A couple of weeks ago, I got an e-mail from Stephen Lynch, who is a writer for the New York Post. He wrote:
I’m doing an article, the working theme of which is “the end of the geek golden era.” By the end of May, “Star Wars” will be over, “Star Trek” will probably be over. The “Lord of the Rings” movies have been wrapped up, no more “Matrix.” What do we look forward to now? Will geeks still rule the world?
I admire your blog and thought you would be a great person to comment on this. Thanks for your consideration.
I have learned to be wary of the Mainstream Media, but after a quick review of his articles, Stephen seemed like a good guy and the subject he was covering is something that I’m pretty passionate about.
I wrote back:
I actually think it’s the beginning of a new golden era for geeks: technology is putting massive computing power in our hands, we’re never more and a few hundred feet from the internets, we’ve got our own network (sci-fi channel) and the big summer blockbusters are all inspired by comic book movies. HHG comes out this year, it looks like Peter Jackson is going to do The Hobbit, there’s talk about a movie based on The Watchmen in 2006, and there’s a Firefly movie due out as well. Don’t overlook Sin City, or Hellboy, and don’t forget the new Battlestar Galactica! (Ron Moore is even connecting with geeks using the unprecedented medium of podcasting commentaries *for free* on all the new episodes, as well as communicating directly with the show’s fans via his blog.)
I think the end of Star Wars is long overdue. The new movies are an absolute abomination. It’s hard to figure out which sequel to The Matrix was worse, and Star Trek Enterprise had little in common with Star Trek beyond the name. There was an explosion of geeky goodness in the last few years, and now it’s time to step back, and . . . well, thin the herd, I guess. We’re at the dawn of a new geek era. The sun is only setting on the prologue.
This is just off the top of my head. If you’d like to talk with me, let me know and I’ll give you a call today. If you’d like to use any of this material, let me know and I’ll rework it just a little bit so it sounds less like e-mail.
So Stephen and I played phone and e-mail tag for a few days, but we finally connected and had a great conversation about geeky movies, where I tried to make it clear that, though I really hated Episode I, and nearly walked out of Matrix Reloaded, I am very optimistic that we are at the dawn of a new era of geeky goodness. I expanded my thoughts about thinning the heard, by pointing out that there is so much great fantasy, sci-fi, and comic book stuff out there now, the audience is less willing to accept any pile of crap that happens to have a laser gun or a dragon in it. Studios have realized that they can make movies which appeal to geeks and mundanes, without alienating either audience. This means that we should see more Spiderman, and less Catwoman.
Stephen’s article We Fans Bear Up for a Long Geek-end (har) ran in today’s Post. It’s absolutely hilarious:
May 19, 2005 — If you feel a sharp pain today
