▼ Culture Triumph of the Nerds No longer outsiders, fans of sci-fi, comics and cons find find healing and a supportive community. BY DIAMOND RODRIGUE B ehind the foam fingers, roaring arenas and various shapes of sports balls that dominate the entertainment business is a thriving, enthusiastic commu- nity of fervent fans pulsing with unparal- leled devotion to the quirkiness, whimsicality and inclusive nature of the world of science fiction and fantasy. Often the target of jokes, fans of nerdy subcultures have endured plenty of ridicule for their love of the make-believe. But here’s the thing: Today’s nerds aren’t embarrassed by their interests anymore. And we can thank those who came before — those who, despite suffering schoolyard bul- lying for wearing superhero T-shirts, continued to find ways for this kind of fan- dom to live long and prosper. I think I’ve always been a nerd (I even got a Doctor Who tattoo in my 20s). But it wasn’t until now, in my mid-30s and newly sober, that I really discovered the healing power in the fandom of sci-fi. And I can thank Star Trek, specifically, and all of its cheesy sci- ence fiction glory, for keeping sobriety fun and allowing me to form connections with these weird little communities of Trekkers (or Trekkies or Trekheads — I’m still trying to figure out this debate). There’s auditory bliss in the soothing beeps, boops and hums of Star Trek’s origi- nal starship, the Enterprise, but I could even watch the first 1960s series on mute just for the vivid set designs and to see William Shatner’s Captain Kirk throw a few double- fisted uppercuts to giant lizard aliens. But what’s really captured me are the stories about where humanity might go one day, and the ability to connect with other fans over intricate plot details and lovable (and hateable) characters. M 12 12 Shields Up ost nerds (not a derogatory term anymore, by the way) will probably recall getting into sci-fi, fantasy and comic books at a much earlier age, many as a way to shield themselves from the outside world. And for Denton bartender, comic book writer and illustrator Bryan Kelly, it was a way to cope with simply existing as a powerless child in an adult’s world. “When you’re little, you don’t have any power, you have no say over anything in your life,” he says. “And so [I would] project into these worlds where there are charac- ters who are seemingly powerless, or up against insurmountable odds, but over- come them.” Kelly, who is also one of the founding or- ganizers of the Denton Comic Art Expo and is due to release the second volume of his comic series True Tales From the Bar later this year, says he would escape into the fan- tastical worlds of comic books and mid-cen- tury sci-fi horror as a kid, not only because they captured his imagination but because it’s easy to do when you spend a significant amount of time alone. And eventually, his hobby led to an art career, which is heavily influenced by the earliest era of horror- movie monsters. “I would go off into a corner, and I would just draw,” he says. “And I’d go into a world that I would create myself, you know, but it came from being solitary.” Star Trek enthusiast James “Shep” Shepard can relate to this type of escapism. As a kid, he had a lisp. “It was the bane of my existence,” he says. For much of his childhood, Shepard was Bryan Kelly is a comic book artist in Denton. Mike Brooks too afraid to talk or interact with people; he couldn’t even pronounce his own name correctly. “[Kids] immediately made fun of me, that’s what always happened,” he says. “So I kind of felt like I needed these worlds to kind of get lost in.” He also remembers being bullied in school for wearing a Superman T-shirt, and again for a Batman T-shirt. Another big moment in Shepard’s child- hood was his parents’ divorce when he was in second grade. In the aftermath of the split, he recalls spending a lot of time with his father watching the original Star Trek se- ries. They’d also rent the original Trek mov- ies over and over, finding them on VHS tapes at a grocery store. “It has sentimental value. It kind of pulls at my heartstrings,” he says of the franchise. Beginning in 2007, Shepard was the gen- eral manager for seven years at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, a music venue and event space in Denton known for its punk shows and party atmosphere. During that time, Shepard says he began drinking heavily. And part of his eventual recovery from alco- Mike Brooks Taffeta Darling has thousands of social media follower as a Dallas cosplayer. holism was revisiting his childhood favorites — the original Star Trek series and its subse- quent series The Next Generation. “I didn’t realize this ’til much later, when I quit drinking, when I really had a chance to sit and think, like, I gave up a lot of who I was,” he says. “And now I have that back and that feels really good.” Star Trek was there again for Shepard when he was diagnosed with chronic my- eloid leukemia two years ago. The cancer is now almost undetectable, but he remembers those early days and how he sought to es- cape from his new reality. “When I found out [about the diagnosis], I was feeling like shit and could not sleep,” he says. “I would stay up all night watching Deep Space Nine and Voyager. I never saw every episode of either until then, but it was a big comfort.” One of the obvious draws of sci-fi fantasy is its incredible potential for escapism. But escapism as a form of therapy is controver- sial in the world of psychology, as it is con- sidered simply a way to delay our responses to unwanted realities, not to help us to work through them. This type of escapism is considered part of the great fantasy migration hypothesis in the psychological world. It states that when reality does not align with our wants or needs, we seek refuge in fictional realities. This makes sense, because we all need an es- cape from time to time. But this hypothesis goes a step further by theorizing that those participating in nerd culture, specifically, are simply unwilling or unable to accept re- alities outside of their comfort zones. But most research on people who partici- pate in “obscure” interests, such as those as- sociated with nerd culture, shows it has many benefits. A 2015 research paper titled “A Psychological Exploration of Engage- ment in Geek Culture,” produced by the De- partment of Psychology at the >> p14 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 NOVEMBER 3–9, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.comdallasobserver.com
