Commentary on Commentary: CNN and Geek Chic

As a sort of meta-exploration on what it means to study pop culture, I'll be referring to this article, found on CNN.com, for the following few paragraphs. A-hem. (Wipes glasses.)

As the weekend of Star Trek release-y craziness approaches us, we have seen an uptick in the volume of geek/nerd/dork/etc. references and discussions. This is a natural phenomenon. Media outlets in general love to latch onto the summer blockbuster craze. In a few weeks we'll be exploring the merits of Artificial Intelligence and light-year advancements in prosthetic technology -- because Christian Bale is getting shot at by giant robots.

The largest of news outlets are like gigantic, slow robots themselves -- they feed on the collective information sources of the internet, only to process, combine, and package the same basic messages in an AP format. Anything not considered "breaking" news -- Twitterable, if you will -- is often days behind on the actual mood of the nation. Know what? We're sick of the Star Trek hype. It's coming out on Thursday, and some of us have to go to work in between. We'll deal with the wait.

This weekend, though? Totally would have had the time to read an article on geek-pop-culture. And that's what the news-ertainment industry doesn't understand: If you're going to rope us in with a fluff piece, either bring us to tears or wait 'till a Saturday.

I mostly say fluff piece because it is chock-full of already discussed, fairly obvious trendmatter. We know geeks are big. Remember when you referenced Revenge of the Nerds? I'm pretty sure that was the watershed moment for geek culture, CNN. An interviewee, however, believes this honor belongs to The O.C. -- a show most only remember for it's ridiculously parodiable plotlines and horrid acting. Adam Brody, if anything, carried that show for its duration -- functionally destroying his future career, kinda like Screech. (Who, by the way, was the first geek I ever saw hanging with the cool kids.)

But none of this is new, which is at least three fourths of what news is supposed to be. It's difficult for an outsider, especially one lacking in internet skills, to ever catch up with society in general if all one ever gets is day/week/month-old opinions and reviews. And for those of us obsessively trolling the internet for the newest possible info, this? This just gets in the way.

Now I'm not blaming the writer; Ms. France did her job well and found all of the relevant sources. The article is well written and coherent. It just should have been published in February. I'm not claiming to have predictive superpowers here, but seriously -- 'Geek Chic' is a years-old term. There are two seasons of Chuck, countless torturous hours of The Big Bang Theory, Green and Meyer on Heroes, and LOST even has time-travel. Pop a new Star Trek into the mix, and you don't exactly sound like Nostradamus two days before the biggest, most surefire geek-vindication since Skolnick and Childs.