Nerdopolis, a Facebook page that boasts more than 14,000 fans, was created on November 18, 2020. Since then, thousands of its users have been entertaining their views on all things nerdy and pop culture, as well as funny pictures, so-called memes (you can find some in the gallery). It brings you tips on everything worth seeing, reading and talking about. “Until the day we were founded, we wrote for another, still functioning magazine, mainly about comics and pop culture. We didn’t plan to leave, but when Nerdopolis took off more, which surprised us, we decided to focus on our own project as a hobby. Nerdopolis won,” Libor Pokorný, one of the founders of the project, told Bleska i.e. Libo-Wan Kenobi, in civilian clothes employed in marketing.
Nerdopolis entertains its fans with this and similar jokes (memes). But only real nerds understand some. | Nerdopolis
The second of the duo is the musician Jan Vítů with the nickname Honzík Křepelka. “We’ve known each other for more than 20 years, we’re both 33 years old, we’re just not kids anymore. There are two of us making Nerdopolis, we’re like the Sith, we just don’t know who’s the master and who’s the apprentice. We believe that humor and insight are what set us apart and helped Nerdopolis take off.” The guys started and continue on Facebook, but today they are also active on other social networks, run a website, make podcasts and offer subscription content. “However, we don’t feel like experts, just very passionate enthusiasts,” says Libor.
And Libor also reveals who (or what) a Czech nerd is. “That’s probably a question for some cultural anthropologist. But on wikipedia, they describe a nerd as an above-average intelligent individual, but at the same time attribute other characteristics to him, the obsession that he is a bit socially inept, withdrawn and the like. That subculture of nerdiness is now glorified by the series Stranger Things, where those guys are outcasts, pushed out of the collective, and have fun with their Dungeons & Dragons-style games.” At the same time, he adds that the barriers in the very concept of nerdiness have fallen, and the strongest pop culture franchises today are Star Wars and Marvel, which permeate society.
The boxes of adolescent nerds, weird boys locked in a room, with a face full of hips and greasy hair, are out today. Probably also with regard to exclusively male dominance. “This subculture is no longer usurped by boys. We see a lot of girls, enthusiastic fans of Red Dwarf, Stargate… On our platforms, the ratio is maybe 60 to 40 boys versus girls, that’s not so little,” says Libor. Guys, girls, ladies and guys from the nerd world also tackle some very explosive topics here and there. Most recently, for example, around the new series from the world of the Lord of the Rings by writer JRR Tolkien with the subtitle Rings of Power. They tend to be perhaps too strict and uncompromising. Shouldn’t they allow contemporary authors more freedom in their work, a certain author’s license?
“I’m probably stepping on thin ice now. I like our fans very much, I like the whole subculture. The amount of passion and passion we are able to invest in our favorite works is absolutely amazing. But then there is another side to the coin,” believes Libor. “Most fans, especially those who hold the work very close to their hearts, are incredibly strict about what happens to it and are a priori limited to any new steps,” he said, adding that this is nothing new. “I was recently talking to Dan Storch from Fortress magazine, and he recalled that this was happening even before the filming of The Lord of the Rings, when Peter Jackson was preparing it. But due to the fact that there were no social networks, that voice was not heard as much,” he added.
See what else he revealed in the interview in the new episode of the Blesku Podcast: