We’ve all thought it perhaps, but Abraham Reisman summed the idea up nicely in New York magazine yesterday in a pice called Why David Bowie is a Geek Icon. You can read the whole thing here but the last section is perfect;
One last example of geeks drawing Bowie comes to mind. Adult Swim’s The Venture Bros. is a cartoon that aspires to mash up and celebrate every possible nerdy obsession, and when its creators revealed the identity of the Sovereign, a superpowered and benevolently megalomaniacal gentleman criminal, they chose to have him be David Bowie. Not just modeled after him; actually him.* At one point, when a character asks who he is, he replies,
“Just some bloke who wanted to be anyone but himself.”
You can read that as a depressing statement. But for all of us weirdos who have dreamed of donning a Lycra jumpsuit and flying away from the painful existence that fate has dealt us, it’s a statement of hope. You can be something the naysayers will call ridiculous — and you can be beloved for it. Your strangeness can change the world. It’s wonderful to be different. Until people can shoot lasers from their eyes, David Bowie will have been the closest thing to a real-life superhero we ever got.
Ain’t it the truth? …and that Venture Bros. cartoon features evil sidekicks Iggy Pop & Klaus Nomitoo. Watch.
(via New York)