Live Magazine October/November 2016 Live Magazine October Edition | Page 46

ing puppy dog. I don’t own a $5000
gaming PC, and would rather use
my 2011 17” Macbook Pro with a
single monitor. Being that it’s a laptop, the keyboard is standard Apple
issue and is nothing special. I’m not
studying physics, but I have a Bachelor of Education with graduate
level TESOL qualifications and am
studying a Masters in Journalism. I
have never had much of an interest in pornography and, not to brag,
but I haven’t really needed to if you
know what I mean… I would consider
myself to be slightly overweight, but
I can fit into most ‘medium’ sized
clothing. My house is always well lit,
I am mild mannered and do not own
a Donald Trump poster. I think that
covers most of the gross generations that were mentioned.
At this point you might be asking
what my nerdy qualifications are.
Well, I write about games, I play
games, I watch anime and I interview
video game and pop culture related
celebrities. I help to run the website www.retrospekt.com.au, I have
hosted video game trivia shows at
AVCon, Oz Comic Con, PAX Australia and the Adelaide Fringe, and
I contribute video game related
presentations at these events. Almost everybody that I know who
identifies as a nerd has a job, lives
in their own space, and can function
in everyday society. I am struggling
to think where this extreme stereotype of nerds has come from. Maybe Mr Larsen needs to explore the
greater community before passing
judgement, and I question whether
he has ever attended a pop culture
event.
The other point addresses the fact
that Larsen so brutally criticises a
TV show that is beloved by millions
of people. Additionally, his knowl-

edge of the program appears to be
quite out of date, but as it is continuously being rerun on Channel 9
one could forgive that. Whether you
enjoy The Big Bang Theory or not
is completely irrelevant, by the way.
Love it or hate it, it really doesn’t
matter here. I have provided one
example of how one over the top
rant has caused another person
to feel, but this sort of thing occurs
all of the time in the greater community, and more often than not by
people who don’t identify as nerds.
When I was growing up I was always
told that most of my interests were
“not normal”, and that continues
to this day. The kids I would go to
school with and those on my (now
estranged) father’s side of the family would take great delight in telling
me that what I was interested in
was not the social norm. Apparently I was supposed to enjoy sports,
mainly football, and drinking and
gambling when I got older. I was not
allowed to enjoy a