Embracing Optimism

One of the key differences between my roommate and myself is that she tends towards cynicism and I tend towards optimism.

I only mention this because I feel like as a nerd it’s really hard to be optimistic. Even though nerd things are mainstream right now, what makes a person a nerd isn’t. I recently read Chris Hardwick’s The Nerdist Way. He talks a lot about what makes a nerd different than other people and how to harness the power of our nerd brains to get all of our work done. (I highly recommend this book! Honestly, I’m much better at goal setting because of it and I feel good about myself more without having to work as hard for it.) Nerds, he says, are almost always introverted and because of this we develop problems with confidence. It’s easier to think about how much we suck than how great it is that we accomplished a goal.

I see this carry over into things we should be excited about all the time. It’s easier to be cynical about the new Spiderman than it is to hope that Garfield will stand up to pressure. And elitism is one of the easiest, and therefore worst, ways to be cynical. My roommate will freely admit that she’s an elitist, which always makes me wince. She grew up with the original Star Trek and Hawaii Five-O. She’s a purest; while she can say that JJ Abrams’ Star Trek is “alright”, she refuses to watch Hawaii Five-0. To her remakes are abhorrent and cannot match up to the original. She’s willing to give new material a try, but is quick to roll her eyes when it doesn’t meet her expectations.

It’s far more challenging and rewarding to be optimistic. It’s far more fun to welcome new fans to the table and hear what they have to say than to jealously guard the secrets of “your” thing. We can only hope for the future with nerd things. There’s no saying how a movie will turn out or if the thing you enjoy will even make it to next week. If we don’t share and keep an open mind, all the unique, special things we enjoy will suffer because unfortunately it’s difficult to get them produced in the first place.

I say embrace new shows and reincarnations of your favorites. Recognize that TOS (the original Star Trek) is filled with camp and joy, but that The Next Generation was amazing as well. Dare to enjoy that Abrams helped bring this thing back, that bringing new people to this universe can only help generate even more Star Trek.

The whole thing is a bit like watching a favorite Doctor regenerate. It’s scary and there’s often a lot of strange lights and hullabaloo surrounding it, but there’s potential. And sometimes the change is extremely rewarding. I cannot imagine Doctor Who without thinking about Eccleston as Nine because he was my first Doctor. But Tennant’s reign brought the show a massive following, and I adore Smith as Eleven so much that I feel very comfortable saying he’s my Doctor.  Unless you read spoilers, a fan doesn’t know how the season will go or who this new Doctor will be, in the end. The quirks are different and the companions will change, but at the heart of the show there’s a recognizable figure that any fan can claim as an influence.

So be hopeful. If something sucks, you don’t have to keep watching it, I don’t want you to torture yourself. But if NBC hadn’t renewed Parks and Recreation, we wouldn’t have the bright, happy show it is now; and if you don’t give something a chance to impress you, you’ll be sitting alone wondering why being bitter doesn’t feel so great.*

*I spent a fun year being elitist about Bones (back when it was good, oops), so this is the voice of experience. I’m much happier now than I ever was then, which is an accumulation of a lot of things, sure, but optimism is a key factor.