Well, here comes the backlash

Well, here comes the backlash

Feb 11

I’ve been suspicious for awhile now that things were too good in nerd land. The internet had made it possible for genre-inclined individuals to collect their heart’s desires with unprecedented ease and film and television was awash in geeks-growed-up. Kevin Smith continues to make movies filled with swears and comic references and JJ Abrahms is king. Even older-school heavy-weights like Michael Bay are rockin’ socks with Saturday morning awesomeness in full 3D, transforming glory.

A math major who did ILM special effects if our hero Hiro on Heroes!

So, sooner or later the straights would have to make some noise. And as proof, I’d like to draw your attention to this USA Today article by Ryan Pearson.

Let’s just say it starts with an accurate, but backhanded headhline – “Alba dazzles nerds at tech Oscars” – and goes from there.

At the first Academy Award presentations of the year, 20 computer geeks graciously accepted honors for their work on particle flow simulation technology — stuff that makes water scenes in the movies look more realistic.

Rephrasing it as “stuff” is a nice, average-joe, we’re-not-like-them-big-brains, dumbing down.

the Academy of Motion Picture Arts kept its Scientific and Technical Awards dinner Saturday night as charmingly unglamorous as ever. A magician provided the pre-meal entertainment, Jessica Alba showed up to present the awards — and be gawked at — and nerddom was held up as something to celebrate.

Well because it is – it is the Science and Technology portion of the awards after all. And the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science
has been holding these nerds up as something to celebrate since 1930. That’s year three for those of you counting.

And the Academy has never considered them nerds, rather “artisans whose contributions have made it possible for an industry known as ‘The Movies’ to exist.”

Exactly, because without these guys, you don’t have the Oscars, you have the Tony awards.

Pearson’s piece them quickly falls apart into one part “isn’t great the writer’s strike is coming to an end?” and one part attendees being, well… nerds. But there’s nothing wrong with that, and certainly isn’t deserving of Pearson’s scorn.

You can bet your collection of U.S. 1 comics that if Pearson was referring to the Best Makeup nominees as pansies and fags, he’d be hanging from the Y in the Hollywood sign before sunset. And yet the guys who keep the film cranking and Optimus Prime in your face are fair game.

You heard it here first – the backlash is coming.