Victor de la Cruz

“Would you kindly…” and “A man chooses. A slave obeys.”

From: BioShock

Genre: Video Games

Who said it?: Atlas and Andrew Ryan

The story behind the quote: The quotes comes from BioShock. The game takes place in an underwater utopia turned battleground called Rapture. You control Jack who crashes in Rapture and, contacted by the mysterious Atlas. Atlas claims that the leader of Rapture, Andrew Ryan, has incarcerated his family and he needs Jack to help rescue them.

The quote comes from near the end of the game. After numerous battles, Jack reaches the office of Andrew Ryan. Ryan has been waiting calmly for Jack. Ryan reveals to Jack why he has been so tenacious in following everything that Atlas told him to do…

WARNING: The clip actually reveals a MAJOR SPOILER for the game! Read at your own risk.

Geek wisdom: We all have the habit of following the crowd, not questioning whatever is put in front of us. We just accept what we are told. Like soldiers in a way following orders. We blindly follow what others tell us to buy, to wear and to use without question. Like in BioShock, the main character, we think we have free will. Yet, based on our instincts of just following what we are told, we apparently don’t.

Sometimes, we need to question authority. We need to break away from this pattern. We need to think for ourselves.

“Autobots! Transform and roll out!”

From: The Transformers

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Optimus Prime (most of the time)

The story behind the quote: Most people nowadays have, at the least, a passing familiarity of the Transformers series. The cartoon has gone through various revisions and reiterations. But there are two things that have always remained fairly constant: The Autobots are led by the heroic Optimus Prime and Optimus Prime usually delivers the quote as a sort of battlecry before heading towards battle.

It doesn’t matter if the show has them transforming into vehicles, animals or other creatures/things, Optimus Prime will give this order when it’s time for the Autobots to charge into the battle to take on the evil Decepticons led by Megatron.

Geek wisdom: Change is always scary. Whether it’s trying something new or even getting feedback that you need to adjust something about yourself, the idea of change can be hard to swallow. However, sometimes, in order to move on, you have to be willing to transform yourself.

Change is not necessarily a bad thing; it’s just something you’re not used to. You never know if it’s good or bad until you at least try it out.

“The president has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the president?”

From: Bad Dudes

Genre: Video Games

Who said it?: Random Army General?

The story behind the quote: Bad Dudes originated as an arcade side scrolling beat ’em up by Data East. The game was then ported to various home consoles, including on the PC and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES for short). Originally called Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja, the game has the President of the United States captured by the terrorist (?) organization DragonNinja. You control either Blade or Striker in their quest to recover the President.

The quote comes from the introduction screen from the NES version where your commanding officer asks you if you have what it takes to get the President. The quote has become somewhat of a meme in recent times.

Geek wisdom: There will always be challenges to face in life. Some of these problems may even seem insurmountable to overcome at first glance. We even may be tempted to just give up against the adversity.

We have to think of these tests as something we have to take on. We have to at least step up to the challenge and try to overcome them. If we don’t even try, then we’ve truly been beaten. Try with all your might to conquer and solve adversity and problems. You may surprise yourself and find out that a difficult task may actually be easier to solve than you realize.

“Help me help you!”

From: Jerry Maguire

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Jerry Maguire

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from Jerry Maguire. The film itself has become a sort of cultural icon as there are a lot of memorable quotes from the film and this may be the first one I’m using. Anyway, the movie is about Jerry Maguire, a popular sports agent. He is fired from his agency after writing a letter noting how dishonest other sports agents are. He then focuses all his strengths on his sole client, Rod Tidwell, a wide receiver who believes he’s better than he really is.

The quote comes from the middle of the film. A frustrated Jerry (played by Tom Cruise) pleads with Rod (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) to try to ease up with his demands. Jerry tells the football star that he has been working really hard to meet his demands but he’s at his breaking point.

Geek wisdom: We can be too proud to ask for assistance at times. We can feel foolish or we don’t want to come off as weak. So, instead of asking for help, we instead needlessly trudge on with the problem.

This is totally incorrect. In fact, it’s actually a sign of strength to ask for help when you realize you require it. Nobody’s perfect. We can be great at everything but there is always someone out there that will be willing to help you work on those weaknesses.

“Don’t blame me. I voted for Kodos.”

From: The Simpsons

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: Homer Simpson

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from The Simpsons’ 7th Treehouse of Horror special. The Treehouse of Horror is the show’s annual Halloween television special where the show spoofs various films and television shows. As such, they don’t fall into the regular “continuity” of the show’s illustrious 25 years of being on the air. One of the mainstays of the Treehouse of Horror specials is the appearance of the aliens Kang and Kodos. While they do appear in the episodes, they mostly are relegated to the background.

However, the segment Citizen Kang, they’re actually the ones that push the story forward. The aliens replace Bill Clinton and Bob Dole and run for the presidency in their place. Even after Homer exposes the aliens’ plot, Kang gets elected as “it’s a two-party system.” While the human race is building a weapon for the aliens, Homer reveals who he voted for.

Geek wisdom: It’s easy to focus blame on someone else. It’s almost instinctive for a lot of people and it’s understandable. No one wants to be the cause or the one at fault for anything bad. But someone has “to take the blame” and most of us are fine as long as it’s not them!

However, this is the wrong way of thinking. We have to own up to our mistakes when we commit them. That’s the only way we’ll learn from them. If we steer blame away from ourselves, the only thing we learn is how to avoid taking responsibility.

“Where did you learn to fly?”

From: Cybermorph

Genre: Video Games

Who said it?: Skylar

The story behind the quote: Cybermorph is a 3D shooter that was released on the Atari Jaguar video game console. While the game was nothing spectacular and definitely wasn’t memorable, Cybermorph did gain some publicity when the Internet personality called The Angry Video Game Nerd reviewed the Atari Jaguar console in the 65th and 66th episodes of his show.

The main focus of the Nerd’s rage was the the pilot’s AI assistant, Skylar. Skylar is a floating green head who’s main purpose was to assist the player in navigating the world. However, whenever you crash into a solid object, be it a mountain, wall or otherwise, Skylar would berate you by delivering the quote.

Geek wisdom: People will make mistakes. It’s part of living. The thing is we should learn from these mistakes. In fact, we shouldn’t be scared of making mistakes. As long as we can survive and better ourselves afterwards, committing errors is a valuable way to learn and improve ourselves.

Another point to know is to not insult or focus too much on the errors of others. If you want people to learn, you have to encourage them to do so. Besides, you wouldn’t want people telling you the same thing over and over again, reminding you of your failure, right?

GeekWisdom is now My Geek Wisdom!

I’ve been posting a lot of quotes on this website for roughly two years and I’ve decided to make it an “official” website. Instead of being just another WordPress blog, GeekWisdom now has its own domain!

Unfortunately, I’m unable to register geekwisdom.com since someone already got it. So, instead, the site is being renamed “My Geek Wisdom” (which was one of the original titles I was considering) and can be found by going to:

http://www.mygeekwisdom.com

There are going to be a couple of changes to the site in the future as well but I’ll start out slowly with this name change since this is going to be somewhat of an adjustment as it is!

Anyway, if you have any suggestions for entries, such as any memorable quotes from movies, video games, television shows and the like, please leave them in the comments section below! If I can think of any Geek Wisdom that can be squeezed from it, you’ll get the proper credit.

Thanks for all your support and I hope you continue visiting the site!

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

From: Star Wars

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: No One (Opening Sequence for all Star Wars films)

The story behind the quote: I don’t think I need to give a synopsis for the Star Wars films. The franchise is heavily ingrained in pop culture history. Its story, characters and even its fictional history is widely known throughout the world and by different ages. But most people don’t consider that the films happen, not only in a totally different galaxy, but way back in the past.

The films actually attempt to remind the viewer of this fact every movie. At the start of each Star Wars films (even before the opening crawl), they would note that the story you are about to watch already happened in a far away place in the stars…

Geek wisdom: History is very important. You may not know it but it has shaped you in ways you may never be aware of. The actions of people way, way in the past have affected the world in different ways, reaching out from time and influences you in some, unforeseen manner. And, in turn, your actions, no matter how small they may be, will have some impact on the world in the future.

“No way! Why should I change? He’s the one who sucks!”

From: Office Space

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Michael Bolton

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from Office Space, a film created by Mike Judge (the same guy who conceived Beavis and Butt-head). I’ve already given a summary of the movie since I did create an entry for it before (and it’s about a printer error) so I won’t summarize the plot. Suffice to say, if you want to watch a good comedy flick, you owe it to yourself to watch Office Space.

Anyway, the quote comes from the start of the film where we’re introduced to the main characters, including the tragically named Michael Bolton. When his friend, Samir Nagheenanajar, complains that everyone mispronounces his name, Michael rebuffs and says he’s lucky that he doesn’t have the same name as the famous singer. Samir suggests that he use Mike instead, Michael Bolton explains his reason as to why…

Geek wisdom: People will try to make you change to suit their own image of what they want you to be. They’ll reason out that it’s for your own good if you stop reading comics. Or they’ll say watching and enjoying video games and cartoons are only for children. They will give many more arguments as to why changing will be “for your own good.”

As long as you’re not hurting yourself or hurting others, there’s no reason for you to follow their advice. Most people just want others to conform to their version of “normality.” But the problem is not with you; it’s with them. If you’re happy with the way you are, then you can stay the way you are.

“Pop, pop!”

From: Community

Genre: Television

Who said it?: Magnitute

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the cult sitcom Community, but not from one of the main cast. Rather, the quote is the catchphrase of one of the supporting cast members. The man with a “magnetic attitude,” Magnitude!

While he doesn’t contribute much to the show (he never really got his own storyline like Fat Neil did), his paths did cross the gang of Greendale once in a while. Besides being a one man party (that’s his official occupation), he’s know for saying the quote for this week while performing his signature “raise the roof” hand gesture at the same time.

Geek wisdom: Magnitude became notoriously known for saying his catchphrase, so he’s known for saying those two words. That’s because when you say or do something often enough, you begin to get a reputation based on it. Now, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on you.

If you frequently lie to others, you’ll gain a reputation of being a liar. If you often follow the honest route, you’ll get a reputation of being a trustworthy person. If you think you can simply erase your reputation, you’d be wrong. It’s better to build good standing from the start rather than having to tear down your “bad” one.