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I don’t understand the social stigma attached to sci-fi nerds.

Before I go any further, let me state the following:

1. I do not attend any sort of convention unless it’s about books, journalism, or food. As much as I enjoy the idea of ComicCon, I can get my comic jollies on the Internet.

2. I have only seen one episode of Star Trek - I think that I would probably like Star Trek, but unfortunately, it seems much too complicated for me with the multiple forms and backstories and I just don’t have the time to start at the beginning. I might go see the Star Trek movie though, if only because of my slight (giant) crush on Zachary Quinto.

3. I have never dressed up in any sort of costume (except for Halloween). I can never picture myself doing something like this. Aside from the whole writing-about-my-life-on-the-internet thing, I am actually a pretty shy and modest person who would much rather play a few rounds of Contra over dressing up. Jeans and t-shirts ftw.

4. I’ve never been really “into” sci-fi as a genre. My favorite type of movies are the global disaster/post-apocalyptic ones, but I never really considered those movies to be sci-fi. Apparently they are. I love really cheesy sci-fi, too, especially the ones they show on the Sci-Fi channel (I realize I’m not helping my case here) about giant snakes or spiders or sea monsters or alien biowarfare.

Aside from the random delving into Neil Gaiman or Lost, I was never really into sci-fi as a whole. I did kind of view it as something super nerdy, something that would catapult my already questionable lack of social skills into utter nerdiness.

Enter Battlestar Galactica.

We Netflixed Battlestar Galactica solely on the recommendation of Kevin Smith.  His blog said that BSG was one of the best tv shows on tv right now, so hey, what did we have to lose?

The first disk came and we set it aside.  I think both of us were nervous to watch it - nervous that someone would find out that we had actually contemplated watching such a nerdy television show.

The night that we started watching it, I put the DVD in and crawled into bed next to Marques.

“Are you sure we want to do this?” I asked.  “Once we start watching it, there’s no turning back.  If people ask us ‘Have you guys seen Battlestar Galactica?’, we can no longer maintain our cool cred and say that we haven’t.”

We both voted to go ahead to losing our cool.

Battlestar Galactica singlehandedly revitalized my interest in science fiction.  Robots.  Spaceships.  Outer space.  Time travel.  The Future.  Bring. It. On.  I don’t care what it is.  Giant snakes?  Okay.  Cryogenics?  Sure.  A bleak outlook of future society?  I’m there.

Yet I rarely divulge my sci-fi love to friends or family (uh, apparently until now).  Mainly because I’m pretty sure they would make fun of me.  Is it so wrong to love this genre?  Does watching sci-fi make me a nerd, or was I already a nerd before I started watching sci-fi and now I’m just an even bigger nerd?

I bet 400 years into the future, sci-fi nerds rule the world.  Until then, I suppose we’ll have to content ourselves with watching our preferred television shows in the dark.