That's doesn't help the nerd thing. Getting lumped in with those!

i told them i thought the star trek movies were too much action.

i think that solidified that i wasn't a cool guy going to see star wars.

The Dude wrote:no, there's no acting out, you're not acting like you're one of the characters, any of that. completely different. you can be completely passive and not even participate after setting the lineup

Arguing over who is the 21st best RB in the NFL isn't nerdy? If you say so.

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

Houshphandzadeh wrote:

TenuredVulture wrote:Lining up to see Star Wars, even in costume, is not that nerdy.

yes, it totally is. you can assert a word doesn't have meaning, doesn't make you right

Yet going to a football game in a jersey and face paint isn't "nerdy" for some reason. (And I've never done either.)

Not to mention something like following Phish or the Dead around the country and being able to recite which songs they covered on June 3, 2002, in Canandaigua NY isn't "nerdy" either.

And hell yes to whoever compared it to extreme fantasy football participants.

It all depends on your particular point of view. I don't understand why people are mocked for enjoying some things to an extreme degree but not others. Luckily that's not as much of a problem as it used to be.

being "nerdy" hardly gets mocked anymore. everyone is down with Star Wars, Marvel, a million other things at this point. but that doesn't mean nerdy isn't a word that means something with particular connotations. the guys with their faces painted at the game don't get called "nerdy" but they're considered goofballs or whatever term you want to pick. no one sees them and says, "Ah, totally normal behavior." same with Deadheads. you're drawing a dichotomy like people who follow terrible bands around aren't mocked for it or at least noticed for their peculiarity. if anything, they're mocked a lot more (deservedly so (jk))

(I don't mean this to sound heated, btw, just talking semantics)

The Dude wrote:luke porks r2d2

awkward scene. it was like luke hadnt had sex in decades. super robotic.

stuck it right in his can

no lube?

Bucky wrote:tell him they're running the exact same movie tomorrow night

I think Stephan Pastis lurks here!!!!

The Dude wrote:no, there's no acting out, you're not acting like you're one of the characters, any of that. completely different. you can be completely passive and not even participate after setting the lineup

You are acting like you are a GM.

Not really. There's no acting

The Dude wrote:Not really. There's no acting

Sorry, you are pretending.

hey guys I know the Chewbacca double.

Houshphandzadeh wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

Houshphandzadeh wrote:

TenuredVulture wrote:Lining up to see Star Wars, even in costume, is not that nerdy.

yes, it totally is. you can assert a word doesn't have meaning, doesn't make you right

Yet going to a football game in a jersey and face paint isn't "nerdy" for some reason. (And I've never done either.)

Not to mention something like following Phish or the Dead around the country and being able to recite which songs they covered on June 3, 2002, in Canandaigua NY isn't "nerdy" either.

And hell yes to whoever compared it to extreme fantasy football participants.

It all depends on your particular point of view. I don't understand why people are mocked for enjoying some things to an extreme degree but not others. Luckily that's not as much of a problem as it used to be.

being "nerdy" hardly gets mocked anymore. everyone is down with Star Wars, Marvel, a million other things at this point. but that doesn't mean nerdy isn't a word that means something with particular connotations. the guys with their faces painted at the game don't get called "nerdy" but they're considered goofballs or whatever term you want to pick. no one sees them and says, "Ah, totally normal behavior." same with Deadheads. you're drawing a dichotomy like people who follow terrible bands around aren't mocked for it or at least noticed for their peculiarity. if anything, they're mocked a lot more (deservedly so (jk))

(I don't mean this to sound heated, btw, just talking semantics)

Since as you concede, mockery isn't really at issue any more, than what is it that distinguishes a "nerdy" obsession from a "goofy" one? What are those connotations? People have various passions--and some are really weird (bronies come to mind) some are obscure (people collect old calculators and other odds and ends) and some are pretty widespread (Star Wars, fantasy football, etc.)

Frankly, when it comes to Star Wars, while dressing up in costume is simply a way for people to enjoy themselves (and again, there are clear parallels to Rocky Horror here except Star Wars is more mainstream) buying toys and keeping them in their original box is weird. But I know people who do that with Barbie Christmas ornaments too, so again, nothing unique there. (Also, somewhere I do still have a Jimmy Rollins Bobblehead still in its box from what I think is the first BSG outing, and if one of you nerds wants it, I'll sell it to you for $250.)

I do think several important cultural shifts though have changed things a lot since the days of "Revenge of the Nerds". First, the fact that it turns out that Revenge of the nerds pretty much describes the economy of the late 20th/early 21st century not just with all the tech billionaires but also the way nerds took over wall street through various hedge fund strategies and now even sports with Moneyball and so forth. Now, some of this may have to do with the association between being adept at math is sometimes associated with lacking some social skills, but again, I don't think there's anything particular about Star Wars obsessiveness there.

Second, and related to the first, the internet makes it possible for those who have once obscure passions to find one another. Brony wouldn't be thing without the internet. Once a community forms, people in that community often start acting like nerds.

I'd also add the way in which people listen to music changes this as well. Much of what is considered "cool" among music fans today really involves a kind of obscurantism (and a fetish for increasingly narrow genres) one could associate with a nerdy obsession. I would assert that as "indie" music became a thing, the category nerd began to lose its discernible meaning and this isn't a coincidence.

people who post on a message board all day arguing over the definition of a nerd. time in a flat circle.

hey is this the star wars thread?

yes, are you a nerd

I picked Boba Fett first round in my fantasy bounty hunter league. Figures he'd go and fall in the goddamn Sarlacc pit week 3.

could reach 528 million globally for opening weekend. lololol.

disney bought the franchise for 4 billion. they are well on their way.

they're going to make up to 7 billion just off merch and licensing