Geeks gain pop-culture power

By Rene Rodriguez

McClatchy Newspapers

Trends and fads are generational. The hippie movement died with Watergate. Disco ruled, until it became a bad word. MTV once dictated popular culture; now it airs “Jersey Shore.”

But geeks and nerds? They’re forever — and their ranks are growing.

In “Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope,” director Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me”) follows several attendees to the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con — the largest nerd mecca in North America — as they pursue their dreams of drawing superheroes for a living, winning elaborate costume contests, or tracking down prized collectibles.

Not so long ago, their passionate, sometimes quixotic quests — like one man’s frenzied hunt for an 18-inch Galactus doll — might have been written off as trivial pursuits.

Today, though, everyone is paying attention.

“There was a time when nerds were guys who sat around on their computers and geeks were the ones who read comic books and action figures, and everyone made fun of them,” Spurlock says. “But now, those two worlds — geeks and nerds — have collided, and today they control every aspect of the media and the entertainment business. Geeks and nerds are the ones who are creating those tablets we’re using to read, the iPods we’re listening to, the movies and TV shows we watch, the books we read. These people who were once seen as being fringe and weird have become incredibly influential. And now you see frat guys wearing Green Lantern T-shirts. It’s almost become a badge of honor to show you’re an adult who still embraces your childhood passions and still has a sense of play in your life.”

On Sunday, “The Avengers” broke box-office records by grossing an astonishing $200 million in its initial three days of release (its worldwide tally stands at $642 million).

Due later this summer: a 3-D reboot of “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” Christopher Nolan’s final entry in his trilogy of “Batman” films.

The love of all things geek transcends superhero movies.

On HBO, the medieval fantasy “Game of Thrones” — based on George R.R. Martin’s perennial bestsellers — is drawing nearly 4 million viewers per week. A “Game of Thrones” videogame is due May 15. “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” another videogame released last November in which players slay dragons and perform magic, generated $620 million in its first month of sales. The “Harry Potter,” “Twilight” and “Hunger Games” series were worldwide phenomena.

“More people are embracing nerd culture because so much of it is so good,” says Michael Avila of AviLand Productions, a content provider for SyFy.com and other entertainment websites.