[jollyllama]

When I think of nerd culture, I think of people "geeking out" over Star Trek, videogames, tabletop games, etc. Basically, I think of comic book guy from the Simpsons. During my lifetime, a lot of it was saturated with pretension, self-aware or otherwise; it was always kind of a minstrel show. I would agree that many elements of it have gone mainstream.

[drewcoo]

Pretentious . . . like a minstrel show? Do tell, Mr. Interlocutor!