Stephanie Pakrul, or StephTheGeek, a blogger.

Geek chic refers to the popularity of people who are considered to be geeks, and the subversion and embracing of normally unpopular characteristics such as glasses and interests like comic books and computer games. See also Geek Chic, a book that covers the history of geek chic. Download high resolution version (480x640, 75 KB)Image supplied by StephTheGeek for inclusion on her article. ... Download high resolution version (480x640, 75 KB)Image supplied by StephTheGeek for inclusion on her article. ... Stephanie Pakrul better known as StephTheGeek, in a BSoD T shirt Stephanie Pakrul (born September 9, 1982) is better known on the internet as StephTheGeek. ... A geek is a person who is fascinated, perhaps obsessively, by technology and imagination. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Stephanie Pakrul, or StephTheGeek, a blogger. ...

Revisionism

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Much of the revisionist image of geeks started in the mid-to-late 1990s and originated mostly with Hollywood celebrities, genre hipsters, and advertising spinwizards. However, this revisionism does not correct the negative stereotypes associated with geeks. Nor does it necessarily seriously address the established positive aspects, such as high intelligence or special talents. It often ignores the notion that above average intelligence or technical aptitude is a traditional prerequisite. Many of the highly popularized geek interests are more pop culture or entertainment oriented as opposed to science or technical disciplines where intelligence and serious commitment is required. Most importantly, it ignores the issue concerning the social ineptidude, alienation or loneliness experienced by many considered to be geeks. Instead, geek chic involves the affectation of selected, stereotypical geek traits, typically for the purpose of contriving a "fashionably quirky" or eccentric persona. Image File history File links Circle-question. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... ... A hipster is a person who derives their identity largely through their association with a subculture which has been deemed hip, a word taken from African American Vernacular English (AAVE). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ... In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being normal. ... A persona is a social role, or a character played by an actor. ...

Though the origins of geek chic cannot be pinpointed to one year, 1994 was a watershed year for this trend. The following geek chic milestones can be dated to 1994:

• Weezer releases their self-titled debut
• Beck releases his major label debut Mellow Gold
• Quentin Tarantino's film "Pulp Fiction" wins the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival
• Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke appear in "Reality Bites"
• "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" debuts on the Cartoon Network.
• Kevin Smith's "Clerks" creates a buzz at the Sundance Film Festival

Weezer is a rock band from Los Angeles, California. ... Beck Hansen (born Bek David Campbell, July 8, 1970) is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, known by his simple stage name of Beck. ... Mellow Gold is Becks major label debut, and despite previous low-fi recordings, is considered his first official album. ... Quentin Tarantino in Reservoir Dogs Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, actor, and Oscar-winning screenwriter. ... This article contains speculation and may try to argue its points. ... Winona Ryder (born Winona Laura Horowitz on October 29, 1971) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award winning American actress. ... Ethan Hawke at press conference for Before Sunrise at the 1995 Berlinale. ... Reality Bites is a 1994 film written by Helen Childress and featuring the directorial debut of Ben Stiller. ... Space Ghost Coast to Coast (often abbreviated as SGC2C) is an animated spoof talk show on the cable TV channel Cartoon Network in the United States, Bravo (and its +1) in the UK, and Teletoon in Canada. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Clerks. ... The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival in the United States, and ranks alongside the Cannes, Moscow, Venice, Berlin, and Toronto festivals as one of the most prestigious in the world. ...

Examples

Celebrities as examples of the visual geek chic 'look'

• Adam Brody
• Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman
• Alex Albrecht
• Andrew Fletcher (musician) from Depeche Mode
• David Byrne
• David Cross
• David Tennant
• Devo
• Elvis Costello
• Janeane Garofalo
• Jarvis Cocker
• Jason Schwartzman
• John Flansburgh and John Linnell
• John Hodgman
• Jonathan Coulton
• Joss Whedon
• Kevin Rose
• Kevin Smith
• Kraftwerk
• Lisa Loeb
• Omar Rodriguez Lopez
• Rivers Cuomo
• Sarah Vowell
• Simon Amstell
• Stephen Colbert
• Tina Fey
• Trey Parker and Matt Stone
• Wes Anderson
• Drew Carey
• "Weird Al" Yankovic

Adam Jared Brody (born December 15, 1979) is an American actor. ... Adam Savage Adam Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American television co-host on the program MythBusters on the Discovery Channel. ... Jamie Hyneman, with his trademark walrus moustache and dark beret Jamie Hyneman (born 1956) is an American visual effects expert, best known for being the co-host of the television series MythBusters on the Discovery Channel. ... Alex Albrecht, circa 2006 Alexander J. Albrecht (born August 14, 1976 in Vienna, Virginia) is an American television personality who resides in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. ... Andrew John Fletcher (known as Fletch) , was born on 8 July 1961 in Nottingham, England. ... Depeche Mode are a highly influential English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. ... David Byrne can refer to: David Byrne, Irish politician and former European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection David Byrne, musician and former Talking Heads frontman This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an Emmy-winning American actor, writer and comedian. ... David Tennant, the stage name of David McDonald, (born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor from Bathgate in West Lothian best known as the tenth actor to portray the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who. ... Devo (pronounced DEE-vo or dee-VO, often spelled DEVO or DEV-O) is an American Rock group formed in Akron, Ohio in 1972. ... Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954, in London), better known by his stage name, Elvis Costello, is an English musician, singer, and songwriter of Irish ancestry. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963, in Sheffield, England) is an English pop musician, best known for fronting the band Pulp. ... Jason Francesco Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor. ... John Flansburgh (b. ... A promotional photograph from the late 1990s. ... John Hodgman John Kellogg Hodgman[1] (born June 1971) is an American author and humorist whose work has been published in the The Paris Review, The New York Times Magazine, and McSweeneys Quarterly Concern. ... Jonathan Coulton is an esoteric folk rock singer. ... Joss Hill Whedon (born Joseph Hill Whedon on June 23, 1964 in New York) is an American writer, director, executive producer, and creator of the well-known television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. ... Robert Kevin Rose (born February 21, 1977 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; better known as Kevin Rose, also known as the dark tipper for giving hacking advice, etc) is best known for founding the social-bookmarking site Digg and as former co-host of the TechTV show The Screen Savers... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Kraftwerk (pronounced [], German for power station) is a German musical group which has made significant contributions to the development of experimental and electronic music. ... Lisa Anne Loeb (born 11 March 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and reality television star. ... Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Omar Alfredo Rodriguez-Lopez (born September 1, 1975 in Bayamón, Puerto Rico) is the lead guitarist and composer for the progressive rock group The Mars Volta. ... Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo (born June 13, 1970), is a singer, songwriter and guitarist. ... Sarah Vowell Sarah Vowell (born December 27, 1969) is an American author, journalist, and regular contributor to the radio program This American Life on Public Radio International. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Stephen Tyrone Colbert (IPA: )(born May 13, 1964) is a four-time Emmy Award-winning American comedian, actor, and writer, known for his satirical style and deadpan comedic delivery. ... Elizabeth Stamatina Tina Fey (born May 18, 1970) is an American writer, comedian and actress. ... Trey Parker Randolph Severn Trey Parker III (born October 19, 1969 in Conifer, Colorado) is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning American animator, screenwriter, film director, voice actor, actor and musician. ... Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an Emmy-winning American animator, film director, screenwriter, actor and voice actor. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA) is an American actor and comedian recognizable by his crew cut and black-rimmed glasses. ... Alfred Matthew Weird Al Yankovic (IPA pronunciation: ) (born October 23, 1959) is an American musician, satirist, parodist, accordionist, and television producer. ...

Fictional characters as examples of geek chic

• Lucca (Chrono Trigger)
• Daria Morgendorffer in Daria
• Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan) in American Pie
• The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) in Doctor Who [1]
• Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz) in "Numb3rs"
• Seth Cohen in "The OC"
• Mark Cohen in "Rent"

Lucca is a playable character in Squaresofts Chrono Trigger. ... Daria Morgendorffer as she appears in the shows opening sequence Daria Morgendorffer is a fictional animated character from MTVs animated series Beavis and Butt-Head and Daria. ... Daria was an American animated television series, created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn, and was a spin-off of Beavis and Butt-head. ... Alyson Hannigan Allison Lee Hannigan (born March 24, 1974) is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing Willow Rosenberg on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as for portraying quirky characters in the American Pie film series and the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. ... American Pie is a 1999 teen comedy film directed by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz and written by Adam Herz. ... The Tenth Doctor is the name given to the tenth and current incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... David Tennant, the stage name of David McDonald, (born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor from Bathgate in West Lothian best known as the tenth actor to portray the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who. ... This article is becoming very long. ... David Krumholtz in NUMB3RS David Krumholtz (born May 15, 1978 in Queens, New York) is an American actor who currently stars in the CBS television show NUMB3RS. David Krumholtz began his acting career at the age of 13 when he followed his friends to an open audition for the Broadway... NUMB3RS (Numbers) is an American television show that follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes (Rob Morrow) and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz), who develops formulae to predict the actions of various criminals. ... Seth Ezekiel Cohen is a fictional character on FOX series The O.C. He is played by Adam Brody. ... The O.C. ( stands for Orange County) is an American television drama/soap opera program broadcast on the Fox Network. ... Rent can refer to: Renting, a system of payment for the temporary use of something owned by someone else. ...

Other references to geek chic

• The Huey Lewis And The News song "It's Hip To Be Square"
• The WB show Beauty and the Geek
• The American Hi-Fi song "The Geeks Get The Girl"
• The Scripps National Spelling Bee
• The Swingline stapler from Office Space
• The NBC show Freaks and Geeks
• The mc chris song "Omc"
• The "Weird" Al Yankovic song "White & Nerdy"

Huey Lewis & the News are a popular rock band from the 1980s. ... The WB Television Network, casually referred to as The WB, or sometimes as The Frog (referring to the networks former mascot, the animated character Michigan J. Frog), is a television network in the United States, founded as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ... Beauty and the Geek is a reality television show, first aired by The WB on June 2, 2005. ... American Hi-Fi is a pop punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. ... The Scripps National Spelling Bee (formerly known as the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and commonly referred to simply as the national spelling bee) is a highly competitive annual spelling bee run on a non-profit basis by The E. W. Scripps Company, held at the Grand Hyatt Washington hotel... Swingline is a brand of the American Clip Company (ACCO) that specializes in manufacturing staplers and hole punchers and is headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois. ... Office Space is a 1999 comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. ... It has been suggested that NBC, NBC Radio City Studios, NBC Studios be merged into this article or section. ... Freaks and Geeks was an American television series, created by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow, that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 TV season. ... . The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions. ... Alfred Matthew Weird Al Yankovic (IPA pronunciation: ) (born October 23, 1959) is an American musician, satirist, parodist, accordionist, and television producer. ... White & Nerdy is the second single from Weird Al Yankovics album Straight Outta Lynwood, which was released on September 26, 2006. ...

See also

• Akiba-kei

Akiba-kei are people who frequent Akihabara in Tokyo where many kinds of electronics can be bought. ...

External links

• "Geek Chic", USA Today, October 22, 2003
• "Suddenly, It's Hip to be Square", Associated Press, July 18, 2005
• Geek Culture: The 3rd Counter-Culture