Napoleon Dynamite Essay

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O’Brien, 1 Jett O’Brien Professor Colin Enriquez English 101 23 March 2017 Essay 3 Napoleon Dynamite is one of the best movies portraying loneliness and nerds. It is the story of Napoleon in high school and his lonely adventures. All the main characters feel separated, misunderstood, and have nobody to relate to. Napoleon has no friends and lives in his own fantasy land. He is avoided by everybody. His brother seems to be mislead, wanting to be a cage fighter but staying home all the time hopelessly trying to find love and attention on the internet. Their grandmother is never there for them, though she lives her own life right beside them. They live next to a huge field, reinforcing their isolation. Practically every home in the film is …show more content…

This definition is everywhere on TV and movies. The main characters fit the stereotypes perfectly, from consistent conflict with the muscle heads to the scandalous panty strike. They are math and PC masters and they prefer chess over sports. The Wikipedia definition of nerd defines it as a person who avidly pursues intellectual activities, technical or scientific endeavors, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests, rather than engaging in more social or conventional activities. The nerds in Napoleon Dynamite do not fit all of these descriptions. They have redefined the definition and have broaden the image of a nerd. In the movie the nerds are: Napoleon, Pedro, Kip, and Deb. Each has their own unique version of being a nerd. To start, Napoleon is a white, to some degree fit, high-school student in Idaho. Napoleon sticks out in a crowd because of his odd choice in clothing.When he interacts with others his lack in social skills are easily noticed. His characteristics indicate he may easily be categorized as a nerd, yet Napoleon is not the cliché nerd. His fierce attitude makes him standout from most nerds. For example, his grandma asks “How was school?” Then he snaps back with, “The worst day of my life what do you think?” This is just one example of many of how Napoleon is not your typical nerd. The next “nerd” in the movie is Pedro. He is a quiet and Hispanic …show more content…

What would changing the definition of nerd do to anyone? First, the general definition of being a nerd has been engraved in everybody’s brains. This definition has the image is a white skinny boy with glasses and doesn't play sports. This boy usually hangs out by themselves or with other nerds. There are real people that are like this in the world and that definition directly affects their life. All the movies and TV shows out there that depict nerds how I described them are just reinforcing that definition and basically making it permanent. Second, when kids grow up seeing how nerds are depicted and that they get made fun of, it will make them not want to be like that. But, in reality nerds are the real winners. Nerds will be the happy ones with the stable job and bright future. We do not want our future kids growing up with this image of nerds in their head. One could say that nerds have been seen like this since the beginning and that hasn't affected how kids grow up. Lastly, if a kid that looks like the stereotypical nerd and he gets treated like one he will brand himself like a nerd. That could wouldn’t be able to reach his full potential if he feels mistreated or

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