Salon.com > Ian R. Williams

Twilight of the dorks?

Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:30:00 +0000

At the end of the 1984 classic "Revenge of the Nerds," Louis Skolnick (Robert Carradine) mistakenly ends up with the beautiful temptress of Pi Delta Pi. Stunned by his sexual resourcefulness, she purrs, "Are all nerds as good as you?"

"All jocks think about is sports," he replies. "All nerds think about is sex."

And with that clarion call, dorks all over America began to throw off the shackles that had socially bound them since kindergarten and started to see themselves in a different light. They began to take a little pride in their TRS-80 computers; they banded together to escape dungeons and fight dragons; they even took dodge ball a little less seriously.

It has been a slow climb, but after nearly 20 years, the American dork finds himself sitting atop the cultural heap of history, finally king of the mountain. Think he looks weird? Think his glasses are stupid? The new dork doesn't care -- he prides himself on it.

Generation gung-ho

Fri, 21 Mar 2003 21:52:00 +0000

In Millerton, N.Y., an old railroad village two hours north of New York City, 18-year-old Andres Vialpando rips tickets for "The Quiet American" at the local theater. Across the street, a group of concerned parents, holding candles and chatting earnestly with passersby, hold a candlelight vigil against the war in Iraq.

To Andres, however, the war remains a simple question of logistics. "I think Saddam should not be dictator of the country," he says, "I don't think he's pushing Iraq in the right direction, and we need to do something. He needs to be taken out."

Andres is one of the 42 million Americans aged 12 to 24, a collection of kids whose first historical memories were the Rodney King riots, O.J.'s trial, Princess Di's death, Columbine and, of course, Sept. 11. The members of Generation Y -- or the Millennials, if you prefer -- are now doing what Generation X did 12 years ago: girding themselves for war. The political names are the same (Bush, Powell, Cheney, Hussein), but the kids are not.

The Church of Latter-day constraints

Wed, 19 Mar 2003 00:14:00 +0000

We've heard plenty of the details by now: While in captivity, Elizabeth Smart wore a veil, frequented grocery stores, and attended a town picnic while half of America was looking for her. She loaded up on croutons and ranch dressing at the Souper Salad, directly underneath a wanted poster featuring her picture. She lived a block from the Salt Lake City police station, heard searchers shouting her name, even went back for her shoes when Brian David Mitchell allegedly kidnapped her.

The Smart parents are beginning to take a little heat for this, and thus have started telling reporters that their daughter must have been brainwashed. The usual cavalcade of child psychologists has been trotted out to discuss the Stockholm Syndrome. As for my family, former Mormons now living thousands of miles from Utah, my brother summed it up best: "They hypnotized a Mormon girl? How hard could that have been?"

Growing up Mormon and then drifting from the faith -- known as being a "jack-mormon" in local parlance -- echoes the experience of lapsed Catholics. I'm certainly not one of the more virulent jack-mormons running around on the Net, but I think we all have a very complicated relationship with our former religion.