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[personal profile] elise_rasha
 I am an admitted geek. I have told people when they ask fellow writers why they've chosen their respective genres that I was raised that way. My parents liked Star Wars and Star Trek. We watched the Superman movies, Battlestar Galactica, Clash of the Titans, and the Never-Ending Story. I almost mustn't forget Ghostbusters 1 and 2, Spaceballs, and the Alien series.

Those weren't the only shows and movies we watched, but these are the ones to have the biggest impact on my childhood and teen years.

Also, admittedly, I didn't know what a geek really was. I never identified myself as geek or nerd in high school. In addition to the above movies, we watched Revenge of the Nerds. I was particularly prone to loving science, which seemed to be a requisite for nerd status. I bought a few comic books, read a lot, but nothing that I deemed nerd-worthy.

Oh, how the times have changed.

Now there are movies out there where the creepy nerd dude chases after the hot chick and wears her down into saying yes. He ultimately becomes the love of her life. She realized she was wrong about him, blah blah blah. Or so the loud complaints go about romantic comedies and other such films. Again, most movies like that aren't my thing. If you give me a choice between something like 50 First Dates or Alien vs. Predator, AVP will win every time. I may not be fond of the storytelling, what little bit there is of that, but it has everything I like in terms of science-fiction.

So why like The Big Bang Theory? It's not really science-fiction nor is it really fantasy. It's about four guys with the nerd/geek stereotype - socially awkward, inappropriate around women an awful lot - and an attractive young, blonde woman who moves across the hall from the two who are roommates. She's the exact opposite of what they are, and three of them have the hots for her.

Based on that, one would think it's a romantic comedy brought down to a comedy sitcom level, and it's glamorizing the geek world, making it trendy.

One would be wrong on how everything is playing out.

While it's true three of the characters - Leonard, Howard, and Raj - have the hots for the cute neighbor - Penny - they're still too socially awkward to actually be noticeable for her as potential love interests. That isn't to say Penny doesn't notice them because she does. She thinks they're very sweet guys, if sometimes annoying. Despite Howard's initial perverted nature towards her - you know, the guy who tries way too hard to impress a girl and figures he'll eventually get her the longer he keeps at it - Penny does consider him to be a friend. She'd be there for him when he's in need of a friend. She's also there for Raj, Leonard, and Sheldon, helping to bring them out of their social awkwardness and into the world.

This doesn't mean she's changing them into who they are not. If anything, for Penny, their geekiness and intelligence is a far cry from the types of people she knows and has associated with since high school. Of the four nerds, she's attracted to Leonard the most. Howard has struck out in the department of winning Penny over. It isn't because Howard isn't a nice guy. It's more because Leonard has always provided Penny a friendly ear, a voice of reason, and a source of encouragement for her dreams, even as he's freaking out that she could be making some huge mistakes.

The nerdiness and geekiness aren't restricted to the guys, either. While Penny is the odd person out in those terms, the show has brought on two women as love interests but also as very interesting characters in the forms of Bernadette, who is set up on a date with Howard and eventually signs on with a major pharmaceutical company due to her degree in micro biology, and Amy Farrah-Fowler, a dowdy-looking neurologist with personality traits similar to Sheldon.

At the same time Penny is smoothing away the social awkwardness of such people, they, too, are sharing their worlds and knowledge with her. And, to her surprise, she rather likes it. These are people who aren't afraid to be themselves. They have lessons for each other, these wonderful and flawed characters of the Big Bang Theory. Though they rag each other mercilessly at times, they are friends, and there isn't anything they wouldn't do for one another, be it sneaking up to Stan Lee's house at night or trade insults with Will Wheaton.

And, yes, the show is making it so geeky and nerdy are cool and trendy. That isn't a bad thing so long as people remember what it is about the characters that does make them so cool.

They are individuals. They are true to themselves. They're not afraid to dress in costumes and head to conventions. They're not afraid to argue over silly, trivial things like who can and can't wield Mjölnir and not have it divide them irreparably. They're multicultural. Yes, Leonard, Sheldon, and Howard are "white" guys, but Raj is from India. Howard is Jewish. Sheldon grew up in a very religious home in Eastern Texas (as he puts it). Leonard grew up as an atheist. Penny's from Nebraska, Bernadette declares herself to be a "good Catholic" girl, and Amy is, well, Amy.

They're not afraid to be smart and to think for themselves. They are proof that love, tolerance, and friendship are greater forces in this world.

That is why I love the Big Bang Theory.
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