Saturday, May 14, 2011

The Geek in Me

So my mom mentioned back on Mother's Day that she wanted to go see Thor, but because my brother and dad weren't going to miss the Red Wings game that night it ended up not happening. Often times my mother goes with my brother to movies like this because they have such close interest in these types of movies. My brother, being the movie goer that he is, has already seen Thor but would have gone to see it again. I on the other hand really had no real interest at all to go. Some movies, take Avatar for example, just don't draw me in. It's not until after someone else pays for me to see this movie that I realize what an art form it is. I still don't really like Avatar, but that's a whole other story. I was pleasantly surprised by Thor and how much I actually enjoyed this movie (it may have had something to do with the fact that Chris Hemsworth is really attractive, or that Natalie Portman was in it).


source

If it's one thing I've realized throughout my life is that my mom loves all things SiFi and "geeky" (which is why I really can't figure out why she doesn't like Doctor Who). My mom is an avid book reader and she grew up on the stories that most of my generation has only seen on film. She has a beautiful hardcopy of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit that are sitting in our living room as well as books like Merlin. My mom grew up watching and loving the original Star Wars movies, and I especially remember watching them when I was a young girl (although I haven't seen them in a pretty long while). I LOVED R2-D2, C-3PO and of course the furry Ewok's. I also really wanted to be Princess Leia and loved playing her when I played Star Wars with my friends (mostly because she was a Princess and had "cool" hair). I always wanted Luke and Leia to be together because I thought Luke was cute and, like I said, I wanted to be Leia, but that ended when I realized they were actually siblings (it was a big let down on that relationship). I remember going with my family to see all the new Star Wars movies and all the Lord of the Rings movies.


source

As I grew into my teen years, I started pushing these things aside... I started considering these interests "geeky" and instead grew more attached to chick flicks, love stories, and books by Nicholas Sparks (which are basically all the same thing). In my heart I still loved Harry Potter but just didn't think it was socially acceptable to run around pretending to be a wizard (yeah I definitely had an identity crisis during J High). That's probably why most of the people who meet me today wouldn't guess what a big geek I am at heart (don't mind my clearly stereotypical groupings here) and how much I do really appreciate all these stories. I certainly can't claim to be as devoted and as knowledgable as many other avid fans of these series, but I definitely have many wonderful memories and dreams attached to them.

By now you might be thinking, but all Star Wars geeks are certainly not all fans of Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, or vice versa, but in the end they're all stories based on good versus evil, something that will always be relatable to any person. They're also just things that I connect in my mind as being part of the geek in me. Which also brings me back to the start of this thought process, comic book stories.

Comic books are another thing that I connect to being "geeky" (I can't clarify this enough that I do realize not all of these things connect for people and that not all of these loves actually make people consider themselves a geek). Unlike other things, there was never a time that I was into reading comic books, and I certainly don't have a secret love of Anime I'm going to profess any time in the future. Superheroes like Batman, Spiderman, Superman....always sounded cool, but certainly never grabbed my attention in book form (I have seen all the movies though). As a kid I wondered, like any other child would wonder, what it would be like to have a super power. I had a friend who was really into the Power Rangers and we would pretend to be them sometimes (I always wanted to be the Pink one). It wasn't till I was older that I even heard of stories like the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, or the Fantastic Four. Most of what I know about these characters are how they've been portrayed in movies. I usually got dragged to these movies with my family and probably wouldn't have chosen on my own to see them. But now that more and more of these characters are being brought into film and the Avengers is due out in 2012, I'm thinking it's about time I start to delve into the realm of Marvel Comics. This way I figure Sheldon Cooper and I will have something to chat about. BAZINGA!


source

No comments:

Post a Comment