Okay, folks, get ready. I’m going to bare all. Metaphorically speaking, of course. You ready? I like…geeks.
There, I said it. And the thing is, I know I’m not alone. Geeks—those hyper-intelligent, sometimes obsessive, often absentminded guys—are all over TV, and movies, too, but I’ll confine my comparisons to TV, since we already know I watch Way Too Much of it.
Case in point: Ashton Kutcher’s latest reality TV entry, Beauty and the Geek. Yeah, I was ready to be ashamed I’d watched it, but I’m actually not. I’ll admit to a little snickering over some of the “beauties’” all too apparent lack of IQ (and readily apparent love of tanning booths and hair spray) but what’s really charming about the show is the guys. Smart, shy, nice guys. I pledged my fealty to little Joe, who made me want to hug him every time he was on screen.
The show is a cute look at real-life geeks (well, as real as reality TV lets them be, of course) but my true fascination is with fictional geeks. And there are quite a few, on some of TV’s most popular shows.
Think of Rupert Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Think of Wesley Wyndam-Price on Angel. Guys completely dedicated to the scholarly pursuit of…okay, fighting demons, but still. Bookish, nerdy guys, a librarian and a perpetual student, neither of whom look to many people, on first glance, sexy in the least. But scratch the surface and you’ve got guys whose brains are sexier than any other guy’s, and who are not afraid to whip out a stake or a crossbow for the cause. Giles, we found out as Buffy evolved, had a past as a “black magic, hates the world, ticking time bomb guy,” not to mention a kick-ass record collection, a way with a guitar, and an earring. Dull librarian? On the outside, maybe. And Wes, of course, slowly progressed from a prissy British prep school boy who knew something about everything but real life, into a man fighting his own demons, and learning how to throw himself, physically, into any situation that demanded it.
These guys have layers. Levels. Of course, they were written beautifully, so that’s a plus, but they’re not simple spazzes. And they’re definitely no relation to Urkel, or that annoying kid from Saved by the Bell.
And there are more, well outside the Buffy-verse. Three notable stand-outs: Gil Grissom from the original CSI, Greg House from the fabulous new show of the same name, and Charlie Epps, the math prodigy from Numb3rs. Yeah, Gil’s kind of cute, in a teddy bear way, and Hugh Laurie has those expressive, to-die-for eyes, and Charlie’s unruly mop of curls makes me…write slobbering, sentimental things like “unruly mop of curls,” but none of these guys are what you’d call studs. They’re not buff, or swaggering, or physically impressive.
But they’re so freakin’ smart. And smart, for me, means more than good old book learning. Smart means a guy who uses his whole brain, who’s intelligent enough to apply his knowledge, who’s curious about everything in the world because the world is so fascinating. These guys think about things, including women. These guys, I believe, feel a little more deeply because they perceive so much more. These guys use their heads to save the world.
I could go on, about why smart guys probably make awesome lovers, and why no guy is going to have a great sense of humor unless he’s smart enough to understand the great cosmic joke that is life on this planet can be in the first place, but I won’t. My question is, why aren’t more of these sexy geeks romance novel heroes?
I know there have been a few, but they’re only qualified geeks. The hero from Nora Roberts’ Heaven and Earth, Mac Booke, is a geek…kind of. Yes, he’s absentminded and extremely intelligent, and kind of obsessed with his research. But he’s also ripped. We’re talking an athlete’s physique. And, of course, traditionally good-looking to boot. There’s Vicki Lewis Thompson’s Nerd series, too, but those guys seem either to be 1) not really nerds, or 2) nerds who get transformed into hunks.
Am I wrong? Are there more out there? Am I the only reader who would love to see guys like my favorite geek TV heroes between the pages of a book? Is it really so difficult to fall in love with a guy who’s not perfectly chiseled or athletically gifted?
It should be easier to include geeks in books than on TV, too, because you can get so much farther into a character’s head on the page. And geeks, by definition, have a lot of very cool thoughts to examine. But I don’t see it anywhere.
Is this the same conversation undertaken here a month or so back, about overweight (or at the very least realistically sized) heroines? Do we need the fantasy to include the perfect body? I’ll be the first to admit that I get my shallow on plenty—I don’t know how well I’d take to a seriously overweight hero (although I love me some Hurley on Lost–just, not like that).
The difference between what we watch and what we read fascinates me. We accept a lot of things on screen far more easily than we do in romances. Geeks seem to be one of them. And I’m asking, how come? Anyone you don’t see represented in romances that you’d like to? Anyone else with me on the geek love? (Come on, anyone? Bueller?)
No related posts.
I love geeky heroes. One of my favorite heroes/male lead of all time is Calvin O’Keefe of “A Wrinkle in Time” and the rest of Madeline L’Engle’s “Murray” books. He is a brillant teenager who feels isolated from his hardscrabble family. He gets along very well w/the kids at his school, b/c he hides his intelligence. When it comes to the heroine, Meg Murray, he gets a bit awkward and flustered in an adorable teenage boy way. I say bring on the geeky heroes
Physically, musclebound heroes are great, but I also love men with that lean runner’s build.
Amy, I think it’s all about the layers and the individual hero. My favorite TV geek? Goren from Law & Order, CI. He’s so freakin’ smart . . . and it makes you want to get inside his head. Fox Mulder from the X-Files, also a little goofy and geeky and definitely hero-material.
As a writer, albeit an unpublished one, I don’t see the need to include the perfect fantasy body, and it hasn’t been an issue with either the people who have read my manuscripts — agents or crit readers. And that includes a hero who’s more leanly muscled than buffly muscled and another hero who has dropped some extra weight and is working on those last few pounds. I’ve gotten great positive feedback on him — readers like his layers, his personality, his wicked sense of humor, and his absolute devotion to the heroine once he realizes she’s the one.
One of my favorite romance heroes as a reader is a Lit professor who wears glasses and is organizationally challenged in one of Tara Taylor Quinn’s novels. He’s adorable and lovable and absolutely fantasy hero material. A little geeky, but also a strong stand-up guy when the heroine needs him to be.
Great post, and I can’t wait to see what everyone else has to say.
Okay, I got this originally from Monica Jackson’s blog: http://www.gk2gk.com/topten/waystotell.asp
It is SO true. And yes, I’d love to see more geeks in romances.
I’m not sure why we don’t accept them in romances. My husband may not be the most built guy I know (that honor goes to another geek I know who’s happily married), but he’s smart, funny, and can be very romantic. I do think it takes a special person to “get” a geek, though. They can be absent-minded and think of the strangest things.
I vote for more geeks in romances!
Love geeks. Married one!
Of course, according to some people I am one. 
I don’t think a geek hero has to be portrayed as less than physically ideal. I’ve known many (okay, I dated them, too) who applied their geek total focus to some sport along with their vocation. Out of shape geeks are not the only flavor!
A sexy geek with layers in romantic fiction? One stands out in my mind. And he was written so skillfully that I haven’t forgotten him in eight years. Yes, it’s been eight years since I last “read” him, and he’s still real to me.
The character: Sam Yank
A man of few words, but a deep thinker whose eccentricities are as sexy as they are endearing.
The book: HOT SHOT, by: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
One more just popped in my head, but I can’t remember the character’s name or the full title. The book was called HIGH … (something). Can’t remember any more than that. Oh, and the hero was a scientist/lecturer.
Btw, I’m married to a Geek as well.
Tanya
I luuurrrrves me some geeky goodness.
A big YES on Bobby Goren (actor Vincent D’Onfrio) from Law and Order: Criminal Intent. His intensity fascinates me. I could watch both the character and the actor for hours–both classic geeks.
And Josh Lyman (aka actor Bradley Whitford) from The West Wing? Truck-loads smarter than your average real-life White House Deputy Chief of Staff, a sense of humor like the crack of a whip, and the way he uses his hands when he talks…GAH. Wiry build, average face, receding hairline, yes, but that smile? Those dimples? GAH again.
Gimme a man who challenges my brain, makes me laugh, pushes me to the wall intellectually, and I’m a happy girl. I don’t know how to write a hero any other way, so I don’t try.
For a while, there was a survey that said the characteristic romance readers most appreciated in a hero was “muscles.” I’m not certain whom they polled, but no one I know who reads romance feels that way. Do I appreciate a well-built man? Of course. Would I make “muscles” my first choice? Only if “intellect” didn’t appear on the menu.
A well-written “geek” is a pleasure to read, or watch. Smart guys are sexy. It’s all about characterization.
I can’t believe I forgot Fox Mulder! And Vincent D’Onofrio’s character on Law and Order: CI is another good one, although I’ve only seen the show a few times.
“Out of shape geeks are not the only flavor!”
Oh, definitely not, it’s just that so many other roance heroes are already in peak condition, I wouldn’t mind a few skinny guys, or guys who don’t automatically look like they could be in the next Abercrombie & Fitch catalog (although I guess they’re all supposed to look about 18, aren’t they?).
Give me geeks — and all guys — in all different shapes and sizes!
You know, you raise a really good point. I watch TV very rarely, but when I have, there are some geeks that I have just loved. But when I read, I prefer Alphas. Go figure!
I married a geek, too. I’m talking sci-fi convention, dungeons-and-dragons-playing geek. We’ll have our 18th anniversary soon.
I LOVE geeky heroes. Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day, and Vincent D’Onofrio are my faves. Jayne Ann Krentz had a book (from the 80’s, I think,) one of her old category novels, called Wizard. Her hero wore glasses, bad ties, and was a mathematician who could think in five dimensions. Oh, he was great!
I am a geek and I married one, although when he decided he didn’t want to be one any longer he split, but that is a whole other story! There are not that many geeks in historical romance, although there are beta heroes. The beta hero who comes to mind is in Marsha Canham’s “The Iron Rose,” but I can’t think of his name. I love Amos in the comic strip “9 Chickweed Lane,” and Lionel in the British TV series as “Time Goes By.”
I think most of us realize that in real life an alpha male can be way too high maintenance, and so perhaps that is the main reason women tend to gravitate to romances that feature the alpha character — a wish fullfillment that they can’t or won’t have in real life.
Ooooh, I love Charlie from Numb3rs! The thing I adore about geeks is the way they get so worked up about their special subject. Charlie is amazing when he uses his unique vision to solve a crime that the FBI with all their guns and criminal knowledge can’t unravel. He gets that sparkle in his eyes, and starts looking for paper, a napkin, anything to write on…. I just love it. But I’m huge geek myself.
I watched “Average Joe” for two seasons. Yeah. Tell me about it. I was so damn mad those shallow twits picked the “good looking guy” over the other two. The guy off the first, Adam, was one of the sweetest men I’ve ever seen on television. OMG. He would have worshipped the ground she walked on. And he was well-off. Started a company when he was in his twenties or some such thing.
I LOVE Gil Grissom. My God. The mega-intelligent, people- skill lacking hottie. Yeah. He does it for me.
And Robson Green from “Wire in the Blood”? OH MY.
I love this man’s brain. Love it.
I would take a not-so-attractive guy with brains over a hottie with no gray matter. Period.
I’m wondering when the “geek factor” will become viable.
Grins*
Don’t forget McGyver! He’d do almost anything to avoid a fight, and he was truly a geek in the way he operated. I kind of felt like it was a sell out when, after a season or two, they had him all pumped up and baring his chest all the time, like he didn’t have a huge fan base without that.
Part of that kind of thinking is down to the number crunchers wanting the LCD of appeal. A beta hero, a true geek, those are gambles. It takes some courage and foresight to take a chance on the non-trad hero, or heroine, for that matter.
I’ve just been rereading Georgette Heyer’s, “Cotillion,” and I remember that I had a sneaking fondness for Dolph the first time I read it as a teenager, and I still have. (And isn’t Freddy an adorable beta hero, although he doesn’t get the girl.)
That sweet, not too brite, but adoring type is very appealing. Of course, it takes a special kind of woman to love that kind of man and not want to kill him in his sleep after a year or so. But, as the flipside of the coin from the geek hero, why not a sweet dim bulb hero?
Amy, I love Charlie of Numb3rs and Fox Mulder (miss that series). Geeks can be so much fun to write–peeling their layers away. There is something very sexy about a man who can think you out of a scrape. Intelligence is appealing!!!
Josh Lyman – ahhh…. yum. And Fox Moulder, definitely worth watching.
But as to “the flipside of the coin from the geek hero, why not a sweet dim bulb hero?” (BeeJay, above), I have to admit I don’t think I could go for this. I was discussing this with my DH the other night. For me the hero doesn’t have to be buff, but he does have to be bright. He doesn’t have to be stronger than the heroine – in fact I don’t mind if she’s stronger than he is – but he does have to be her equal intellectually.
But I wonder if most people feel this way, or if there’d be plenty of readers out there who don’t care?
Fellow geek lover here, especially Josh Lyman. Jayne Ann Krentz had a geek hero in TRUST ME…loved that book as well.
As with most things “girl,” my wiring is way off with regard to attraction. Muscle-bound heroes literally squick me out–Recently, I gave up on a novel where the heroine kept drooling over hero’s thick as tree trunk legs. (Made me think she was in love with an Ent.)
I married a self-described geek and am one myself. (Met hubby in Igneous Petrology class.) Tall, wiry and smart. (Fans self; pants).
I can’t believe I forgot Fox Mulder!
Yep. I was about to say: “What about my man, Fox Mulder?”
I guess I’m the lone woman out here.
Because I don’t feel that any of the television geeks listed here are geeks. In fact, I’ll go one step further and say that IMHO–all these examples are perfect examples of the prime romantic hero. And exactly the kind of hero that most of us love in our romances. Which is no doubt why they were all listed so often.
Sure they have brains. But that doesn’t make them a geek. It makes them a hero. And if you distill it down to the physical. Then take a look at all these examples. Fox Mulder. Will Grisom. Macguyver. Bobby Goren. Charlie from numbers. Not one of these guys is unattractive. Not one of these guys lacks sexual chemistry. Not one of these guys is actually, even–well bland.
I think you’d find it much harder to draw the kind of interest your examples drew, with a true geek. For example. On CSI Las Vegas. The true geek on that show would be the lab rat guy. The one who wants to be a CSI Crime Scene investigator. I watch that show religiously, yet I can’t even recall his name. Now he’s got brains. But there is something not quite as physically appealing about him. No sexual chemistry. And I can’t help but notice that no one mentioned him.
And when it comes to true geeks. I think that’s why they don’t make the best heroes. Because the sexual chemistry simply isn’t there. That’s not to say you can’t develop it, as the book progresses, and as the heroine gets to know the geek in question. But with a true geek, you’ve already got a uphill battle selling them to the readers.
Because the truth is–a romance is a fantasy. And oh, give me a hero with brains. But I want that sexual chemistry too. I want him to be attractive. He doesn’t need to be buff. He doesn’t need to be gorgous. But he does need to be at least sexually attractive. Like Bobby and Will and MacGuyver and all the other examples we’ve mentioned.
Just my 2 cents.
Theresa
“CSI Las Vegas. The true geek on that show would be the lab rat guy. The one who wants to be a CSI Crime Scene investigator. I watch that show religiously, yet I can’t even recall his name. Now he’s got brains. But there is something not quite as physically appealing about him. No sexual chemistry.”
I had to laugh at this. I don’t watch the show, so I can’t say on this specific character/man, but when I was in grad school I developed a major lust for this pathologist who taught there. He was a total nebbish, shorter than me, chubby, had dandruff on his shouders, not handsome, cranky, but he was soooo brainy, I was in total lust. Brains do it for me above all else.
I guess the dim bulb appeals to me when they’re sweet, harmless and just a little in need of guidance.
)))) Must bring out the nurturer in me, yet there is a certain sex appeal, too. Yeah, I know, the opposite of the brainy but cranky. Hmmm, it appears I like extremes.
Fellow geek lover here! One thing I’m enjoying about writing chick lit is you can get away with less-conventional heroes. I’ve got one who may be gorgeous, but he’s a geek at heart — brainy, sweet and socially awkward — and judging from the response I’m getting, everyone is falling madly in love with him.
As to whether some of these men mentioned are really geeks, I once coined the term “stealth geek” to describe that type. They may have outgrown the obviously awkward stages to the point where they can blend in with normal society and don’t look like geeks, but they’ve managed to retain the inner qualities that we love about geeks.
Geeks rule. Major Brain Action turns me on over brawn any day.
Sexiness is subjective.
I hate TV and the only shows I watch are House, Numbers, and CSI (with Gil-only) just because of the Geek Factor.
Excellent column.
Confessions of a Geek Lover
Ashton Kutcher’s reality television show is getting lots of good posts in the blogosphere….
I kind of agree with Theresa, here. I wouldn’t necessarily call these characters geeks, but they’re definitely brainy and non-Alpha, and that makes the sexy in my book.
One of my favorite brainy TV characters is Dr. Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG-1. Started out brainy and awkward, but gained confidence in the physical part of the job as the show moved forward.
Sandra K. Moore’s March Bombshell had a geek hero. The heroine called him a bug nerd. And he really was a geek – not buff at all, wore glasses, went around looking for bugs. LOL!
Count me in the Love Geeks, But Need That Chemistry Thing
Stef – who is playing hooky from writing…
I just realized that my previous post may have sounded as though I thought Sandra’s hero didn’t have chemistry. Uh, no. That guy was so hot, I wanted to call my exterminator over, just to talk about bugs.
Oh, and the title was The Orchid Hunter. Great read.
Stef, going back to work now (damn all you bloggers! Can’t. Stop. Reading…..)
I think that these guys we’ve been referring to go beyond just being beta and brainy. They’re all “outsider” types, to some extent, and that’s where the geekiness comes in (and a lot of the appeal). They’re men who have shunned or who are shunned by the mainstream of society because of their passionate pursuit of a particular interest. With real-life geeks it may be computers, role-playing games or an obsession with Star Trek. With these geekish heroes, it tends to be grander quest-type stuff. Fox Mulder got the nickname “Spooky” and was ridiculed by the rest of the FBI for his obsession with unexplained phenomena. Daniel Jackson (in the movie Stargate) was laughed out of an archaeological conference and ended up exiling himself to an alien planet where he could have unlimited time to study their artifacts, before he came back to Earth and joined the SGC. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was quite the geek when he first showed up in Sunnydale. It took him a while after joining Angel’s group in LA before he was really an insider and part of the group, and even then he always had a sense of isolation.
I think that being out of the mainstream is what distinguishes a “geek” from a guy who’s simply brainy. It means a man has the courage to stand up to the rest of society, or else the self-confidence not to care what anyone else thinks. And that’s sexy.
Vicky’s second hero in the book “The Nerd Who Loved Me” wasn’t exactly built. I mean, he had a okay body, and ahem, interesting proprotions, but the book made it clear that his body wasn’t built, and that any sort of physical excertion (outside of the horizantal mambo) came more from an adrenaline rush than from any sort of body building.
I love Mac from Heaven and Earth. He was strong enough to tell Ripley off, and smart enough to cut through the BS. Plus, you got to love a guy who is a Rocky and Bullwinkle Fan!
I admit to having a thing for nerds and geeks. Glasses are a real turn on for me, and so is knowledge. I admit to loving Robin more than Batman (most recently since they show Robin as computer saavy) and Hadji more than Johnny Quest (an exotic geek who know yoga and can do magic? If such a person existed in real life, my boyfriend would have some serious competition).
Trust me, I can go on (not only do I think Mulder’s hot, but I have a thing for two out of the three lone rangers in the show. Here’s a clue, the two that have most of their hair)
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