A couple of weeks ago the NYTimes had an article about the San Diego Comic-Con. It’s title: We’re All Geeks Here. The article itself isn’t terribly offensive - in fact it does a pretty good job at being respectful and non-exploitative, but the mere fact that it appeared in the Times drives me crazy.

I can’t pinpoint the origins, but some time ago there was a decision made by whatever syndicate runs the media that the identity of the ‘geek’ had become marketable. There is an outsider allure and a kind of universal appeal to anyone whose ever passed over for lack of social grace. So you played with Star Wars action figures when you were a kid or you had a calculator wrist watch. I bet you might even spend some time playing video games or ‘hacking’ online.

What I find so offensive about the new Geek identity is its ability to alienate a true geek from his/her peer group. A true geek is the kind of kid you find in the mall at the gaming store playing Magic or perhaps D&D, with the greasy hair and the velvet cape. One that is so interested in HAM radio or building rockets that they will speak for ours on it. These are the kind of people who fall into a group of friends because they annoy the hell out of everyone else. They stand together, united behind the banner of geekdom.

But now its cool to be a geek. Go get your HAM radio operators license, show the rest of the kids on the block just how eccentric yet stunningly intelligent you are. Invite your friends over and join the local chapter. Soon enough you and your six buddies run the club and the socially inept ones feel so threatened they retreat to their basements paint their miniatures in blissful solitude.

I’m doing a poor job making my argument, but let me boil it down for you. Basically, I see the geek identity as a passing trend which is exploitative and isolating to the ones who truly earned the right to wear that badge. Being an outsider has become the cool thing to do which pushes the true outsiders even further out.