Someone touched on this in the ‘celebrity model railroaders’ thread and I thought it worth expanding upon.
I’m hardly a huge TV watcher, but it’s hard to get away from a show as popular as “The Big Bang Theory,” especially when both your wife and middle child are nearly obsessed with it. On the show, chief geek Sheldon (Jim Parsons) is portrayed as being interested in our hobby. I’ve seen it twice, though I’m assured it comes up quite regularly. The particulars don’t matter, but Parsons portrays Sheldon’s interest in trains like he portrays nearly everything else; geeky and exclusionary.
My question is this. Are portrayals like this good or bad for the hobby? I understand that, to a degree, any exposure is good exposure, but are we being helped or hurt by Parsons’s representation of a model railroader?
My question is this. Are portrayals like this good or bad for the hobby? I understand that, to a degree, any exposure is good exposure, but are we being helped or hurt by Parsons’s representation of a model railroader?
Who really cares? It’s quite obvious to everyone watching that Sheldon Cooper is at least six standard deviations from being a “normal” human being and that he’s about 110 emotional IQ points short of being an adult.
I’ve got a 30 month old great nephew who’s absolutely bonkers about trains. Does the fact that a toddler soils his diaper in excitement about trains negate an adult interest in the subject. Sheldon is not much more emotionally mature than my great nephew.
In any case, why worry about it? My own interest in railroads is totally independent of what anyone else thinks about it. If others regard it as odd, they are cordially invited to perform acts upon themselves that are physically impossible even for a contortionist.
Very true. But I’m curious to know (curious, Andre, not concerned; let’s be clear here) whether Sheldon’s love of trains get written off as easily as he does? Does it paint us all as six standard deviations from being normal?
Bully for those who write it off, I say. I revel in my oddness!
I don’t watch TV except for Saturday Night Live (one of those 70s habits I just can’t break), so haven’t seen this show/character. However, after Gomez Addams (and maybe the guy on the Sopranos with a layout, but I haven’t seen that one either), I doubt our reputation can get much lower with the public, presuming they form their opinions of model railroading by watching TV. In most cases, they probably don’t, they already think we’re a little strange anyway, so we just gotta deal.[;)]
As both a certified geek (MIT) and a model railroader, I would have to say pretty much everything about that show is embarrassing to me. I have tried to watch it, and can’t get past more than a few minutes.
He even had a layout that has been shown a couple times I believe. Most of the references to his model raijlroading has been in reference to the model railroad club to which he belongs. The layout has been shown as a table top layout. HO scale I think.
Am I a geek? BHSS graduate, engineering major, spent my adult life working on high-tech things and am still fascinated by all aspects of science and technology.
Am I reclusive? Rather much so now (health issues) but less so earlier. Still, I was never big for partying.
Do I give a pinch of sharkfeathers what others who don’t know me think about me. Not only no, but **** no!
The immature and insecure worry about their ‘public image.’ I’ve long since outgrown that. As for how model railroaders are portrayed in the ‘popular media,’ when have the ignorant gotten ANYTHING right. (I get my jollies watching the ‘documentary’ channels and noting their obvious mistakes…)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with the teribi off most of the time)
I have never watched what seems to be an imbecilic program with a moron for a character.
But, that said, I came across this photo of Sheldon.
Is this portrayal good or bad for the hobby?
Well, based upon the sophistication of his layout, outstanding detail on the ballasting and landscaping, and that awesome engineer’s cap, yes, this is a good and accurate portrayal of the hobby.
In fact, it pretty much reminds me of everyone who has responded to this thread so far.
I’ve played with trains since the 1950s, and have collected postwar Lionel and had HO layouts since the early 1980s. I’ve worked for a major oil company(s) for decades and was reluctant to mention trains to my peers, much less the higher ups in the earlier years. But when Model Railroader and Classic Toy Trains began publishing their calendars, they both found their way into my offices.
Rather than getting ribbing about my “weirdness”, I was amazed that so many visitors (of all ranks) were interested in the monthly pictures. And sooner or later, they would talk of their history with model trains. One day my boss - returning from a Montana vacation - brought me a Great Northern RR coffee mug. And when I got a new boss (Controller), he talked more about his Grandfather being a retired Georgia RR engineer - than about his expectations of me!
Ha, and so very many folks had stories about their or their parents childhood Lionel trains too - and I soon became the resident appraiser.
My point is, on the surface some folks make jokes about the hobby and us “train nuts”… But when they are alone, most all of them have some degree of interest in trains and the Hobby.
I have never watched what seems to be an imbecilic program with a moron for a character.
But, that said, I came across this photo of Sheldon.
Is this portrayal good or bad for the hobby?
Well, based upon the sophistication of his layout, outstanding detail on the ballasting and landscaping, and that awesome engineer’s cap, yes, this is a good and accurate portrayal of the hobby.
In fact, it pretty much reminds me of everyone who has responded to this thread so far.
I got use to the odd looks when my late wife told our new friends about my passion for railroads and model trains.
However…
Talking to the fairgoers during the week of the county fair I find most people is receptive to the hobby including teenagers…I had one teen to tell me all about his Thomas collection he had when he was younger.
