Nerd OTD

Taken at this year's Star Wars Celebration (not by me). If you really need to know more about this, go here. But overall, I think this speaks for itself.

Brain Fart: The Chick Star Wars

I've been thinking about this for way too long, so I thought I'd put this up for discussion.

If you ask just about any nerdy guy - especially one in his late thities/early forties - chances are really good that he's a big Star Wars fan. He knows a lot of the dialogue, and peppers it into his converstations.

(Aside: I know there's an ongoing Star Wars vs. Star Trek debate that will never end, so I'm disregarding it for that very reason. I also know that there's a lot of female Star Wars fans too - Princess Leia? Hello? - but I think most people would agree that there's significantly more male fans.)

Anyway, you get the idea. He's loaded with trivia on the film, and if he works in the industry in any way, there's a good chance that Star Wars is the reason he steered in that direction in the first place. I'm one of these guys.

So my question is: what is the chick equivalent? What childhood/adolescent movie do women get all nerdy and obsessive about? Which film do most ladies endlessly quote, and resonates through their lives whether they really want it to or not?

I have some suggestions:

* Pretty In Pink - John Sanford says that in his dating days, he often ran into women who would talk a lot about this film. I can't say, as I don't think that's in my, uh, age range.

* Grease - Well, maybe not, but it was released at about the same time as Star Wars, and I wonder if that's what most of the young girls went to see.

* The Princess Bride - This one might be the main contender. It's a fairy-tale romance, but it's clever and quirky, so it could appeal to the misfit-chick-nerds, too (I had just seen Baron Munchausen, so it didn't work very well for me at the time, even though it has a better story).

* Sleepless in Seattle - It probably appeals to a slightly older crowd, but it rebooted the chick flick in a big way, so I figure it's probably a contender.

* When Harry Met Sally - Another chick-flick milestone with a pretty universal experience - risking a friendship for love.

* Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Okay, it's a television show, but I do know a fair number of women who get pretty nerdy about it. Buffy stands on Princess Leia's shoulders and kicks ass at the same time. It's clearly not just a show for most of its audience, so it makes sense to me to include it.

So there's some thoughts. What do you think? Let me know.