Don't damage Adam Baldwin's calm!

Geek Icon of the Week: Adam Baldwin

Geek Credits: Firefly, Chuck, Superman cartoons

Notable for: His association with “Vera” and a penchant for grenades

Adam Baldwin is generally known for being the brawn who doesn’t have brains to match. When geeks think of him, we usually think of him with Vera (his favorite gun, see pic above), an orange beanie his mom made for him, low growls when he's pissed, grenades, a Crown Victoria, and shooting aliens or terrorists. Wherever Adam travels in the geek world, explosions seem to follow.

His most recent geek expedition was as Agent John Casey in Chuck, which receives geek credits because, let's face it, the title character is a geek (remember the Sandworm?). He is also known for his role as Jayne Cobb, the lovable rogue from Firefly who you rooted for even though you know there's very few decent bones in his body. Both of these venues also had small spinoffs, particularly Chuck with its webisodes and Buy More extras on the DVD packs. Firefly also had a little known short filmed called Browncoats. The credits for Chuck were most likely in his contract, but Browncoats was uncredited, showing that he's still involved in such projects even if he isn't a huge part.

Another credit that earn him geek points is his constant voicing of the character Superman in cartoons and video games. Let's face it, Superman is one of the most popular superheroes ever written and it at the height of geek pop culture. Adam does the voice and character so well he's just a perfect match for all the projects that come out these days.

Finally, he's always doing voices for other video games, including the Halo series. Now there's some huge geek points right there. And the biggest hidden geek point on his resume? Invader Zim. Tell me now that his guest role on that cartoon is not a defining moment in his geek career!

We love Adam Baldwin, he's just so much fun. Can't wait to see what he's going to do next!

Geek Point Scorecard:

Predator 2

Starquest II (VG)

Independence Day

The Cape (1996)

From Earth to the Moon

The Outer Limits

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Men in Black: The Series

The X-Files

Firefly

Stargate SG-1

Angel

Justice League

Serenity

Invader ZIM

Superman/Doomsday

Halo 3 (VG)

Half-Life 2: Episode 2 (VG)

Chuck

Buy-More

Chuck vs. the Webisodes

Halo 3: ODST (VG)

Mass Effect 2 (VG)

Browncoats: Redemption

Mass Effect 3 (VG)

DC Universe Online (VG)

Transformers Prime

Official Geek Score: 18

Film credits courtesy of http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000284/
Picture courtesy of www.setphaserstolol.com

Sean Bean takes a licking and keeps on ticking

Sean Bean

 

Geek Credits: Lord of the Rings trilogy, Game of Thrones

 

Notable for: 99 ways to die

 

Sean Bean is what you could call the "Redshirt" of Geek Pop culture. Odds are high that he's not going to survive the movie you're watching, whether or not he's a villain. There are a few exceptions like Percy Jackson and National Treasure, but even then his odds of survival are not very likely.

 

Sean is a staple in geek pop culture mostly due to his role as Boromir in the LOTR trilogy. Though he died in the first movie (big surprise there), LOTR and J.R.R. Tolkein’s stories of Middle-Earth are high on any geek list, and therefore sets him high in the geek world. In addition to that credit, he recently starred on HBO’s series Game of Thrones, which, of course, he also lost his head in.

What also adds to his geek points is his appearance in films like The Island and Equilibrium. He tends to be more noted in films that deal with fantasy, but he also has the futuristic points to add. He can play the seasoned warrior ready for any battle, and also be the high-tech bigwig who uses whatever means around him to play with or antagonize the hero. 

On an unrelated note, he was also a Bond villain. As much as I would love to add that to his geek points, I think that particular role would be more of action or coolness points. We're talking about geeks here.

In conclusion, Sean has enough geek credits to make him a staple in geek pop culture. Good guy or bad guy, we still root for him. One of his upcoming projects is to play Smee in Pan. I don't know about you, but I think that'll add serious geek points, especially if he pulls off the role as well as Bob Hoskins.

Geek Point Scorecard:

The Jim Henson Hour

The Cantebury Tales

LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring

LOTR: Two Towers

Equilbrium

LOTR: Return of the King

National Treasure

The Island

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (VG)

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

The Lost Future

Game of Thrones

Pan

Official Geek Point Score: 10

Film credits courtesy of http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000293/ 

Picture courtesy off www.setphaserstolol.com 

What determines who reigns in Geek Pop Culture?

Fellow Geeks, welcome to my blog.

For the longest time I've been wondering which celebrity has the most "geek points" out there. To determine there, I must look into the following:

I. Popular geek icons

Let's start with someone who is very popular amongst geeks. Take Nathan Fillion for example; he's best known for his performance as Mal Reynolds in Firefly. He has also appeared in Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog and done voiceovers for several video games including Halo 3. He may be popular and extremely cool, but does this necessarily mean he has the credits to make him a true geeks icon?

II. What constitutes as geek pop culture?

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a non-derogatory meaning for a geek is an enthusiast or expert in a technological field or activity (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/geek). In today's modern world, most geek pop culture focuses on fans of the genre of science fiction, or sci-fi, as it were. Outer space, starships, aliens, robots, lightsabers, Klingons, or humans gone cannibalistic due to space madness are all examples of what makes sci-fi so appealing.

But geek pop culture isn't just isolated to sci-fi. Sci-fi also has an element of fantasy thrown in. Creator and narrator of sci-fi classic The Twilight Zone Rod Serling once said that "Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible." Both genres require the imagining and creating of worlds filled with peoples and elements that are not of our world; whether there are worlds of their own or interact with our reality, they are not real, and that's what makes it so appealing!

Fantasy is usually associated with J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings saga. The realm of Middle-Earth was filled with many mythical creatures and people that often inhabit fantasy stories. Dragons are also a huge icon associated with fantasy as well. More modern fantasy creatures generally include werewolves, vampires, zombies, ghosts and mutants, and of course, let us not forget comic book heroes!

But not all fantasy creatures imply that they are part of geek pop culture (*coughTwilightcough*). In the long run, geeks will often split on their views of what constitutes as geek pop culture should include. The only logical conclusion is that everyone will have a different view point.

III. What are geek points, and how are they determined?

In my opinion, geek points are awarded based on the number of geek related projects an actor or actress appears in. Back to my man Nathan Fillion; as big of a geek icon as he is, if you added up his geek points they wouldn't amount to much. The way I see geek points are like college credits; 8 credits aren't going to get you far if you're trying to earn your degree. Nathan Fillion has popularity, but not the points. That doesn't change the fact that he's fun and endearing, but he does not have enough geek points to make him a true geek icon. But he still has time, he can catch up!

Geek points are determined mostly to the sci-fi, fantasy, video game and other related genres that are considered to be part of geek pop culture. The more credits an actor or actress has, the more geek points they earn. Now there are different amounts of points they will earn based on the video games they did voiceovers for, TV shows they appeared in (guest appearances or regular cast member), and movies they did.

There is a catch though: there are certain series that have many episodes or several spin-off movies. Take Daniel Radcliff as another example: he was Harry Potter. However, though he made 8 Harry Potter movies, he still does not earn the 8 geek points. Points are earned based on being flexible. Daniel Radcliff wouldn't earn the points, but Patrick Stewart would. He best known as Captain Picard on Star Trek The Next Generation, but he also appeared in the X-Men movies and Dune, among others. If those had been the only three geek series he was associated with, those points would all count because they are three different geek series. The minimum to earn geek points is that an actor or actress needs to be a regular on a TV series or a major role in a movie.

Also, there is a minimum amount of points one needs to earn to be on the list. For men, the minimum amount of points is 10 because, let's face it, men tend to be bigger geeks than women. For women, their minimum amount of points is 6 because, unfortunately, not many out there do many geeky projects.

Once again, remember that geeks tend to have different opinions on what is determined to be pop culture, so if you have a different idea of how they should be calculated, write your own blog.

IV. How often will you profile a "geek icon?"

I plan on posting my research once a week, probably one Wednesday. I won't start with Patrick Stewart, I'll profile him later. What I'll do is post the geek profile of an actor or actress who you may or may not have considered to be a geek icon and give a verdict. If you have any feedback, feel free to leave your comments!


In the meantime, I'm going to continue profiling other actors and actresses. I hope you enjoy my findings!