Nerd boyfriends are awesome.
But before I jump into that argument (which I'm totally going to win), let's go back a few months to when I watched an interesting
TED Talk about childhood and the current role models we're feeding the next generation. Colin Strokes, a proud father of two, realized that while his daughter had brave, wholesome heroines like Merida and Anna/ Elsa (I'm sure he would have used these women as examples if the movie had been out at the time), he couldn't help but notice that his son had very few role models of his own. So, his TED talk left me asking, "Where are our heroes?"
Where are the heroes in movies who teach and preach to our younger generation that "cooperation is heroic, and respecting women is as manly as defeating the villain?" (TED talk just put it so eloquently, I had to borrow their words.)
And this is where nerds come into the picture. Nerds are awesome because they give us a glimpse of the answer to the question above: Nerds love superheroes. Be it Superman, Batman, Ironman, or some other masked crusader, nerds love heroes because they value morals, justice, and a sense of responsibility to society.
Now, not to say that young boys these days don't need
more superheroes (I think this is definitely a topic worth revisiting), but I must say that for now, I heart nerd boyfriends.
Hero
Hero, Let's have more Ralphs!
