Being Geek Chic is a blog for stylish geeks, sophisticated nerds and people who enjoy the musings of a complete dork. Join us as we dream of driving the TARDIS, cuddle with our eBooks and test out an iPad sleeve. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi and a team of brilliant lady nerds. Meet the team.
1. Animation inspiration
Stuff like this makes me want to run out of the house and make things.
2. Good times with friends
I had a Christmas party with friends last weekend and I’m constantly amazed by how lucky I am to have such a great group of people in my life. Sure, there were fights about DC v. Marvel and a few contentious moments during Word On The Street
3. Gifts that count
I just love, love, loved this video from Vulture where Matt Smith and Jenna Louise-Coleman go shopping for ornaments and tchotchke for one another. As you’ll see, it’s not really the items, it’s the thought.
4. Jerry Seinfeld
He makes me laugh every time. He’s so amused by life. I think that’s a worthy pursuit. Be amused. Be happy.
Things I wrote in other places:
This week, I wrote about an important topic for Apartment Therapy… what the hell to do with old tech: Time to Declutter: Smart Things To Do with Old Cables & Chargers
And some Instructables for this first timer.
Safe travels if you are heading out for the holidays.
Miss Mollie Estelle was one of the first people I met at college at the University of Minnesota and eight years later, I’m happy to still count her as one of my closest friends. She’s a smart cookie and you really don’t want to take her on when it comes to crossword puzzles. She is addicted to thinking, reading, fashion, friends, nail polish and french fries. She puts pens in her boots and, in search of the world, carries a big purse. She has been a devoted reader of BGC since its birth, and is constantly working at Being Geek Chic. You can follow her on Twitter: @mollieestelle
Are men and women hard-wired to find different things funny?
I began thinking about this topic the first time I saw Bridesmaids. The film quickly shot its way up to being my favorite chick flick of all time, but when I would recommend it to other women, often times, they would immediately ask, “Would my boyfriend/husband/brother like it?” and I would say, “I think so, there’s plenty of gross-out humor for the boys.”
To test my theory, I watched it with my boyfriend. To my complete and utter lack of shock, he found the majority of the film only semi-amusing and the *spoiler alert* puking/crapping scene in the bridal shop hilarious, whereas the reverse was true for me. It turns out (though they beat me to the punch by about 5 years) science was curious too.
An aptly named study, “Sex differences in brain activation elicited by humor,” published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers at Stanford University MRI scans were used to study the brain function of 20 (10 men and 10 women) subjects as they viewed cartoons. The study found that, while there was no difference in the number of cartoons the subjects found funny, how funny they deemed the cartoon, or their response time in determining if something was funny, there were several significant differences in the female subjects. Females took a significantly shorter amount of time to deem something unfunny and they had the expectation of finding something funny less often than men did. Furthermore, when viewing the cartoons, women activated the parts of their brains that process language and memories, whereas men didn’t.
(A highly scientific diagram showing that activity in a women’s brain when she finds something funny is often much more intense compared to men.)
Essentially, the female brain works harder to find something funny and we are less likely to believe that we will find something funny. Simply put, this means that it is harder to make us laugh. This makes men a much easier sell in the world of comedy films. After all, The Hangover II outsold my beloved Bridesmaids by $85 million, AND spawned a 3rd film in a series that has the potential to rival the Land before Time franchise (what are they on now? 13?).
Less work and more money is hard to compete with, by anyone’s standards, but luckily there seems to be a splurge of writers/directors who are willing to put some elbow grease behind their work and not just go for the easy buck. Though I can’t imagine the number of comedies marketed toward women will ever outnumber those marketed to men, at least there’s some effort being put forth.
And the next time Johnny Knoxville crushes his balls with an anvil, and the guy next to you pauses his hysterical laughter to ask “You don’t find this funny?” you can say with confidence “My brain works harder than that.” And science has proven it.
You may have seen Lynn Hirschberg’s New York Times Screen tests, which have more recently become W Magazine Screen Test interviews. The format is simple, stars talk about themselves in grayscale and we are all left to appreciate their genius. I actually like the format of the interviews, but some of the things that come out of the mouths of young Hollywood is just ridiculous. Which is why DW Diaz deserves some attention. Her spoof is so spot on, so funny and so telling that I think she should dress in drag and do a male version too.
Hilarious, right?
So DW Diaz is really just the online personality of Daniella Pineda, who has made video for College Humor and is rising comedic star to watch. Her other videos spoofing Urban Outfitters and Christian Dating sites are also worth checking out.
Of course, don’t forget to follow her on Twitter as well.
Bridesmaids has just surpassed Sex & The City as the number one grossing female-oriented qualifier-heavy R-rated comedy of all time.
Melissa McCarthy stole the show in Bridesmaids. Her character, Megan, was the most hilarious, heartwarming and well-adjusted of all the bright ladies in the ensemble cast. But it’s her down-to-earth wisdom and incredible acting resume that makes her our Lady Geek of the Week.
If you didn’t know anything about her before this weekend, then you need to check out her show, Mike and Molly on CBS. If I’m being terribly honest, it’s the only thing worth watching on the network. She’s also been featured on Gilmore Girls and Samantha Who and is now getting offers left and right for new movies.
Why is this important? Because McCarthy is a great role model for women everywhere young and old. She’s got her head on her shoulders and she’s so aware of her role in Hollywood. She’s been smart to not be typecast as the “weird, fat girl” but rather sought out jobs that highlight her comedic timing, like-ability and relate-ability. When she was recently interviewed about her character, Megan, for EW.com, she had some great insight on female happiness:
With women constantly being portrayed as miserable, lost or clinically depressed without a man, this dose of truth is a welcome change from a Hollywood actress.
We loved McCarthy in Bridesmaids and can’t wait to see more of her.
