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!
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