Why nerds come out on top
In every TV show, you typically have your classic heartthrob: the conventionally attractive male lead cast to capture the love interest. However, the producers who work so hard to get me to fall for the male lead have never succeeded. The nerdy best friend or coworker is the downfall of every show’s heartthrob as that is who I, and the rest of the viewers, fall for.
Take one of my favorite shows, for example, Criminal Minds, an epic show detailing the work of FBI profilers getting into the minds of some of the most dangerous criminals to stop them at their next move. Those familiar with the show might know Derek Morgan, the conventionally attractive and athletic FBI agent who can kick down doors and chase criminals down. When this show was aired, many thought that Derek Morgan would capture viewers attention and win them over to keep watching future seasons. While I love Derek’s character, Spencer Reid, the scrawny germaphobic FBI agent who has an IQ of 187 has my heart.
This shift in attention has come from a much larger societal shift from conventionally attractiveness-based measures to more personality-based measures in determining overall attraction. The fact is that nerdy characters bring heaping amounts of authentic personality to the show’s they are on compared to the conventionally attractive characters. Would Criminal Minds be quite as funny or entertaining without Spencer Reid’s wit or quips at other characters–most likely not. While Derek Morgan is a great character, his character’s personality isn’t explored very much and what we know about him can be simplified to being a self-described “ladies man” and athletic.
Another example of this comes from a classic sitcom, Parks and Recreation. In season 2, two new characters were introduced: Chris Traeger, who runs everyday and takes various supplements everyday, and Ben Wyatt, who watches Game of Thrones, Star Wars and plays board games. Who do you think is the more entertaining and adored character? While opinions may differ, Ben’s personality is delved into much more, giving us more of a chance to know the character better and relate to him which has resulted in many fans of his character, but not many of Chris’s character.
Overall, the love for TV nerds can also be boiled down to one major trait: authenticity. There is nothing more attractive than being yourself and embracing all the weird traits and hobbies you have, and the nerds can do this better than anyone. Oftentimes, shows will get rid of the relatable traits that make a love interest interesting to viewers in order to frame them as more perfect and unattainable; however, it just makes me disinterested. While the classic heartthrob trope may have been the way for TV shows to go in the past, it’s time to give the people what they want, more screen time for the nerds out there.