Comments on: Intellectual Archetypes in Science Fiction Television

By: Jay Cunningham

Jay Cunningham — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 23:25:55 +0000

The doctor from the TV series Doctor Who. The ultimate genius nerd problem solver.

By: Jennings Cunningham

Jennings Cunningham — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:57:26 +0000

The doctor on the tv show doctor who. The ultimate smart guy genius.

By: Professor Beej

Professor Beej — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:41:56 +0000

Yeah, Alpha really is misanthropic, though I wonder how much one can actually qualify his misanthropy without taking into consideration the multiple personalities that affect him.

By: Professor Beej

Professor Beej — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:40:05 +0000

To me, I never really associate Data or Spock with the “brainy” characters. I don’t know why. They were just kind of there, and yeah, they were thinkers, but in Star Trek, they make such a big deal that everyone who passes through Starfleet Academy is so well-rounded and intelligent that no one ever really stuck out above the crowd in my mind as being “Oh, the’s the smart guy.”

By: Professor Beej

Professor Beej — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:38:12 +0000

How can you hate Daniel Jackson? To me, it’s that going against archetype that makes him appealing. We so rarely get to see a genius character not be bumbling that I feel Jackson is a much more intriguing character than McKay. I like McKay, but not with the same adoration I do Daniel.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:04:45 +0000

Salute to the brainiacs. .-= Robert´s last blog ..Glee 1×09 ‘Wheels’ =-.

By: Tesh

Tesh — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:56:47 +0000

Jonas was interesting, too, since he was effectively flawed in his naive, limited experience. He suffered a bit from Marty Stu syndrome, but less so than Daniel, in my view.

And I really wish they would have played up the “John Shepperd could have been in MENSA” angle more. He’s not stupid (neither is Jack O’Neill), but the writers seemed to forget that to let Rodney have more free reign. More than once, I’ve read theories that Rodney was an avatar for the writing staff, predictably a bunch of geeks with ego issues. Eli echoes that, as noted with the “dream job every gamer wishes were real” angle.

Thing is… that just doesn’t work for me. It’s not *bad*, just… kind of lazy.

And I’m probably just bitter that *spoiler*

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The Atlantis writers killed off Carson Beckett, a brilliant guy with some shades of grey that was nevertheless very natural feeling. He wasn’t Marty Stu, he was a brilliant doctor out of his realm of experience, alternating between schoolboy enthusiasm and hard, cold pragmatism. He read more as a “realistic” character than Rodney ever will for me.
.-= Tesh´s last blog ../Salute =-.

By: Tesh

Tesh — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:50:28 +0000

Oh, and how could I have forgotten Spock and Data? I grew up with those guys, and often identify better with them than any of these other guys. Maybe that just means I'm weird, though. .-= Tesh´s last blog ../Salute =-.

By: We Fly Spitfires

We Fly Spitfires — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:06:05 +0000

I loathe Daniel Jackson. I want my brainy peeps to be flawed, realistic characters not handsome, muscular, perfect heroes. I think McKay from SG: Atlantis is a far more interesting character
.-= We Fly Spitfires´s last blog ..Star Trek Online Official Release Date =-.

By: Tesh

Tesh — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:30:00 +0000

Yeah, the early Rodney (even in SG-1 episodes) is a jerk. Eventually, he's revealed to still have jerk tendencies, but it's the all too common bluster to cover emotional weakness. It does make him more understandable in a way (I know far too many nerd jerks), but all in all, I prefer the Daniel Jackson flavor of nerd. High intellect need not come with some crippling emotional or moral counterweight. To be sure, some writers think that's more interesting, but in my mind, it's just too formulaic and packaged. It's almost a trope now, like the brooding antihero. .-= Tesh´s last blog ..WoW Tempest =-.