Disclaimer - I thought long and hard about this post, wanting to do it last night, but deciding to sleep on it and see if it was still a good idea this morning. I still feel the same, that I want to explain something, but some of my points seem like people may take it as a direct attack against them. I'm not singling any specific person out, but rather talking about the whole of my twitter, facebook and other Internet sites i read about this show. I'm also not going to say the name of the show, but you probably know exactly what it is based on the content.
So last night my feeds blow up with links and articles about a promo for a popular show airing soon. Nearly all the people posting had some measure of hate about this, and while I'm not saying that they're wrong, I'm saying that they're probably going about it the wrong way. Please hear me through before yelling at me. In this promo some attractive girls go into a 'geek stronghold' and everyone goes silent, staring at them in fear and awe. This seems to be what everyone is so incensed about. I see their anger and wonder why they are so hateful about this.
Break for backstory, sorry. I grew up around comics and have been to many a comic book store in my life, and this has never happened to me. Ever. With the exception of one incident, the stores I've been in have treated me as a person. No girls, no guys, just comic book loving people. But my experiences haven't been every one's. A good friend of mine went to a few stores in the past and according to her, what happened in the promo, did actually happen. (maybe I'm just not pretty. j/k) So I completely understand why they did what they did here. It's mean and perpetuates a stereotype that needs to die, but I understand.
The first point people seem to be missing, is that this show exists to make money. You can polish up your intentions as good as you want, but this is a show on a major network, they sink or swim on ratings and revenue. Catering to just one demographic isn't so smart. Some jokes we geeks find hurtful and mean, are ones other people find hilarious. For every good piece of actual nerd dialogue, they have to write jokes other demographics would find funny in this world they created. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying I understand.
Second point. With all your posts, and reposts and hateful words on why this show sucks and needs to die, you're playing into the first point. Giving them free advertising and spreading the hate around.
Third point. Again, it seems everything goes back to the first point. The writers write these things to make money. They aren't writing the jokes they want to hear, they're writing the jokes they think people want to hear.
I think maybe, just maybe, instead of spouting off hate for this show that exists to make money for people, you should try this approach.
"I'm not a fan of this show, but you should definitely check X show out instead, it's amazing!"
Here's a list of channels with shows on youtube I think people should definitely see.
First up on the list is Geek & Sundry.
Next we have Rhett & Link
Another great one to check out is The Warp Zone.
Finally(for now) we have Loading Ready Run.
The thing I've noticed with all this channels and videos, is that they don't seem to be writing to profit. To me, they seem to be writing the jokes that they want to hear, the things they find funny, and posting them online so that other people might find them funny too. That makes them amazing in my book and something to be spread more than some silly TV show. In the comments below, share your favorite 'geeky' shows. If you don't have any, make your own. Write the shows you want to see and send them in, I love expanding my watch list.
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