NEWS: Japanese Theater Offering Discounts to the Supposedly Socially Inept

CULTURE: Japanese Theater Offering Discounts to the Supposedly Socially Inept

In a society as categorically homogenous as Japan, even the slightest deviation from laughable standards of normalacy can cost you a new job, or even a girlfirend. It might not be fair to say the entire nation is status mad, but a distressing number of people are.

Consider, then, the plight of the Japanese geek. Unlike the geek of the west – a creature that is largely freed of purile highschool stereotypes – he is the subject of derision nearly everywhere he goes. Though his array of skills and his technical knowledge might find use, his ideas are derided. His manhood is insulted. Heaven help him if he is, in defiance of my questionable masculine pronoun, a woman.

So when I discovered a Tokyo theater was doing the unthinkable – offering discounts to any self-confessed geek – I was quite startled.

Which is not entirely surprising. A casual glance around, to pick an entirely random example, the everyday contents of my living room would reveal a selection of highly charismatic and aesthetically pleasing individuals, most of whom fit the appelation geek quite contentedly. Whatever their closedminded country might think of them, I'm certain the geeks of Japan are equally disparate.

The japanese term "otaku" is a bit harsher than the American "geek", I think.

SO I read the link... other [yes, a big "other"] than the association with the serial killer, it seems like it means "geek", just more so? Maybe more like "freak", when freak is associated with some activity, i.e. I am a bird freak - I like bird watching, I like reading about birds, whatever (I'm not, but I'm damn close).

Huh. Japan is weird. Or at least a helluva lot different than here... (us)

I had always thought that geek culture was more mainstream in Japan. The fascination with robots, comic books sold in book stores, giant video game conventions (or is that just Korea?), and of course the American stereotype that all Japanese men are effeminate nerds has led me to believe that it was socially acceptable in Japan to be a geek. I guess I was wrong, but they must make up a much larger percentage of the population than they do in America.

I think a more literal translation would be "fanboy", rather than "geek". Being a geek in Western culture has more than a couple positive connotations to it. Fanboy? Not so much.

It seems likely that many of these things aren't considered geeky in Japan, as they are here. We sell comic books in book stores in America too, by the way.

I done seen that show. It was a good show them circus people done put on.

You should see the definition of geek in my circa 1960 dictionary of American slang. I don't have the thing handy but basically a geek was a circus performer who performed depraved and debased acts like biting the heads off of live animals... There was not even an alternate definition for someone who's into electronics, sci-fi, etc. I wonder how the hell the word took on it's present meaning.

Nick

That's a pretty good analogy. Whereas here saying "One ticket for a geek" might be a little peculiar, a great many people would say it solely for the free tickets. Over there, that mightn't be so much of a problem.

[Edited on Sep 04, 2005 3:06PM]