Friday, April 18, 2014

Will Wheaton on being a nerd and on bulling

Surprisingly pellucid advice from an actor to a young fan asking, "were you a nerd?" A room full of nerds cheers.




14 comments:

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Those adult, high minded, intellectually superior concepts are well indented.

Unfortunately, they don't translate well, they don't stand up well in battlefield conditions.

deborah said...

Great advice, and well delivered on his questioner's level.

Ironically, it's a thing among some Trekkies to disparage Wesley Crusher lol.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I heard on about these rules on how to deal with bullies. I looked them up and now it appears they might have been made up.

USA Today: "A flier with dubious advice for dealing with bullies was distributed to fifth graders in Lincoln, NE, this week, which left parents in an uproar and the school with egg on their faces.

The flier, distributed at Zeman Elementary School in Lincoln, gave nine "rules" for dealing with bullies:

Rule #1: Refuse to get mad

Rule #2: Treat the person who is being mean as if they are trying to help you

Rule #3: Do not be afraid

Rule #4: Do not verbally defend yourself

Rule #5: Do not attack

Rule #6: If someone physically hurts you, just show you are hurt; do not get angry

Rule #7: Do not tell on bullies

Rule #8: Don't be a sore loser

Rule #9: Learn to laugh at yourself and not get 'hooked' by put-downs>

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

on the radio...

Chip Ahoy said...

Yeah, estaba muy ridiculoso. I read later, the next day, that the school principal apologized saying that was a mistake to send it. Nebraska. I was going to ask my sister about that then realized she hardly keeps up.

The Dude said...

Rule #10: Failing the first 9, shoot the sumbitch.

Dead bullies bully no one.

Michael Haz said...

That was excellent advice. Good for him for taking the time to give an answer so well crafted to that child's question.

Shouting Thomas said...

The notion that intellectual prowess and athletic prowess are mutually exclusive is completely false.

I could name dozens of examples from people I've met.

Everybody gets bullied at some time and everybody plays the bully at some time. It's part of the human condition and it's not going to get fixed through "education" or political action.

Unknown said...

Wheaton!

Icepick said...

Deb, Wesley Crusher WAS an annoying character. There's a whole series of "Wesley can't get any episodes" and another series of "Wesley is so brilliant he's beyond human" episodes, and they all suck in an annoying fashion. And the idea that the flagship of an interstellar civilization's military service would be intrusted to a child was ludicrous even by the standards of Star Trek.

None of which is a reflection on Wheaton, who was an actor looking for work. But man, that character sucked.

Paddy O said...

Icepick is right.

Wesley Crusher is the Jar-Jar Binks of Star Trek.

That Wil Wheaton has parlayed that into respectable popularity is a credit to him as a person. Though, not really as an actor since he wasn't really a good actor and didn't keep with it.

But, he took the boost Star Trek gave him and he did something with it. Something interesting and productive. That's something far too many celebrities don't do.

Reminds me of Peter Weller in that way.

Rabel said...

He and wife, Anne, have two sons, Nolan and Ryan, from her previous marriage.

Really?

Icepick said...

Reminds me of Peter Weller in that way.

Back up there, pal! Don't go impugning the acting ability of Peter Weller. Next thing you'll be talking trash about Jeff Fahey, and then we will have a serious fight on our hands!

Paddy O said...

Heaven forbid I ever say anything demeaning about Peter Weller's acting ability.

Similar stories, bigger scale in Weller's version.

As far as Buckaroo Bonzai is from Wesley Crusher, so too is Weller far beyond Wil Wheaton.