Book Review: The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth

"...the things that make kids bullied, ridiculed, and ostracized in high school are the same things that others will value in them after high school and will even make them valuable, productive, and simply good people."

I recently finished this amazing book. It is another in the series of geek/nerd related literature I've been digging into, like Nerds, American Nerd, & Geek Wisdom. Definitely check out my reviews for all of them too if you're interested.

This book has a unique hook that I really enjoyed. The author, Alexandra Robbins, coins the idea of "quirk theory" which defines as essentially being that the things that make kids bullied, ridiculed, and ostracized in high school are the same things that others will value in them after high school and will even make them valuable, productive, and simply good people. These would be having unique interests, being creative, and having their own beliefs that resist the influence of popular conformity. Robbins has a great quote from an article written by Walter Isaacson for Wired magazine that really sends this idea home:

'What made Einstein special was his impertinence, his nonconformity, and his distaste for dogma. Einstein's genius reminds us that society's competitive advantage comes not from teaching the multiplication or periodic tables but from nurturing rebels. Grinds have their place, but unruly geeks change the world.'

I love this sentiment. I felt the pressure to be "normal" in high school and realized that I was a nerd and that was a bad thing to the cool kids in high school. I was fine with myself before that but the cruel realities of those four years made me feel less than. Robbins goes into a lot of the reasons why high school is such a gauntlet of trials for so many students. She also tells the stories of several students from different backgrounds from all across the country over the course of a school year to showcase examples of what she is talking about throughout the book. Such topics include identity, conformity, why popular people are mean, and if being popular even makes you truly happy. The arcs that all the characters in the book go through are engaging and riveting. You go through ups and downs with all of them and their lives feel real and authentic. You get their responses to everything that happens to them and I felt compelled to keep reading to see what happened next.

Robbins goes into other surrounding topics to the subject matter of high school struggles like teachers, administrators, and parents. She gives 31 awesome actionable tips at the end for folks to takeaway, which I always appreciate. It's a light read as well, and never feels long-winded.

Much like Nerds, this book is a great overview of why anti-nerd bias exists, what perpetuates it, what it does to us, and what to do about it. I really enjoyed it, and maybe some of that comes from it resonating with me so much personally but I feel like everyone has felt a little out of place at some in their life, whether that was in high school, college, work, or even within their own family. There are valuable parcels of wisdom for any and all here.

Check out The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, and I urge you to share it with any educators, parents, or anyone who struggled with their identity in high school. I know they'll get something from it.

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Movie Review Monday: Heathers

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's movie is Heathers from 1988, which comes to us via Netflix and stars Christian Slater and Winona Ryder.

The basic premise of the classic movie is that a high school student named Veronica (Ryder) is fed up with her clique-y group of popular friends, the "Heathers", and wishes they would just go away. In comes Slater's character who has a deadly solution. It all seems like fun and games until the bodies start to pile up and the whole school is thrown into chaos. Think Mean Girls just with more guns, death, and mayhem.

The movie isn't terribly gory or violent. It is also rather cheeky and silly at times. It's a mash-up of genres for sure, a dark, comedic, thriller where Ryder is forced to deal with her problems maturely. There is a lot going on thematically but it all works. There is also cliche 80s and high school stereotypes in the movie, which is great decades apart from the time this movie came out. You have your overly dorky nerds, stupid cops, aloof parents, and dimwitted jocks. The dialogue in this movie is also pretty incredible, with zingers, one-liners, and quotables all over the place. It's a lot of fun and gives the movie its unique flavor.

My only gripe, which I totally acknowledge comes from me being in 2014 and this movie being nearly as old as I am, is that a major sequence in the film is about how the jocks are pranked and made to look like they're gay, which is apparently the worst thing in the world. It was certainly a different time back then.

I recommend this movie as a pretty solid popcorn movie you don't have to think too much about but it is certainly smarter than it looks.

You can check out Heathers streaming now on Netflix!

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Movie Review Monday: The Breakfast Club

Welcome to another edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's movie is the classic 1985 film, The Breakfast Club, coming to us via Netflix.

I have to admit, I love this movie and have always loved this movie. I haven't sat down to watch in a while but it definitely holds up. The basic premise is that a group of high school students have to spend a Saturday in detention for various reasons. They are all basically your typical stereotypes; jock, nerd, popular kid, the loner, and the misfit. The movie is so simple since all the plot entails is just getting these five people stuck in a room together and letting the rest play itself out. Judd Nelson's misfit John Bender is one who begins to instigate the others to divulge things about themselves. Where at first all of these starkly different stereotypical high school students thought they had nothing in common, by the end of the day, they realize they're more similar than they ever thought.

I love how simple and minimalist this movie is. It completely hinges on the characters and the actor's performances, and they all succeed greatly. Each character is nuanced and has their own moments to shine. Nelson is certainly a highlight of the movie and provides most of the film's quotable moments. Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and Emilio Estevez all provide great turns here, and Ally Sheedy is very intriguing as the quirky Allison. I wish I could have a whole movie of her!

The Breakfast Club should be required viewing in high schools. It breaks down those foolish misconceptions we have about each other that put up walls and separate us. Every one has their own problems and we all want the same things in life, to be loved, appreciated, and to be able to pursue our own dreams. I feel like this is going on a continuing list of great films I have to show my children when they grow up. Even after almost thirty years, this timeless classic is still relevant today. Plus, it has that great Simple Minds song in the soundtrack! It's just great all around!

I highly recommend The Breakfast Club, which is streaming now on Netflix.

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Movie Review Monday: The Spectacular Now

Hello and welcome to another Movie Review Monday!

This week, I'm reviewing 2013's The Spectacular Now, which is actually available to stream on Amazon Prime Instant Video (not Netflix). In an effort to include more awesome movies for you to stream at home, I'm including now some movies I've found on Amazon. You can get Prime for $99/year (which also includes free two-day shipping on products sold and shipped by Amazon, music streaming, and other benefits). That equates to $8.25/month, which is pretty comparable to Hulu Plus and Netflix, but I digress.

The Spectacular Now stars Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley (the latter most recently of Divergent fame). The plot is a basic coming of age tale for Miles Teller's character Sutter. Both Sutter and Woodley's character Aimee are graduated seniors trying to figure out their respective lives. Sutter is the popular kid who is lamenting the prospect of the future while Aimee is the simple "girl next door" that Sutter takes a liking to. There is a subplot of Sutter exploring his relationship with his deadbeat father that eventually intersects with Sutter's relationship with Aimee in a dramatic fashion.

I found this to be a fresh, modern take on a pretty routine story of growing up after high school. Both Teller and Woodley are great in the movie, and I look forward to seeing more great movies from them in the future, with Woodley probably taking on more Divergent films and Teller starring in movies like the new Fantastic Four reboot.

This is a good movie if you're looking for a realistic love story intertwined with a classic coming of age tale.

Check it out streaming now on Amazon Prime Instant Video! Hope you enjoy it!

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