A few days in school, we were doing Safety on the Internet. The class was shown a video on the topic by a British company called Athena Entertainment, if I remember correctly, titled 'Safety Net'. At the start they introduced a number of teenage and college age characters who all explained the different ways they used the internet. The last character to be introduced was a young man named 'Will'. He was bespectacled, but not in a God Wan way. He was dressed from the waist up in a beige jacket zipped almost up to the chin. The very first line he uttered was 'I have four computers at home - that makes me a bit of a geek I suppose.' And my mouth dropped open.
FOUR computers? Unattractive glasses? Unfashionable clothing? The name 'Will'? The term 'geek'?
'That makes me a bit of a geek I suppose' Will says! Will, a fictitious character, a caricature of nerddom and geekhood by Athena Entertainment.
How dare they! How very dare they lie to young impressionable teenagers and say that ALL geeks are male, ALL geeks a genius at computers, ALL geeks are visually impaired, ALL geeks don't dress fashionably? Through this unfortunate character and informative video, Athena Entertainment have further cemented hat stereotype and given us a bad name. I say 'us' because I too consider - Actually, I don't, because no one uses the word 'geek' outside of America. Rookie mistake Athena Entertainment! Anyway, I say 'us' becauI se I too identify myself as a nerd, I suppose I'll call it that. But how can I? I'm a girl! I have good vision! I know how to dress! (Well, kind of. I mean... never mind.) I don't even know how to write code! Yet! Well, I'm so, so, SORRY that I'm not geek or nerd or whatever enough for the executives in pinstripe suits of Athena Entertainment!
Rant over.
Eleanor Roscuro
No comments:
Post a Comment