Comic-book fans have come to embrace a word that once filled them with irritation. The term is “geek” and it applies to many types of people, not just comic fans.
See, not all geeks have the same interests. Not every comic fan is a fan of science fiction, gaming and studying math and science. Not every “fanboy” — a term specifically used for comic-book aficionados — is capable of telling you the names of background characters in Star Wars movies, for example.
Geeks now come in all shapes and sizes. You can spot them because of their almost-encyclopedic knowledge of a specific topic and associated fields. And they’re everywhere, even among celebrities.
One celebrated celebrigeek is Natalie Portman, who skipped out on the premiere of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” in which she starred as Queen Amidala, to study for her finals. Portman has gone on to gain acclaim not just for her acting, but also for her intellectual acumen. She’s been published in two scientific journals, assisted Alan Dershowitz and studied four languages.
Another geek celeb is Vin Diesel. While the name conjures images of a heavily muscled and tattooed butt-kicker from action flicks, VinnieD has been playing Dungeons & Dragons for more than 20 years. If that’s not geek enough for you, one of his tattoos is of his D&D character’s name.
That, my friends, is a shining example of geekdom.
Diesel, real name Mark Vincent, even created a gaming company because he didn’t like the movie-based video games that were hitting the market.
Some folks would be even more stunned to learn that a former porn star is a member of MENSA. She once performed at Carnegie Hall as a concert pianist and is known as a strong player in Unreal Tournaments. UT competitions are competitions in a first person shooter video game. Obviously, geekdom is widespread.
The truth is, geek is now chic, and the numbers continue to rise.
So I’ll occasionally include GEEK SPEAK updates in my column. The updates will include terms, tips and tidbits of information meant bring you up to date on the state of geekdom.
Shawn Munguia is a graphic and layout designer for the Valley Morning Star. He also maintains a blog about cartoons and comics at http://toontalk.freedomblogging.com/. Munguia can be reached at 956-421-9870 or you can e-mail him at shawnm@valleystar.com.
