We like to watch the show Beauty and the Geek on The CW. It’s an interesting social experiment, even though it requires a lot of stereotyping to function. However, it normally treats it with a little self-consciousness. However, catching up on recent episodes, we heard this statement: “Guys, we’re going to ask you questions about topics women like to talk about: Fashion, beauty, and pop culture.” The women were asked questions about aeronautics.
Wow. Just…wow. :|
Actually, I’ve never really understood the pop culture basis of many of the “Geek” questions. While it’s possible a geek might lock themselves away from the rest of the world, most smart people I know tend to be information sponges. I’m thinking there’s a decent likelihood that they’re going to know pop culture references that the audience is also expected to know. On the other hand, field-specific information that hasn’t been studied since high school seems a little more likely to stump “Beauties” who don’t normally get exposed to any of it. As a result, the challenges are usually more interesting than the quiz sessions at the end.
Update: Just noticed that the quiz section is much shorter this year. Maybe the producers thought it was boring as well. :)