“Harry Potter isn’t real? Oh no! Wait, wait, what do you mean by real? Is this video blog real? Am I real if you can see me and hear me, but only through the internet? Are you real if I can read your comment but I don’t know who you are or what your name is or where you’re from or what you look like or how old you are? I know all of those things about Harry Potter. Maybe Harry Potter’s real and you’re not.” ”
—John Green
“On how to make boys like you: the third way is to be come something called "hot" Now Katie I would argue that there are at least two distinct definitionsof hot. There is the like normal human definition which is that individual seems suitable for mating. And then theirs the weird culturally constructed definition of hot which is that individual is malnourished and has probably had plastic bags inserted into her breasts. Now boys might find that hot now but I don't think there's anything inherently hot about it like if you went back to the 18th century and ask a fifteen year old boy would you like to marry a woman who has had plastic bags needlessly inserted into her breasts that fifteen year old boy would probably be like: "What's plastic?”
—John Green
A Personal Bit:
I really don’t like to make too many personal posts but I felt that is this is something that was important enough that it should get its own post. There is a very well made video by ninebrassmonkeys called Why is a Nerdfighter? and an interview with John called A Conversation with John Green.
You’ve probably seen Hank post it or something. And at one point during the video (somewhere in the second half) it mentions how some times Nerdfighteria gets boiled down to people who like Sherlock, Doctor Who and Harry Potter. I’d like to grudgingly agree that it can feel that way sometimes. This is in no way intentional I’m sure. But alongside Nerdfighteria becoming more and more political (which in a lot ways is just a “nature of the beast” kind of deal) it can be really marginalizing.
Like I have 19,000 followers and counting but I still feel like I’m standing on the side lines half the time because I don’t enjoy Sherlock or Doctor Who and am a Libertarian and not a Democrat.
(this is not to say there is anything wrong with liking these things or anything bad about them)
These are not the things anyone intended to represent Nerdfighteria, but they do. This is not the fault of Hank and John or anyone else for that matter. Just natural drift lead lead the community here. John also talks in the interview about we need to facilitate smaller/sub groups within the community to keep it from weakening and falling a part. I would like to throw myself wholeheartedly into this statement. Nerdfighteria is about love, and liking brain-using things.
I had often felt like I wasn’t a proper Nerdfighter because I didn’t really like any of these things. But awhile ago I realized that those things don’t really matter in being a nerdfigther. I just wanted to say that it is okay to not like them and it is perfectly fine to like them wholeheartedly with every fiber of your being in that you fall onto the floor unceremoniously whenever something big happens. And that I know, for an absolute fact, that we can get along and be friends and a community who has that kind for support network even if we have a diverse set of interests because my best for the resty Shaina loves Sherlock and Doctor Who and is the most hardcore Democrat ever (okay maybe not ever) and we have no problems and manage to be besties. We just have to open and remember that human kindness is most important (which I think we do a pretty darn good job of remembering most of the time.)
And to everyone:
You are a part of this community. You are not alone. You are loved. You are a Nerdfighter.
-Britney
