Now that we’re all happily up to our necks in nerd shit, a former national spelling champion has returned to remind us that being a self-avowed nerd wasn’t always cool. In fact, it used to be quite uncool.
In 1999, when she was 14-years-old, Nupur Lala won the 72nd annual Scripps Spelling Bee and became the subject of 2002 documentary Spellbound (the 86th Bee is being held this week, from May 28-30). That was all pretty cool, but, after surveying the vast spellscape now, Lala told CBS News that she’s a little surprised at just how cool nerds have become because there was a day not too long ago that nerds were society’s clownish punching bags. Now, being a nerd, i.e. being smart, well-versed in comics/movies/fantasy novels/referential TV shows, is pretty much the highest thing people can aspire to.
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