What is a geek?Originally a geek was a fool or someone easy to fool. (Malvolio was the "most notorious geck and gull that e'er invention played on," Twelfth Night act V scene 1.) As late as 1977, Freddie Blassie's Pencil Neck Geek was a "pea brain" with a "brain that leaks." In other words a geek might be anyone with a lack of knowledge or intelligence. But at some point in the twentieth century, with the invention of computers, the publication of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and the syndication of Star Trek, the archetypal geek took on a much more specific form, exemplified in the characters of Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew in season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Now I feel that just in the last couple of years, we have started to come round again with the re-universalization of the geek. All of a sudden everyone is desperate to be a geek. We have people claiming to be "drama geeks" and "wine geeks." I say, what the $&#* is a wine geek? Is there a Doctor Who episode about wine? It seems the current trend is that being interested in anything or knowing something about any subject at all entitles you to be a geek. |