Good Morning, Winner: Subverting Girl Nerd Stereotypes in Booksmart (2019)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37536/reden.2022.4.1838Keywords:
teen film, film genre, nerds, coming-of-ageAbstract
Nerds have been a staple of teenage films for decades. Although these characters possess great intellectual abilities, their lack of social skills, sense of style, and romantic and sexual experience places them at the bottom of the high school's social scale. Despite the prevalence of this character type, girl nerds are scarce. Even though this lack of girl nerds can be attributed to the pressure for women—both real and fictional—to conform to beauty standards, it also reflects stereotypes regarding women’s scientific and technical inclinations. Considering the fact that nerds are almost always interested in computers, the lack of girl nerds mirrors the STEM gender gap while contributing to its perpetuation by failing to provide role models for spectators. This article analyses how Booksmart (Olivia Wilde, 2019), a recent teen film in which the protagonists are two nerd girls, subverts nerd stereotypes by eschewing the makeover trope and placing an emphasis on internal transformation, sorority and a rejection of stereotypes.
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