Wow Seth Cohen, You Changed the World

During my routine e-browsing today I headed over to the NY Times webpage only to discover this. It is an article about the growing popularity of graphic novels-or as they were once called comic books, AKA contraband that once upon a time got your ass teased in school and did not get you girls or deals designing jeans for DK. Anyway the article proves that what the prophet Obama said again and again, times change, and I am ok with that. I am ok with suddenly being cooler for reading black and white accounts of failed relationships that are written by slightly under or overweight men with patchy facial hair and a bucket load of feelings. Really, if the world wants invert itself and make facets of marginalized culture hip, fine by me.

But in these moments of change, it is important not to just sit back and think that they happened without work, time, and struggle. Yes fellow graphic novel geeks, we owe someone a big thank you, and that someone is (drum roll please) Seth Cohen. Yes during his tenure on the guilty pleasure hit The OC he single handedly made all things geek chic.

While some could accuse him and the OC of appropriating a handful of indie kitsch and turning it into mainstream trendy crap, I would like to argue that what he did was turn awkward, lanky, skinny jean wearing, geeks who read way too much pitchfork, and own a copy of jeff brown’s clumsy into sex symbols. Yeah, that’s right. He, like Woody Allen before him, transmitted the idea into the minds of beautiful women everywhere that they don’t want “johnny football star,” and instead crave the tender touch of some wiry indie kid.

So, thanks Seth. You did good.