ESSAY: Copper Trophy - Nerds, Hotties, & Leagues

[evelynvaughn01]

Television Without Pity posted a photo list of the top 10 best "Nerd Loves Hottie" movies, inspired by the upcoming movie with the annoying title: She's Out of My League.

With the exception of Wall-E, and the marginal exception of Say Anything *, these movies feature high-school characters. I Love You Beth Cooper. Some Kind of Wonderful. All of

Comments

[eolivet]

I don't know who wrote all of TWP's nerd/hottie movies, but I'd wager almost anything it was a man (or men). When I was first discovering BBT, I had this fear that because it was written by men, that Leonard would be the more "relatable" character because he was "less nerdy." And that this "gaze," if you will, would extend to the viewer -- so there would always be this block to any idea of a S/P romance because viewers/men would see the "geekier" guy getting the "hottie" over the more "normal" guy as "unrealistic." They relate more to Leonard, because they see geekiness in themselves, but they're not geeky like Sheldon, so Leonard getting the "hottie" is perfectly normal and fine, because it's an extension of themselves (read: "I could get a hot girl like Penny, but that nerdy guy totally couldn't!")

And there's no denying BBT has attracted male viewers, and that's helped make it a hit. The key word is helped, because its main audience is women, and the "smart is sexy" trope is not exactly breaking news, and for BBT to fail to realize that...talk about not knowing their audience. :x

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but your essay just made me remember that old issue, and how it's apparently not going away anytime soon. ;p

[evelynvaughn01]

Hey, tangent away eolivet! I sometimes want to get in someone's face and scream, "If this is really about Nerd Empowerment, let Sheldon get the girl!" But even if that didn't happen, Leonard getting the girl has a chauvinistic subtext that's all kinds of disturbing.

I would love to see a breakdown of male to female viewers of TBBT!

[awmperry]

Agreed - once upon a time BBT was about geeks happily being geeks; now it's about (if I've got the distinction right) dorks laughing at the true geek.

Never mind that entirety of technological society owes its existence to geeks - if drinking and bonking isn't the be-all and end-allof someone's existence, they must be geeks deserving of ridicule. If they spend half an hour on an intellectual quandary rather than drinking (and just to be able to have sex) they must be "pathetic" (Raj, the cricket episode).

Yeah, I'm starting to get quite annoyed by the message BBT is sending out too. Come on, Prady and Lorre - bring the geekdom back!

[raincitygirl]

I think the show goes back and forth on the joys of being "pathetic". Sometimes it's the dorks laughing at the true geeks (good way of putting it) and other times it's the geeks thinking of themselves as pathetic. But they're having a lot of fun in spite of how allegedly pathetic it is to spend all evening chasing down a rogue cricket. Certainly more fun than the "cool" people who are busy vomiting up huge quantities of alcohol. I mean, Raj, Howard and Sheldon won't end up with a massive hangover as a result of their cricket activities. And in that particular instance the show is definitely laughing AT Penny and Leonard, despite how much "cooler" their evening is than the guys'.

[wishingcandles]

(This may be a bit late).

I definitely think Leonard is the more "relatable" character among men. I've had my boyfriend say on numerous occasions that things Leonard does (whether alone, with Penny, with his friends, etc) are things he does himself, and with friends etc. He sees Leonard trying to be less nerdy and making fun of his friends just to impress the girl, as something normal for guys and he thinks Leonard totally deserves Penny. He really likes Leonard's character and it's really starting to make me re-think his character, lol. :/