->which implies that they think that Tolkien is a geek. But hey, given that fact, Tolkien's a genius...and so are we...

At least its something that we identitfy ourselves with, as Middle Earth exists in our hearts!

Wow Cudae I'm so jealous! I wish I'd been called somthing like that! some people have all the luck
anyway I still think its unfair that people are generalised into a certain 'group' just cuz they liked something that other people didn't

I guess it's the same thing about Geeks and Goths: both not accepted, both don't want to be put in a group with others, for all want to be unique.

geeks, or nerds, are stereotypically those nuclear physics students with compasses in their shirt pockets, and maths text books for a bit of light reading. if u match up to this u are a geek.

harry potter fans, or even lotr fans, are not geeks. they are 'children of fantasy'.

or i am, at least.

Maths? Physics? You have to like maths and physics to be a geek? Count me out, can not stand maths or physics, thank the Lord we don't have to do an hour of maths a day anymore.

I've been a geek my whole life. I hated it in high school, but now I love that I am. I think that geeks are some of the mosting interesting people.
I love Tolkien, Fantasy, Comic Books, Video Games, but I also love history and life in general.
I think that "geeks" are the people who are most in tune with themselves because they are not embarrassed to share the things they love with the world. It's great to love things and not worry about being embarrassed about it!

This is the wonderful thing about Tolkienites who are proud of their supposed geek-ness: They don't think that it is incredibly strange to be named after Thingol's sword. In fact, they think it's kind of cool. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Yet another great thing about Tolkienites (and you tried and true Trekkies!): You accept people whether they are preppy book worms or whether they are goths with $52 in library fines due(that would me...no comment). And to shower more compliments on the so-called "geeks:" Many people can claim to be working for the very same "geek" that they insulted in high school.

And, yes, of course I'm serious about my name and the names in my family. Not a day goes by when I do not have to repeat myself and spell it. Conversations go like this: "What's your name?" "Aranrúth." "Aran--what?"
You lucky people with normal names. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

the defination of geek(according to the oxford dictionary is " a boring and unattractive social misfit, a degenerate."

My dog's full name is Tansy Baggins, my cat's name is Pippin, and (if only this had come to be...) I found the list of names my parents had considered naming me, and Arwen was high on the list. *sigh* Instead I got stuck with a normal name. Granted, nobody can spell it properly, but it's heard a lot anyhow.

That's how my name is, too. It's a normal name, but has different spellings, so I'm always having to tell people how to spell it anyways. Wish I had a Tolkien name. That would be cool!
Arwen, which, unfortunatly, isn't my real name

I don't consider myself a geek, even though most others do. We just have a hobby. I could be a teenage rebel, doing drugs, getting drunk and vandilising but instead I am at home doing something that I love and that interests me no matter what others think, reading LoTR watching LotR, etc.
Its just opinion. I think we're lucky. Some people are addicted to drugs, We're addicted to Tolkien. Much healthier in my opinion... [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Oh, yes indeed!! Maybe that's what I ought to tell people when they start looking at me oddly for my addiction....
Arwen

The only thing we have in common is that we all love Tolkien, so I wouldn't know about the rest of you, but I'm a total geek. I've been entitled 'nerd of the year' by the school paper. They didn't really want to have a nerd of the year, because their ignorant editor thought it'd be too offensive, but I talked them into letting me be the nerd of the year. For some reason I've never had worse grades at a test than *tries to remeber how grades are in the US* B. I think that's it. In Norway it's 5 out of 6. And I don't even know why, I just get good grades. But there's four other Tolkien fans at my school, my best friend who's a lot like me, a guy who's kinda nerdy but not as bad as me, and two girls who are smart, but not at all nerds or geeks.
By the way, I think my signature says it all, but in case you didn't understand: I'm proud of being a GEEK! I know for certain that I'll end up with a better job than pretty much all of the 'cool' people in my class.

[ November 19, 2002: Message edited by: vanwalossien ]

With the people I know, LOTR seems to have blurred all of the lines. A couple of my buds are sports jocks and they love it, these three guys in my marketing class are extreme geeks and they love it, and these two girls at work are ditzy cheerleaders and they love it.
I'm not sure if I'm a true geek or not. The other geeks think I'm a geek, but the jocks think I'm a jock, and the goof-off slackers think I'm a goof-off slacker, and ect. I have a wide variety of interests and basically just become whatever the situation calls for.
But, I have to admit, I probably enjoy my time with the geeks the most, which makes me a geek at heart. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

And here I come with a stupid name like Wesley...
Hey, phantom, you're a tPhotO-fan? (That's my oldest nick you got there...)

Yeah, I am!!
The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite musical work ever!! That's just part of how I got that nick-name though. For the full story check out the nick-name thread http://forum.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin...c&f=2&t=000019
I think I'm on page seven.

Well, it's not exactly how I got my nickname back then, but it's part of it. I just called myself Phantom, and I think it's the greatest Musical ever. By the way, did you read the book. I read it in dutch, and sometimes I still sign an e-mail with:
het Sp. v.d. O.

Dúnethalath and Phantom, I love Phantom of the Opera too, but I feel this conversation might be better carried out by private message. Just a friendly tip. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]