I have chosen “the nerd,” or as Toby Radloff from AMERICAN SPLENDOR would say, the “neurd.”

 

 

            Nerds across the board in the media hardly ever vary from the stereotypical pocket protected, four-eyed, high-water panted geek. For example:

 

Paul Pfeiffer (Wonder Years)

 

Steve Urkel (Family Matters)

 

“Revenge of the Nerds”

 

Toby Radloff (American Splendor)

 

Clark Kent (Superman)

 

Random kid

 

            Like Harvey Pekar argues in AMERICAN SPLENDOR, even though REVENGE OF THE NERDS was in the name of nerd liberation, the actor who played the “neurds” are Hollywood actor living it up in their huge houses. They were not REAL nerds. Our society seems to need the “nerd” to as a way to greaten the dichotomy between the “cool” and “not cool”. The real Toby Radloff appeared on MTV as a “genuine neurd,” but the nation was laughing at him and felt better about herself because she wasn’t as pathetic as Toby.

            On the contrary, sometimes the “nerd” transforms into the hero, such as with Clark Kent. But, that that puts into question, “Was he ever really a nerd?” The nerd is a part of our society, but within our society we have created yet another “other” in the “nerd” as a way to temporarily stifle insecurities.

            The name “nerd” has become, over the last few years, a moniker to be proud of with rise of computer technology. Here in the Twin Cities we even have a prosperous computer fix-it company called the Geek Squad. But have nerds really evolved? What happened to the Old School nerds? What it all comes down to is this: Are you a nerd?