Anghus Houvouras on the malicious misogyny of the modern movie geek…
I haven’t written anything in a few weeks. This is because I only write columns when I feel compelled to do so. Like any sanctimonious writer I require the sweet touch of inspiration. Half the reason most people write in the first place is a deep-seeded need to organize thoughts and offer an opinion. It’s as cathartic to the writer as it is (hopefully) entertaining to the reader.
For the first time in years I’ve found myself uninspired to pen a column. I’ve tried here and there halfheartedly starting and abandoning columns about Darren Aronofsky’s polarizing mother! and a long gestating piece comparing Contact to Arrival as examples of romanticism vs. post-modernism. I just couldn’t do it. 2017 has been a strange, troubling and continues to evolve from baffling to maddening and lately inducing a kind of mental paralysis. The Trump Presidency and ascendancy of troll culture in America has made a lot of things seem meaningless.
Recently however there have been a number of news stories featuring movie critics, writers, columnists involved with sexual harassment and assaults on women. It started last year with Devin Faraci from Birth.Movies.Death who was accused of inappropriate sexual contact with a female friend. Then Alamo Drafthouse owner Tim League apparently never actually fired Faraci and kept him employed. A pattern emerged with Tim League and the Alamo Drafthouse suppressing, concealing and mitigating sexual harassment for decades including accusations involving Aint It Cool News & Fantastic Fest co-founder Harry Knowles. There have been countless more cases popping up in recent weeks that go as high as Harvey Weinstein and as low as Screen Junkies (you don’t get much lower). To say that there is a systemic pattern of not listening or patently dismissing claims of abuse against women in the online film community feels painfully obvious.
I’m a middle-aged movie geek. I’ve been one for a long time. A movie geek, not middle-aged. The kind of person that as a child took solace from bullies, social awkwardness and an inability to play well with others in movies and video games. I had an unhealthy attachment to these things because they became associated with my identity. Cinema and video games were the source of all my pleasure in life until I discovered masturbation. Then they became responsible for all my pleasure in life while waiting to find the will to masturbate again.
The film geeks of the world, of which I count myself, seem quite prone to abusive behavior when they find themselves in a position of authority or power. I’m sure every case is different, but I believe there are certain consistent elements in all these cases and i wanted to spend some time examining this troubling phenomena.
Geeks, nerds, dorks and the like are all forms of the socially disenfranchised. The fringe members of a social circle existing in the periphery. Back in the old days these weren’t badges of pride. Playing Star Frontiers and spending your lunch breaks in the computer club programming an Apple IIe weren’t things you went around bragging about. Liking these things identified you and made your a target. There’s a time during adolescence where kids crave acceptance. Before they realize that being different can actually yield dividends and pursuing your passions shouldn’t be a source of shame.
This very concept was explored in the 1984 comedy classic Revenge of the Nerds. A movie that many considered to be a harmless comedy but provided a far more deep insight into the mind of the Nerds/Geeks/Dorks that would eventually become the editors, writers and faces of the 21st century geek revolution.
At its most basic, Revenge of the Nerds is about a collection of nerds who are bullied by jocks and through perseverance and embracing their various skills overcome and find acceptance. Unfortunately that description glosses over the fact that the disenfranchised nerds end up raping tricking a girl into having sex, placing cameras in a sorority house bathroom to spy on them and generally treating women like sex objects.
Not everyone, mind you. Gilbert (Anthony Anderson) seemed to have more honest intentions of finding acceptance. His pursuits were the most pure, while Lewis, Booger and the rest were more interested in finding empowerment to become more attractive to the opposite sex (or in Lamar’s case, the same sex). Mind you, this was the point of almost every comedy of the 1980’s: finding popularity in order to get laid.
There’s something to be said for the psychological blueprint provided by Revenge of the Nerds, exposing the fragile entitled psyche of the disenfranchised. Because they’ve been shunned by women their whole life, they are able to rationalize behaving terribly towards them. Say what you will about Stan Gable. He may have been an asshole, but his sex was consensual.
The kind of disgusting behavior we see from movie geeks like Faraci & Knowles probably comes from a similar place. Here are two guys who probably spent much of their youth as movie geeks. The internet provided them a platform and they successfully used it to create a new paradigm of how movies are reported on and reviewed. Like it or not, they changed the game for a short while. At least until the studios realized that the easiest way to negate their impact was to welcome them into the fold and give them access.
Now, as prominent online icons they have attention and the kind of notoriety that makes them feel powerful. Socially awkward, inexperienced guys who are now getting attention they so desperately craved. Like Lewis, Poindexter and the rest of the Nerds they would have their ‘revenge’ on the women that had previously shunned them. In their minds, they deserved attention from the opposite sex. Their sudden popularity had given them an overwhelming dose of entitlement. Now they could simply ask women for what they want and under the right circumstances, try to take it.
If we look at how geeks are presented in media, there is always an underlying level of misogyny. Just watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory and listen to how the men not on the spectrum talk about women like objects to be owned and won. This social awkwardness is played for laughs, but there’s a very ugly truth to it. Nerds/Geeks/Dorks aka the disenfranchised end up so desperate for attention from women that they are able to strip away their humanity and see them as something less than human.
This aligns with the same kind of entitlement you hear from celebrities who begin to see themselves as better than the mouth breathing fans who adore them. The combination of being a socially awkward geek AND a person in a position of authority creates a unique kind of potential predator.
Imagine someone who already has issues with the opposite sex then getting into a position where they suddenly feel untouchable.
I took great interest when i first heard the accusations leveled against Devin Faraci and Harry Knowles. Firstly because I spent a lot of time in the Aint It Cool chat room back in the day. Countless hours talking with other film geeks. People I still communicate with to this day. I attended one of Harry’s Butt-Numb-Athons back in 2003. I’m a middle-aged film geek who has been writing about the entertainment industry for nearly 20 years. Watching countless people who meet my general description (albeit far more successful) ending up in situations where they exhibit abhorrent behaviour has made me wonder what exactly the point of being a film columnist is anymore.
I suppose all of us who have written about movies online are doing it because we like feeling as if we are part of the greater discussion. That in some way we are contributing to the tapestry of film criticism and offering something unique. Though there are ten-thousand film blogs out there that prove that to be patently false. Am I actually bringing anything to the online experience that isn’t being provided by a hundred other writers? Most people aren’t doing this for the money, as the money for writing columns about films dried up a long time ago. The new generation of movie critics and taste-makers have transitioned to YouTube. The truth is I started writing about movies because I love them, but I also love the attention I receive. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t write columns because of the validation it provides. It enables a level of narcissism within me. It makes me feel as though my opinions somehow hold more weight than yours. Someone pays me for my opinion. In my mind (and I’m sure in others) it makes you feel more valuable. It makes you feel relevant. It makes you feel like you’re an important part of a social community rather than a disenfranchised existence living on the periphery.
The relevancy of the Aint It Cool generation of film writers ended a while back. Personalities like Knowles and Faraci were practically relics by the time these ugly accusations came to light. But there are still lessons that could be learned from these women who have brave enough to speak up.
We movie geeks need to examine our priorities. We need to listen more than we talk. We need to take predators like Faraci and Knowles to task as well as enablers like Tim League who chose the safety and practicality of silence over the safety of female staffers. The model of the modern movie geek needs to be dismantled and rebuilt. We need to do more than demonize the guilty. We need to identify the misogynistic tendencies in the geek culture and try to create a community that listens to those harassed and help find a happy medium that allows for the safety of everyone.
It starts with admitting our current role in the process and finding a way to be better. Listening more than talking. Trying to avoid objectification. Supporting rather than tearing down. Demanding better of our peers and those in positions of authority. Not giving celebrities or people you admire the benefit of the doubt simply because you admire them or covet their successes.
I don’t know what a perfect film community looks like, but I know we can be better. The first step is admitting that it’s time to make a change. I’m sure there are those that will feel this kind of grandstanding is coming from a judgmental place. Trust me, I’m the last person that should be standing on a pulpit making grand decrees. I do, however, believe in patterns. And we’ve seen enough over the last few weeks to know that the women of the geek community deserve better.
It’s time for the modern movie geek to evolve. Even the middle-aged ones.
Anghus Houvouras
