MIT A Really Nerdy School in Popular Culture

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>This video "White & Nerdy" currently ranks #1 in Google's top 100 videos:<a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1384277706451157121&hl=en%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1384277706451157121&hl=en&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Look at the first few rapping lyrics:
"First in my class here at M.I.T.
Jock skills I'm a champion of D&D
MC Escher that's my favorite MC
Keep your 40, I'll just have an Earl Grey tea
My rims never spin to the contrary
You'll find they're quite stationary
All of my action figures are cherry
Stephen Hawking's in my library
My MySpace page is all totally pimped out
I got people begging for my top 8 spaces..."</p>

<p>I am amused that they put "First in my class at M.I.T." as the first line of the rap lyrics --> are we, MIT students, really that nerdy? Most people I met at MIT so far are so well-rounded; I haven't really seen any super nerdy people yet!? What's popular culture think MIT is?</p>

2

<p>I think that the whole point of that song was to pay tribute to us, nerds and geeks :)</p>

<p>Personally, I enjoyed it very much, and I think Weird Al Yankovich did a great job</p>

3

<p>The MIT you see today is not the MIT of my generation, or even Weird Al's generation. It did not used to have the well-roundedness you find today. (And still many equate technological savvy with geekiness, that's just public perception.) Weird Al's just playing to the old stereotype, which you all will be helping to shatter for following generations.</p>

<p>(PS: I agree. I think this is one of Weird Al's finest pieces. Almost perfect. Except for the fact that there isn't anyone who would be "first in their class at MIT", of course... :D )</p>

4

<p>This song is so funny.</p>

5

<p>Weird Al rocks the set. His other single "please don't download this song" was pretty funny as well.</p>

<p>3:1 some MIT students are gonna make a parody of it.</p>

6

<p>How do you make a parody of a parody?</p>

7

<p>He made a mistake: MIT doesnt rank students. Nonetheless, the song is a great portrayal of nerd culture and some of it does describe MIT well: the sword fighting, gaming, glasses, ping pong, etc.</p>

8

<p>but aren't we all nerds at heart here? =)</p>

9

<p>that's hysterical! Thanks for the link. </p>

<p>The character being parodied is actually pretty well rounded in addition to being "white and nerdy". They are not mutually exclusive. He is shown having a sport (bowling), enjoying the outdoors (Segway in the park), fine arts (glee club), hobbies (Star Trek, D&D, chess, various other games), in addition to having math and programming skills. And he's obviously open to having diverse friends, since he keeps making friendly overtures to the two "hip" black guys, even though they want nothing to do with him. He has a varied wardrobe. He even has a dog and a girlfriend.</p>