The Geek and the Beauty

Actually it should be Beauty and the Geek. Its a strange reality show to begin with - pairing up a really beautiful woman who is "possibly" intellectually challenged, with a man who's likely to be in Mensa but "possibly" socially inept (there's a reason for the possible, I'll explain in a bit), and competing with other teams of the same make up for a 250k USD prize. I've never been a fan of reality television shows, and this definitely won't make a fan out of me, but regardless, I found it pretty fun to watch, minus all the "intrigue" with relationships. It seemed more interesting to me, than, say, watching for a reality tv show that concentrates on becoming models - of which it is something which I totally cannot relate to.

Strangely enough, I was more interested in the "geeks" rather than the "beauties". It's probably because I do have a bias - I like "geeks" a lot compared to the latter - I could never talk to girls in the same way that I talk to guys, and its very difficult to find girls when I was young who would talk about books than gossip about their crushes. These "geeks" would have a plethora of ideas to share, ranging from the extremely intellectual to the totally absurd specializations. Back then, I was the only one interested in computers, Sherlock Holmes, Perry Mason, Big Bang theories, National Geographic, Dungeons and Dragons, Star Trek, Anime, MTG, comics and the like. For a lack of peers of the same sex with the same interests, I would more often than not hang out with these guys than girls. Of course, there's still a fair share of guys who constantly get into sports, basketball and other bravado activities - I'd steer clear of them because they don't spend enough time any of the other stuff I was doing too.

So, that "geek" bias explained and out of the way, I found the entrants of the first season to actually be a bit more normal than most of the people I did hung out with when I was young. In my honest opinion .. they didn't look extremely geeky - they looked normal, if anything else. In my mind, I was thinking "are these really geeks, or what?" I just figured, it IS a reality show, and who knows if they they just plugged in an actor to play the geek part, or an actress to play the beauty part, because as I've said.. some of the geeks didn't seem like your stereotypical geek, and some of the beauties they selected didn't seem like they were intellectually challenged. Actually I found it quite whimsical because during the first season, there were 2 "beauties" in particular that I found were quite smart. Makes you do a double take and wonder if these are paid actors or not.

So, to begin with, there's nothing really wrong with "geeks", they're just a bit more focused on their specializations rather than their physical appearances, compared to the rest of the general population. I mean, take second season's neurobiologist Brandon. He seemed well kempt, but he is obviously not "in" with the current fashion unlike Brad Pitt. Anhur seemed confident of his abilities, despite the fact that one of the girls would like to tweeze his eyebrows "properly". Tyson came across to me as normal looking, but maybe that's because I have a lot of exposure to asian "geeks", I wouldn't know. I'm sure somewhere in the general audience population, people would comment on why in the world he dressed up in red sweats rather than normal shirt, but can you blame someone if he wants to wear something comfortable? Why Karl would like spending his time playing Dungeons and Dragons at his age rather than partying (I mean, what's the deal with partying anyway? you drink booze and get a headache 2 seconds later) and still seemed to look like a real life Napoleon Dynamite, Joe is a champion chessmaster, Wes is a scientist involved in monkey tracking... but really they don't look THAT bad.

Truth to tell, I found their abilities more interesting than their looks. Besides, beauty is only skin deep, and I would say that because I don't really believe that looks should ever be a major factor in judging one's capability in a profession. I've met a lot of guys that could offer potentially more than just looking good and being a trophy friend for other people to see. Most of the times, its these "geeks" that come out with the most interesting things to say... I mean, can you imagine a date where you have nothing in common, and the guy starts talking about... well.. about what? Its more interesting to know about new things than hear general topics being reiterated by their personal preference: I hate McDonalds, I love Kentury Fried Chicken, Usher is great, Madonna is a awesome singer... as compared to: Back in the old days, curvy girls where considered beautiful, for a long time potato wasn't a staple, that is, until the past century, time doesn't exist, there's a caldera (volcano) under Yellowstone park. Why in the world would anyone want to talk about things that you already know, when you can have a better time discovering new things? I mean, at least if you didn't like your date's looks, you still learned something interesting.

Granted, it may be because I could be considered a geek, at least based on the show's definition. I absolutely hate dressing up, because I feel that its not in my nature to dress up at all, and absolutely do not want to play pretend. My social skills are an absolute horror, especially when meeting new people, but they're more or less ok when with long time friends... but I suppose this works out because they tend to accept my social shortcomings more than the new people I meet. (Strangely enoug, I had one person tell me that I have this uncanny way of charming people, particularly guys, but I have no idea when in my past that I've actually done that) I love working on minute details with things that I particularly find interesting, and find it exciting to discover the fundamentals and workings of a topic of complex nature, delving in more and more because I never seemed to be satisfied with "general knowledge".

Does that make me less of a person? No, I don't think so. In fact, it makes me more proud of who I am and what I can do. Its easy to get cut marks and scars and burns physically. People do get old, and youth is only a temporary thing. But knowledge and intellectual capability, I feel, would still be there even when you're in your 60s. Of course, you could probably be senile by then, but it sure will last longer than appearances, despite the trends for facelifts, botox, liposuction and the like.

Regardless, it doesn't mean geeks are stunted. It just means they're far more capable in other areas. For tv watchers out there, despite how "ravishing" 24's Jack Bauer may look, he could still be classified as a geek - I mean, specializing in handling terrorists/national conspiracies? Alias' Sydney Bristow comes off the same thing. So does the recently popular show, Lost, for its characters... I mean, Jack the doctor? Sounds like a geek to me.

I suppose at some point in our lives, we will all end up as geeks. But some are just more aware of the importance of a bit of physical and social attention than others, as a means to get by socially. For most people, geeks may seem strange, but turn the tables around: Most geeks will find socially adept or extremely fashion conscious people to be strange too.

I suppose the Geeks and the Beauties are each of their own breed. We just see it all in a different light. But we're all human.

In any case, I'd classify myself to be a geek, so there.