How, when, and why did nerd culture become mainstream?
>>63608486
2007.
Big Bang Theory hit the mainstream, Marvel was bought by Disney, EA games changed to a more fiscally-minded president, and other shit. Give me a minute to find the image.
>>63608486
>>63608632
Star wars wasnt always mainstream?
It was the first time that nerdy became "Geek Chic".
Suddenly everyone with a new smartphone could always be connected to their favorite media, and smartphones became the new platform for geekiness rather than online forums and personal computers.
Social media allowed for people to look back on their old hobbies and connect with people who were like-minded. They still pretend to be nerds when they are actually 20-something weirdos who are using nostalgia as a clique instead of a hobby.
Hipsters.
>>63608668
fucking this
2007 was a weird year man
everything deemed nerdish went mainstream
>>63608632
My mistake, Disney bought Marvel in 2010
>>63608668
How come there's no mention of manchild central, 4chan?
>>63608808
Because 4chan isn't cool or mainstream
The fact that we're anonymous almost all of the time makes it far less social than most websites like Reddit.
4chan, even to this day, is known as the armpit of the internet. It's not cool or mainstream. People are more likely to call you an edgy weirdo than geek-chic for going to 4chan.
>>63608632
You had stuff like the LOTR movies and the Raimi Spider-Man movies being huge mainstream successes before that.
>>63608668
...that's interesting... huh...
>>63608703
It was always a well-known franchise but it was always the virgin, geek thing. Now it's a fangirl-squee tumblr-approved, Chad-recomended franchise
>>63608486
>underdog narratives are always popular
>audiences do not traditionally do well identifying with racially, ethnically or religiously 'othered' underdogs
>there is a need for white, male, heterosexual underdogs
>the aftermath of the vietnam war tainted the traditional masculine rites-of-passage avenues
>thus from around the mid-to-late '70s onwards, protagonists are increasingly 'social outsiders' while still safely white, straight, middle class dudes
>material factors prevailing permit magnify the effect of this
>decline of well-remunerated labour jobs
>the introduction into everyday life of computers and the advent of the tech billionaire
>the rise of semi-skilled white collar jobs requiring little of the traditional masculine virtues and more abilities previously derided on a cultural level as 'nerdish'
>the perpetual archival of culture, begun by home video and accelerated by every advance since, allowing people to keep rewatching everything they watched as a kid
>allowing them to actually BE nerds about things that would otherwise have aired once or twice and been more or less forgotten
>etc
You probably wanted a shorter answer, but I doubt you'll see a more accurate one ITT.
when beta males became the majority
>>63608726
>Hipsters
It's really just this. Soulless, culturally bankrupt attractive people adopting and bastardizing "nerd culture" in their image. What annoys me is that woman don't play vidya overwhelming outside smart phone games but they make demands for change in a market they barely consume.
>>63608921
yeah but being geeky about LOTR involved cosplay and lurking on Encyclopedia of Arda for hours at a time, neither of which was mainstream in 2001-2003 when the movies were released
and the sam raimi spiderman movies were successful for the same reason the Batman movies were so successful-- they were huge departures from the source material
>>63608486
Star Wars became mainstream in 1977
>>63608486
someone in this thread is going to need to precisely define what makes someone a "nerd" and what is and what isn't "nerd culture".
>>63608971
good answer, i appreciate it
>>63609019
I don't like posts that this that imply there was any kind of integrity or anything worth saving about the medium of video games in the first place. Every second you spend with one past the age of 12 is a huge personal failing. The expansion of video games into the mainstream is depressing but not because "muh video games are ruined" and instead because of how indicative of a huge cultural infantilization it is. Autism has become mainstream.
>>63608743
>>63608668
>>63608632
The Wii launched Christmas 2006 too.
>>63609065
There isn't and won't be a precise definition. Phenomena like this are always fuzzy around the edges, often extremely so. It's better to think of it as a conglomerate of sub-phenomena which bear 'family resemblances' to one another, rather than as some discrete section of the culture as a whole, with clearly defined borders. It's not that, and trying to squeeze it into that box won't help us think about it clearly.
>>63608486
When the liberals hijacked it and incorporated into their mainstream culture of faggots, sluts, and general degenerates to bring it under their blanket of control
>>63608486
Ever since corporations learned that people would pay money to buy into this "identity"
First cape-shit movies came out in early 2000s (X-Men, Spiderman)? Maybe sometime around then.
Being a "nerd" became less of a fringe hobby or interest.
Typical "nerd" careers like software engineer are also really well paid now too.
>>63608971
I disagree with the parts about race, audiences lap up stories of minorities overcoming adversity
>>63609687
>audiences lap up stories of minorities overcoming adversity
Adversity stemming from prejudice presented as a failing of Western white culture, yes. Everyone loves a good jeremiad now and then. But protagonists don't *simply happen* to be black or Asian or gay or whatever. They're black or Asian or gay or whatever *and struggle with bigotry against those traits*. A black protagonist is not used, as Kirk Douglas' Spartacus was, to critique the role of traditional masculine virtues in post-WWII society. People wouldn't get that. They'd be sitting there wondering "Why is he black, though?"
All of which is not to say Boo, erryone rayciss or whatever. Culture teaches people how to consume it, the medium is the message etc.
Think about it like this: You're making an elevator pitch for your movie idea. You can say "It's about a guy who..." yadda yadda and immediately, people are picturing a white guy. If your movie is actually about a black guy, you'll have to lead with that. You won't have to lead with him being white, because that's not some unique point of interest - it's the default.
>>63608632
Nah, it was even earlier than that. More like 2003-2005.
Also, you can thank the internet for that. Nerd culture was always avoided in the real world until the internet came around and provided people with a leeway & escape to get their nerd shit going on with other people.
>>63608850
It's funny you say that, because 4chan continues to be one of the primary onlookers of upcoming culture trends in entertainment, even to this day. Especially with video games and internet meme shit.
>>63609671
>Not knowing about Superman ('78)
>Not knowing about The Batman and Punisher movies in '89.
Been around way longer champ.
>>63609107
this, it's fucking depresing when the kids who would be "jocks" will be nerdgazming over some tumblr shit instead playing sports.
>>63609107
It's more like entertainment media as a whole is pushing towards infantilization. Not just games, though it is an evolution for it, along with social media.
>>63609019
>What annoys me is that woman don't play vidya overwhelming outside smart phone games but they make demands for change in a market they barely consume.
Because it's just a stupid social trend, along with the entirety of the modern SJW/feminism movement in the west.
On the other hand, it's equally upsetting seeing men play the whole "holier than thow" attitude when there are some women out there that really do enjoy certain 'masculine' activities long before they became 'trendy.'
>>63609107
Why is /tv/ obsessed with the concept of "cultural infantilization"? You guys come off more like autistic manchildren than the people you complain about.
>>63610491
this, all these movies that have the morals like that you shouldn't grow up, care what other think, don't try to improve just be yourself.
>>63610722
It sounds smart and means anything you want it too
>>63608486
Interesting I was gonna say mid 90s around the release of the Special Editions, 1997
>>63610781
It's not like the ways of the old world were much better though. Modern entertainment might encourage cultural infantilization, but the old world had strict, isolated views and social beliefs, which were enforced through religion, marriage, class and social structure, and so on. People married because it was a business requirement, married couples had kids to pass down the family business or for support when they grew older. Even the staple family structure (monogamous mother+father and their children confining themselves to a house) is an unnatural social construct. Realistic or naturally speaking, it would be healthier if we remained in our hunter-gatherer roles with polygamous relationships, and the entire tribe of several hundred or so all taking part to help raise children in some way.
It's more like we're living in an age that is throwing out old social constructs that have been ingrained into our minds for thousands of years for something new, with no staple foundation in-between. And at it's core, it's exposing how artificial and fragile society really is.
>>63608668
Reminder that the internet is slowly dying.
>>63611527
More like it's being monopolized by corporate tycoons than anything else.
>>63611527
Don't forget that thanks to mass-surveillance and the growing presence of cameras, it'll take humanity with it. :^)
Man needs privacy, even if he does not realize it.
>>63608486
George can't even hide his contempt in that photo.
>>63611527
What that image misunderstands is the how as the internet progressed from a ton of sites that got mostly equal traffic to a small number of conglomerate companies that own tons of sites and claim all division of traffic is theirs exclusively, is that happened primarily because of the shift from the internet being filled with exclusively with computer enthusiasts to the internet being filled with the average person.
So while its true that a small number of companies get exponentially more traffic than anything else, the type of sites that were "big" in 2007 are still just as "big" (or bigger) now as they were then. They're just not attracting the braindead mainstream horde.
Meaning the only real difference between the 2007 internet and the 2014 internet is the addition of hundreds of millions of mindless consumer drones who only use what their computer comes with.
also microsoft counts every hit to windows update as traffic to MSN.
>>63611666
Privacy is an extremely modern concept that only came into existence once security could be guaranteed by third parties.
>>63609107
If autism was mainstream more people would think stuff like this.
>>63608668
I thought 2007 and 2008 were ok but I legitimately felt a deep sadness flow through me on the first day of 2009 that still isn't totally gone
>>63608486
the answer to that question is of course, money.
the real question is, has nerd culture been foisted upon society, or, did society demand it.
>>63611527
isn't 4chan one of those hyper giants, too?
>>63611772
>the type of sites that were "big" in 2007 are still just as "big" (or bigger) now as they were then
but this is untrue, there has been general consolidation into sites like reddit (subreddits on a given topic) instead of dedicated fan forums.
many of these mindless consumer drones also filter into reddit or 4chan since that is the source of their memes.
also, and i'm being pedantic here, most mindless drones don't use computers: they use smartphones/tablets.
>>63609107
adulthood is not rejecting what you deem childish by it's association with children.
>>63611914
>most mindless drones don't use computers: they use smartphones/tablets.
smartphones/tablets are computers, dog.
>>63608486
Why is goofy darth vader
also who is george supposed to be
>>63611998
>who is george supposed to be
a mistake
>>63611922
Keep repeating your /v/ mantra. The desire for "enjoyment" and "entertainment" is inherenly juvenile.
>>63611527
Jesus, I didn't realize the scale of how much things have changed before. What is this going to look like in 2020?
>>63611998
He's supposed to be George Lucas dumbass
>>63611962
if you're a pedantic cunt, yes. however colloquially most people understand a 'computer' as a desktop/laptop machine.
but you knew what i meant, you just wanted to act clever and show off how smart you are. well congratulations, i've taken note of it. you get a gold star. it still won't make your father come back.
>>63612027
Oh, I thought you were actually serious before.
>>63612027
>adulthood is when you stop enjoying things
what
>>63612127
>colloquially
Excuse me for not giving marketing informed linguistic patterns no credence or respect.
Even if you want to get into the vestigial distinctions between computer/smartphone/tablet, its not like the internet changes depending on what type of device you're using to access it. And, no "mobile" internet isn't some completely separate internet.
do you think this photo was when george finally realized the weight of his mistakes
>>63608850
>People are more likely to call you an edgy weirdo than geek-chic for going to 4chan.
For now
>>63612275
>its not like the internet changes depending on what type of device you're using to access it
but you see, mr. daddy issues pedantry: the internet does change based on what type of person is using it. before i go further, i'll make another statement so that your quite-possibly-autistic mind understands:
when i say internet, i am using it in the sense that most non-autistic people use it: that is to refer to the world wide web and the sites on it, and the posters on those sites, not merely to the global network TCP/IP equipped computers itself.
now, let me continue: mindless drones have more difficulty operating a traditional desktop computer than they do operating a smartphone. user interfaces designed with the desktop in mind are generally more complex - which makes them more efficient for users with a capacity to learn but useless in the hands of those without this ability. this is why even though many idiots owned computers in 2007, the signal-to-noise ratio was better: because these people were limited by their own incompetence in how they could use the internet.
smartphones, with simplified user interfaces (and websites designed to accommodate them) simplify things, allowing people who would previously be much more limited by their own incompetence to begin posting inane shit on the internet, which we all have to deal with. unfortunately for you, even among all this inane shit you won't find your father's twitter because he's never ever coming back.
>>63612027
I can't believe someone older than 8 would actually believe this.
>>63612058
Jews win
>>63612896
I am 29 years old and I can't believe that someone older than 8 would be juvenile to think that their quest for "fun" was in any way appropriate.
>>63608668
You also forgot to mention
>CoD4 released
>Bioshock released
>>63613040
Nothing more serious than telling people to be serious on 4chan
>>63608486
When it became easy to follow and consume women got in it and it immediately became pleb tier desu senpai
>>63608632
you know what, i'm going to "this" this
I'm sure there were other factors, like facebook/myspace casualizing the internet for everybody in 2005/2006. But BBT really did emasculate the people who liked videogames and movies. There was a stigma of, only faggots like batman, and girls don't have to hang out with a dweeb to enjoy something great.
I am actually kind of glad it did, because I can actually convince people to watch capeshit with me. At work everybody talks about TV shows/movies/comics without a shred of embarrassment or guilt. Less stress, lass problems. Thank you jews.
>>63612393
I think he never realized and never will. He's a Happy Wanderer.
>>63608486
>Star wars wasnt always mainstream
Star wars was always mainstream
>>63613040
Do you work 24 hours a day? Why do you come on 4chan if not for "fun"?
Are you the same guy moaning about video games destroying society earlier in the thread?
>>63609156
I'm really surprised that wasn't mentioned as well. The Wii was a console that was marketed to literally everyone of all age groups. My grandparents even bought a Wii in 2008.
>>63613386
I come here to fight for the future of the straight white male. I come here to fight capeshit video game infantilization.
>>63608486
STAR WARS HAS NEVER FUCKING BEEN 'nerd culture'
IT WAS A BOX OFFICE SMASH HIT THAT MADE A SHITJILLION DOLLARS
IT HAD A PLOT FULL OF ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE, SHIT THAT NORMALFAGS LOVE (and rightfully so)
>>63613040
Damn, with your outlook you must live a bleak life.
>>63612642
> the internet does change based on what type of person is using it.
That was his original point, dog.
>>63609107
>>63612027
>>63613040
>>63613517
The first one was huge. The second one didn't make half as much, and the third one made less than the second.
So, basically, star wars became "nerd culture" almost the second the credits rolled on episode IV.
