The Big Picture: With Great Power

[themilo504]

I?m curious how geek culture(or parts of it anyway) became so sexist, I don?t believe it?s because geeks always got rejected by girls, even if that is true.

On the other hand I?m asexual(or at least I think I am, the only girl around my age I know is my sister so it?s hard to guess) so I don?t know a lot about this human emotion you call love.

So i would like if you do a episode on that next week.

I do like video games but not books, plus I?m not the biggest fan of super mario bros 3, I?m more of a super Mario world and yoshi island guy.

 

[castlewise]

Meh, I kind of stopped watching two thirds of the way through.

I really don't care what you kids do anymore.

To me this is touches on the issue. Too many kids in the geek culture, and because of the anonymity offered by forums, multiplayer, etc... kids are given the same status as adults. Its not that I don't like kids. I remember being one myself. But when you are young everything is magnified and the social boundaries are not so well laid out. Oftentimes you won't understand how hurtful something is, or you will be so invested in whatever you are talking about that it will seem worth it. I get it. I remember saying/doing things that I am not proud of. And then you grow up. You get a better, more nuanced world view, you empathize better, and you learn that opinions are opinions and there are lots of shades of grey. Then you log into a forum where your choices are either to one, engage with kids as equals or, two, shake your head, stop reading, and move on. Guess which I do. I mean, what can you do if someone says something stupid/hurtful in a forum. You have no authority to tell them to stop. You can't try to construct a logical argument because it just validates their point of view. Much of the time its just trolling and any response at all just feeds the troll. So you don't engage and the forums are dominated by, well, kids. (As a side note, by kid I don't necessarily mean young. I've known some very thoughtful and mature young people and some very immature older ones. However there is a bit of a pattern. I know very few adults, for example, who remember their middle school years fondly.)

Edit: This post is a great example. When I was young I would have been terribly offended if an adult had said this kind of stuff to me. I may have listened if it was said by someone I respected/cared about. But this is just a random forum. This post isn't going to convince anyone to be a better person and will most likely just make a few people angry. So why write it? I'm leaving it up on a whim, but the right thing to do would be to delete it.

TLDR: The anonymity and equalization offered by forums and multiplayer mean that mature/thoughtful individuals have to deal with immature ones on an equal footing. That particular battle is hard to win and often isn't worth fighting.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Also ain't the video itself is kind of a hypocrite coming from Bob? No don't quote me on this but I know one of the reasons why people don't like Bob is his attitude toward stuff and for him to say that the nerd culture attitude should be more mature seen hypocritical.

I was sorta thinking the same thing. The Big Picture in general is his own little soapbox show, so it's a bit weird for Bob of all people to come out with this "stop being jerks" message.

I know it's unfair to hold old statements above someone's head, but wasn't he the one saying he hated Scream because it made his movie geek credibility obsolete?

Anyway, maybe he meant himself as much as everyone else with this video.

 

[Irridium]

I think a lot of it has to do with all that oppressed anger towards the "mainstream". You know, the feeling of "we were put through hell for what we liked, you weren't, therefore you aren't a real fan and you should gtfo" mentality. You'd think that being put through hell would mean you would want a world where that didn't happen, where people didn't have to go through hell, but as someone who's been on both sides (school wasn't totally awesome for me, and I've done a few things I'm not proud of. I hate myself for it) it really needs to stop.

Spoiler: Some pictures, to try and help things

Granted they only have to deal with girl gamers, but I feel the point is put across well enough. Anyone can enjoy "geek" stuff. Being given hell for what you like doesn't make you more of a geek than anyone else. Stop being a complete asshole to certain people.

You make it seem like encouraging people to not act like complete assholes to each other is a bad thing.

would bob have used wounded knee as an example without bioshock infinite?

I'd say the bigger question is would people know what he was talking about if he used Wounded Knee without Bioshock Infinite.

 

[1337mokro]

The reign of terror is at an end, no more shall the mainstream suppress the geeks. Now, a NEW reign of terror begins! OUR reign of terror! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Mobilize the 40K nerd's mechanized infantry! We shall tear down all that oppose us!

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Eh. Whilst I'm very much aware that these things are there, to be frank I wouldn't claim to be that deep in nerd culture and my general exposure is through this very site. I know we're not exactly perfect here, but the general impression that I get is that as this site's userbase tends to be fairly left-leaning as well as the site being well moderated, things like racism, sexism etc. are somewhat lessened here compared to say, 4chan.

Still, as I said, although I probably am nerdier than a large portion of the population, I don't associate as a nerd. The culture I tend to identify with is metal, which I'd say by its very nature is incapable of truly joining up with the mainstream. When elements of it (glam metal, nu-metal) do, they tend to be derided by the rest of metal. A genre of music that usually deals with negative emotions such as loneliness, rebellion, anger and alienation is never going to fit with the mainstream and remain sincere.

Frankly I'm not entirely convinced that nerd culture is quite at the point Bob is suggesting, but if it were I would expect something similar to happen. Nerd culture, much like metal culture, attracts weirdos (I mean that in the best possible way). The kind of people who became nerds are unlikely to become nerds if it were mainstream- They became nerds because the cool kids wouldn't accept them. They would have to go and find some other alternative scene, god knows what though. Maybe we'll see nerd culture diverge clean into, between 'mainstream-nerds' and 'nerd-nerds'. I doubt it really. I really wouldn't be surprised if the nerdiness of popular culture in the last ten or so years recedes.

 

[knight steel]

"There's no logical/reason for the oppressed to become the oppressors when they come into power"
I can think of one it called revenge!!!

Why should we play nice and become better when they didn't-how is being the new exploited market that now being used for people who originally hated us now prospering from us by tricking us into thinking they care a good thing?

If anything we should be using this opportunity to attack and ravage all the other cultures and people that bullied us by grinding them out of existence.

Meh but whatever anything you or me say on the matter is pointless if the culture is going to change it won't be because of my comments or your video's but instead just natural subconscious change that comes with the passing of time.

Captcha:good night and good luck

 

[shirkbot]

You guys are simply going to have to come to terms with the fact that mainstream now wants to exploit the everliving crap out of you and it wont stop until you as a consumer stop throwing money at them and stop watching big bang theory for example.

Until then, have fun being part of the collectivist conform that you didnt sign up to but now everyone tries to cater to you, hooray :U

I'm a deeply cynical individual, so I'm pretty much in line with this.

Personally I'm of the opinion that this acceptance is temporary. Geek culture is currently trendy/profitable, but I can never bring myself to believe it won't pass. To me, this is just the "Hair Metal" stage. We've come from the shadows into the limelight and we're rocking out in huge stadiums, but sooner or later we'll fall out of favor and then it's right back to where we started.

On a lighter note: I promise I'll do my best Bob. If we all promise together, maybe that will actually mean something.

 

[DrOswald]

Christ. This was pretty much a sociology class in 6 minutes. I hate those stupid terms like "cisgender" cause it just adds to the idea of difference. If people truly want a unified equal human species, we need to stop making up stupid meaningless terms like that.

But it isn't a meaningless term. It is in fact the exact opposite. It describes a person, similar to "male" or "female" (though unfortunately cis has taken on some negative connotations recently.) Getting rid of descriptor terms is not going to solve social problems. Eliminating descriptor terms is trying to eliminate prejudice by pretending that we are all the same. This will never work because it is not true and does not address the core problem.

We cannot eliminate prejudice by refusing to acknowledge the differences between individuals. We eliminate prejudice by acknowledging the difference between individuals and accepting the fact that different does not mean inferior.

 

[MB202]

...Didn't we already talk about this? In at least 2 Big Picture episodes before this?

 

[shirkbot]

snip

I'm telling you man, this is just Hair Metal all over again. This is how pop culture works.
Also: *High Five* Metal is rad.

 

[Falseprophet]

Maybe it's my myopic world view flaring up again but I don't see many racist geeks

myopic world view [http://www.xojane.com/issues/mad-back-cosplayer-chaka-cumberbatch].

 

[wisefatmatt]

I get and respect what you want geek culture to do, but it's going to be hard to do.

My main criticism is that you spent 6 minutes talking about how we need to change, and spent no time actually suggesting ways to improve the culture. It's one thing to realize we have an issue, it's another thing entirely to find ways to solve it. Hopefully the next time you make this kind of video you can spend some time talking about the solutions, not just the problem.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Meh. I have my beliefs that may or may not agree with other people's beliefs. I have a strong tendency toward acceptance of other people's lifestyles(you can slaughter all the goats you want as long as you don't get blood on my carpet), and if that isn't enough for some people, then I rescind my acceptance in their specific cases and they can go fuck themselves.

-me, some random white male(sadly lacking in the disposable income department though) who thinks that it don't matter if you're black or white.

 

[RedmistSM]

So it's fine if I just continue to not be mean to people because of what they are? I'm not sure what you're expecting of me. I don't remember being a geek because what I was into wasn't mainstream in Hollywood moviemaking, I remember being a geek because I liked books and was socially awkward after moving to a new place.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

snip

I'm telling you man, this is just Hair Metal all over again. This is how pop culture works.
Also: *High Five* Metal is rad.

*Metal Five*

Indeed. What's happening to geek culture is the same- pop culture taking the most widely appealing elements of a subculture and abusing it until it's dead.

That's not to say some good can't come from it (I still think Motley Crue are good. The Marvel films are fantastic), but there's lots of shit that comes from it too that only increases as it goes on.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

"Geek Culture" has always been an attempt to be mainstream and cool. That's why I'm a defiant nerd/dork. Just look at how many self-described "geeks" want to distance themselves from the "nerd" word.

Also, I grew up in the 80s and 90s, with what Bob calls the "Golden Age" of gaming. I'd disagree. The Golden age of gaming is upon us right now, or has been for the last decade or so. Aside from nostalgia, few people would give up today's games for the older ones.

 

[MattKirby]

Watching this movie made me think of MovieBob as a hipster and not a nerd.