Back sometime in December, probably early December, I caught the movie Role Models with a friend. It thought I had blogged about it back then, but apparently I only made a note (via a draft entry to myself) that I needed to blog about it and what aspects I wanted to hit with. I admit I was a little leery about seeing it as it could be funny but it could just be dumb. I admit that a friend wanting to see it and having gotten a recommendation from another friend pushed me over the edge and I said what the heck. For the record it did have a good number of humorous moments in it and was well worth price of admission for the uplifting of the spirits it gave me. I admit, was right down the middle of the gray area between funny and being just dumb. There were more than a few moments that did strike right over on the dumb side of things, though usually, with my distinctive background, I was still finding a bit of humor in them.

For those that are wondering, the main characters end up in some trouble after one them kind of looses it. After jacking up on something equivalent to Red Bull or Rock Stars (my personal favorite of that genre of beverage), they end up in trouble and faced with jail or mentoring troubled kids in a court monitored and approved program. Of course the fact that the two are still basically juvenile rejects and not really suited as role models is what forces the comedic element.

Now of particular interest to me, beyond the usual comedy that one could have expected was that one of the kids played in a group that appeared to be some sort of LARP group. Oh, for those that do not know, LARP is Live Action Role Play group. Still have no clue, well they run around with usually padded swords (called boffers) and in pretend to be epic fighters and possibly mad magicians or even mythological creatures. Most LARPs have rules and incorporate some sort of element of chance to determine the outcome of battles. This particular one was more like the SCA or even jousting, where the armor you were wearing and the blows landed determined the outcome of an engagement. Don’t worry if you do not follow, just think geeks. Lots of geeks as a matter of fact, all of whom are running around in funny clothing and shouting out challenges and waving a sword and shield around in appropriate armourial (coat of arms) colors. So geeky in fact that most can not function in real life. God I am so glad I do not do anything like that!

Well, that is exactly what I was thinking on the drive home from the theater. I bet most people from the outside that hear I do jousting and participate in the SCA think that is exactly what is like. And sure enough, I asked my friend if she thought that is what I did and if I was that geeky to her? She smiled, laughed, and nodded a polite yes.

In my mind somehow it is different, but I truly recognize myself in that movie somehow at the same time. Well, regardless, you can probably still catch the movie at the cheap theatres if you have such in your area and if not it will hit DVD and pay-per-view in probably about another thirty days. And to all my friends that participate with me in such things, well I apologize, but we are probably a bit on the borderline of that level of geekiness, especially to an outsiders view-point. Now, I am off to slay some dragons, er. . . put some computer stuff in order.

** Originally published on Mephistos on 8th of January 2009

Tags: geek, humor, movie, sca, Society for Creative Anachronism