MovieChat Forums > The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1982) Discussion > Riuned by geeks?

Riuned by geeks?

posted 15 years ago by swarnthout
5 replies | jump to latest

I'm a bit of a jerk for posting this...
Does anyone feel like The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy has been ruined by geeks? I mean, the book is pretty deep...so much so that Richard Dawkins cited Douglas Adams as an instrumental mind towards the popularization of science. Unfortunately, I feel like his pinnacle work has been reduced to the number "42."
I mean...alot of brilliance has been reduced to one liners..."42" being the most oft cited. There are alot of keen things going on in this book: condemnations of beuracracy, the abstraction of animals, and literary elitism (bogon poetry.) Unfortunately, it's been taken over by a bunch of idiots who can only run around repeating "don't panic" and "42."
I experienced a key example of this a month ago. I asked if Douglas Adams wrote any non fiction; if so, I said, it's probably pretty interesting. Without skipping a beat, a pudgy and kind of stinky guy sitting next to me answered "he did! The Hitch Hiker's Guide To the Galaxy!" I sighed and only blamed myself; I shouldn't have even brought it up. It's all been ruined by the same imbiciles who have ruined Monty Python by saying "knee" ever fives seconds and and all but raped HP Lovecraft of all his cosmological insight with their stupid Cuthulu stuffed animals. Don't even get me started on what they've done to Star Trek.
Oh, and please don't confuse Geek with Nerd. The Nerd is the intelligent guy who graduated college while the geek played pokemon.
Gene Roddenberry was a nerd. Kevin Sarbo fans are geeks.
Does anyone else even understand what I'm saying? Or am I just a jerk?

[–] ArizonaKnightWolf 15 years ago

Yes, I understand what you are saying, and you are jerk. But, hey, that's okay.
Nerds don't need a college Degree, BTW. I have to disagree with you on your defination of Nerds and Geeks. Geeks would be the people, the workers, while the Nerds are the Elitist Suits who don't to share there "thing" with the people who just want to have fun. I have always thought myself a GEEK, and I have never played POKEMAN. I was too busy building a full scale working TARDIS and searching for a realy nice, hot cup of tea.

Oh, and by the way, it's VOGON (not BOGON) poetry, and "NI" (not KNEE). If you are going to critize someone, have the decency to use the proper terms, at least! I know nothing of this "Cuthulu stuffed animals" thing of which you speak.

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It's a tough universe...If you're going to survive, you've really got to know where your towel is.

[–] skiop 11 years ago

Not to mention that he misspelled "ruined." The OP seems to confuse nerds with pedants.

[–] BertramWilberforceWooster 14 years ago

I know I'm coming in more than a year late, and it's off topic, but Douglas Adams did write non-fiction. He wrote a fabulous book called "Last Chance To See" which is about animals on the brink of extinction.

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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
jonbkennedy.wordpress.com

[–] terry_desmond 14 years ago

And he co wrote The Meaning of Liff with John Lloyd

More performing, ! Let me know what you think!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tnkr1sbTmFQ

[–] sat-elite 8 years ago

Douglas Adams did write non-fiction. He wrote a fabulous book called "Last Chance To See" which is about animals on the brink of extinction.

Another piece of Adams painfully executed onscreen by Stephen Fry.