Geeks were once the butt of the joke on screen.

Today, they're often the heroes who saved the day.

How did so much change?

Welcome to watch Mojo.

Siri's How geek culture became pop culture.

Once niche and ridiculed geek culture has exploded into the mainstream.

How did so much change join us as we look at how Pulp fiction, comics, video games, anime and nerd heroes became pop culture staples.

Whether serving as the comedic relief or background characters, geeks, nerds and other misfits have been the subject of ridicule in film and television for years.

Your appearance is comical to me.

Oh, I'm a nerd.

So am I.

But over the past couple of decades, we've seen an interesting shift in their portrayal on screen instead of being mocked there, now, frequently presented as endearing, lovable and even heroic.

So how did social outcasts come to run the show?

Well, let's begin with the word geek.

In the 18 hundreds, a geek was a circus freak who would run around biting the heads off chickens.

So yeah, not exactly an esteemed member of society gigs formed their own union.

Yeah, that one you made up, I suppose all they pay doing with chicken heads.

The word kept its pejorative sense when it became a high school insult against social outcasts.

Today, there's a lot of overlap between geek and nerd.

Both are associated with eccentricity and intelligence.

But arguably, while nerd usually keynotes intellectualism, geek can refer to any enthusiast of some niche field or hobby conspiracy.

I'm telling you, be cool.

Who you gonna call Way can actually thank Dr Seuss for the word nerd, which first appeared in his 1950 Children's book If I Ran the Zoo character Gerald McGrew says that he'll look for a nickel, a nerd and a seersucker, too, whereas Seuss's version of a nerd looks like a long lost relative of the Grinch.

Society came to view nerds as scrawny intellectuals with nasal voices, thick glasses, slicked back hair and pocket protectors.

Some of this isn't your fault.

I mean, a man can only take so many wedgies before he goes to pieces.

Good luck to you, buddy.

The term became mainstream in the seventies, thanks in part to a happy days.

There are two kinds of people cool and nerds on the totem pole of social outcasts.

Nerds were at the top and geeks were as low as one could go.

Then somewhere in the middle, you had dorks, dweebs, eggheads, squares and Poindexter's.

Basically everybody loved Fonzie and nobody wanted to be Potsie.

I've heard that.

That said, Fonzie was essentially a sillier version of James Dean's character in Rebel Without a Cause, who arguably paved the way for geek and nerd heroes.

Sure, Dean was handsome, well dressed in anything but nerdy, but Jim Stark was one of the earliest examples of a misfit hero.

He didn't fit the crowd, but that is the very reason audiences were drawn to him.

You're tearing may by what you you say one thing he says another, and everybody changes back again.

The geek or nerd hero didn't really start to emerge until the 19 eighties.

This decade was all about the action heroes.

Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis.

These were the muscle bound, tough guys that audiences fantasized about being.

Go ahead, Mingkang Deng.

It's the best one works, doesn't you're telling me.

In the midst of all the testosterone, however, several unlikely heroes put brains before brawn, one of the first examples was Kevin Flynn in 1982.

Strawn Flynn is a programmer and a skilled gamer, but he wasn't depicted as a stereotypical nerd.

He was a normal guy who just so happens to be computer savvy, leading to success both in the virtual and real worlds on the other side of the screen.

It all look so easy, this trend continued, and other eighties films from Matthew Broderick's Heroic Slacker and War games.

To the gutsy gamers in The Wizard, you have 10 minutes of the player with the most points way.

Ghostbusters, in particular, was a major breakthrough for nerd heroes shining the spotlight on scientists.

Back off man, I'm a scientist.

Each Ghostbuster has a distinctive personality and even the most conventionally nerdy one.

Egan isn't a cookie cutter cliche.

I'm always serious again.

I'm going to take back some of the things I said about you.

He's the stone faced, no nonsense one, which perfectly complements Peter's sarcasm, raise constant rambling and Winston's everyman pragmatism.

I just got overexcited E, but it wasn't an incredible Pete.

I mean, we actually touched the etheric plane.

Something similar could be said about 1985 The Goonies who are all distinctive misfits that brings something unique to the table that a year.

So you know it's your top score on polls.

Possessions your Chuck.

Look, it's a matter of our coastline.

What's all that Spanish junk right there?

Who knows my mouth?

You said you could translate.

Translate right here from the same year, The Breakfast Club is notable for breaking down social divisions in high school stereotypes.

You see us as you want to see us in the simplest terms, the most convenient definitions.

There's an especially powerful scene where Anthony Michael Hall is.

Brian reflects on how he got detention, delving into the pressures of being a brain.

What's the gun for, Brian?

Forget you brought it up, man.

I can't have a F.

Hall went on to play another nerd in weird science, getting everything he ever wanted.

Thanks to improbable computer engineering, she's alive, alive, Uh, mhm.

So what would you little maniacs like to do first?

Of course, John Hughes movies weren't always flattering in their depictions of nerds in 16 candles, Ted is a creepy loser and long duck dong.

Well, the less said, the better.

What's happening?

Hot stuff.

Despite some nuanced portrayals.

Most movies at the time leaned into caricatures.

Revenge of the Nerds, for example, is a mixed bag.

On the one hand, it empowers nerds and encourages audiences to treat them with respect.

Any of you that have ever felt stepped on, left out, picked on, put down.

Whether you think you're a nerd or not, why don't you just come down here and join us?

Okay.

On the other hand, most of the jokes come at the expense of nerdy generalizations.

The nerds are mostly interchangeable dweebs, and let's be honest, they should all be in jail for their revenge.

You are each order to serve not less than 44 years in maximum security prison.

Uh huh.

How whether the film helped or hurt geek culture geeks wouldn't truly start getting revenge until the nineties.

In the new decade, the World Wide Web open to the public and the Internet appeared in people's homes.

What do President Clinton, conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh and rock star Billy Idol have in common?

They've all got electronic mail addresses on computer systems linked to the Internet Ah, global hookup that permits computers to exchange information linking computers around the globe, The Net allowed passionate fans to connect with each other through message boards and chats.

Well, it's very hip to be on the Internet right now.

Soon enough, personal computers went from being luxuries to facets of everyday life.

Throughout the eighties, people unassociated money and power with oil barons like J.

R.

Ewing and Wall Street moguls like Gordon Gekko.

Re for lack of a better Word is good.

Greed is right.

Greed works.

This all changed with the rise of tech giants like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, both of whom would accumulate networks of billions.

He is wealthy, successful, respected individuals changed.

How many people viewed nerds?

Pinky World's richest nerd, bill greats.

However, this wasn't immediately reflected in TV and film, when many people thought of geeks or nerds.

The first thing that came to mind was comic book Guy in The Simpsons, a slovenly loser who dedicates his time to obsessing and complaining over trivial matters.

But Aquaman, you cannot marry a woman without gills.

You're from two different worlds wasted my life.

We're not saying these types of people don't exist, but they don't exactly represent the majority on the other side of the coin.

There was 1990 nines.

The Matrix, which centered on a stylish computer programmer who becomes humanity savior.

He is the one halfway between comic book guy and Neo.

You had Freaks and Geeks, arguably the most honest depiction of the social misfits of the eighties.

So shall we say Asteroids?

My place.

3 30.

Yeah, that's when you want to get your butt kicking.

Tha titular geeks were awkward, but they dealt with relatable problems that most high school students still experience.

Executive producer Judd Apatow always felt like a nerd growing up, which translated well into future projects like the 40 year Old Virgin and Superbad Number two.

It doesn't even have a first name.

It just says McLovin.

What one name, one name?

Who are you?

Seal?

Fogle Zaidi says.

You're 25 years old.

Why wouldn't you just put 21 man?

The same could be said about other geeks and nerds who grew up to be content creators like Peter Jackson, John Sweden and J.

J.

Abrams, not to mention Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

One of the most interesting turning points for nerd heroes was Napoleon Dynamite.

What are you gonna do today?

Napoleon e.

Feel like I Wanna Be Oh, Napoleon took geekiness to a new extreme, yet people could not get enough of the sleeper hit, constantly quoting Napoleon's one liners and wearing vote for Pedro T shirts.

Even the climactic dance number was like a YouTube video before YouTube even existed.

E contribute him out here nice.

When YouTube did launch the following year, audiences were introduced to a new platform that allowed them to analyze trailers, share theories and connect with other members of the fan community like never before.

So it's a really easy thing.

You can upload up to 100 megs of video Onda.

We're actually gonna walk through the process of doing that, so you have a sense of how easy it actually TV also saw a rise of endearing nerdy heroes like Seth Cohen on the O.

C.

The I T crowd and, of course, the cast of the Big Bang theory.

While most self proclaimed nerds will argue that Sheldon Cooper is not an authentic portrayal of geek culture, the Big Bang theory was for a time TV's highest rated sitcom, Dr Rostenkowski.

It may interest you to know that saying, Pew, Pew!

Pew isn't as effective as pressing your Blaster key.

There's a reason audiences tuned in for 12 seasons.

The show, not on Lee, reveled in nerdy pop culture references.

It also got more people interested in geek culture.

You think after Xbox, there'd be Xbox, too, But no.

Next came Xbox 3 60 and now, after 3 60 comes Xbox one leg It or not, the comedy marked a cultural shift in how mainstream audiences view sci fi, fantasy and superheroes as well as their fans on the big screen.

Tough guys like John Rambo were being phased out in favor of superheroes like Tony Stark, Stephen Strange and Peter Parker, all of whom brought intellects to the equation.

Big Man in a Suit of armor Take that off.

What are you, genius?

Billionaire Playboy philanthropist?

Outside of comic book movies, you had brilliant bookworms like her money Granger and pop culture savvy Fanboys like Wade Watts, a creator who hates his own creation shining.

It's Halliday's 11th favorite horror film, and it's based on the best selling book by Stephen King, who hated the movie The Social Network made for compelling drama, turning Mark Zuckerberg into a practically Shakespearian figure.

You have part of my attention.

You have the minimum amount.

The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing.

Even Disney princesses shifted from being practically perfect, too adorable, ready for what?

Geeky and nerdy heroes dominate content now more than ever, perhaps because they hit closer to home than traditional action heroes.

Most of us wouldn't blend in with the expendables, but we'd certainly fit in with the Losers club.

If Clark Kent could be Superman, perhaps real life nerds can rise up his heroes as well.

If a superhero can't save his family, he's not much of a hero.

I was stationed catchphrase.

When will Merkel's and seersuckers get their day, though?