Geek culture has recently seen a massive surge in popularity, owed largely to its being embraced by people who, just a few years ago, would never have been associated with anything nerdy. The parameters of what qualifies as nerdy have expanded considerably, and media that caters to an audience of geeks is treated seriously.

Though geek culture has had past moments of being cool, it was rare to find it being wholly endorsed by people who did not consider themselves geeks. In the ’90s, television shows like The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer explored comic book-friendly themes and featured attractive characters who, for a time drew non-geeks into their fan bases. Unfortunately, the deep mythologies that die-hard fans love drove away a good number of those casual viewers. Something similar happened with Lost a decade later; non-geek fans fell by the wayside as it became more and more apparent that the show was really about time travel. [Read more…]