Feeling Weird About “Weird”

Lately, the word “weird” has been used a lot to describe folks on the right, especially their idols like Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Given that Trump’s campaign strategy largely revolves around name-calling, I love that we’ve found an epithet that gets under his skin. I’m also on board with getting under Musk’s skin with words, given that he’s a “free speech” crusader as long as the speech doesn’t disagree with him. But “weird” is kind of a special word for me.

I’m a theatre kid. We’re known for weirdness. In high school, it was really empowering to respond to “you’re weird” with “hell yeah I am!” and go put on something from the costume closet and walk around the halls when I wasn’t in the scene that was currently rehearsing. As a cishet WASP, “weird” was my only path to being an outsider, honestly, and it seemed like the outside was more fun.

I know I’m not the only one who embraces “weird.” It’s a word that was once meant to bully, but got reclaimed. It’s parallel to “queer,” though obviously that word has a richer and more significant history.

And I guess I’m not very weird anymore. I’m a married father of two, with a day job. I’ve never felt so mainstream. I’m still nerdy, but either because it’s 2024 or because I’m in my 40s, my nerdiness doesn’t cause any problems for me. It mostly helps—I connect with fellow nerds on the things I’m nerdy about, and that’s all the social interaction I need. My nerdy fascination with communication skills helps me do my job well. I do weird things to make my wife and kids laugh, but I haven’t made a public spectacle of myself for the sake of making a public spectacle of myself in a really long time. So maybe that’s where some of this is coming from.

Back to politics. I’ve long felt that presidential elections, at least since the 1980s, really come down to who would have won elections in high school. And those, of course come down to “who is objectively cooler?”

Reagan - as a former movie star, he’s unbeatable in coolness.

Bush vs. Dukakis - the first Bush doesn’t get many cool points, but Dukakis was notably un-cool.

Bush vs. Clinton - Clinton has a unique but effective brand of coolness.

Clinton vs. Dole - Clinton cool, Dole stiff.

Gore vs. Bush - Gore bookish and a bit awkward, Bush totally unintimidating and Texas chill.

Bush vs. Kerry - Seriously, George W. Bush was like the high school kid who’s a pretty good athlete but also is in a band. If Gore was the National Honor Society guy, Kerry was the class valedictorian. Bush out-cools both easily.

Obama vs. McCain - the only election where both candidates were supremely cool. Obama would have out-cooled even Reagan.

Obama vs. Romney - the guy who’s popular with the jocks, the music nerds, the theatre kids, and the stoners vs. the rich kid with a lot of rich friends. Interesting, but again, too easy.

Clinton vs. Trump - here’s where the theory really got tested. Neither is truly cool. But both intimidated their way to having large social followings. Hillary is the class valedictorian because the other smart kids said “just let her have it” and tanked an exam. Trump is the kid on the football team who thinks he’s the star and brags about his recruitment but privately all the coaches and players know he’s a disaster. Still, it makes the school look good if he achieves things. Ultimately, that kind of “coolness,” such as it is, wore out.

Trump vs. Biden - in 2020, Biden was easily cooler. In 2024, he no longer is. Confusion isn’t very cool. Harris, however, is quite cool. Nerdy side, but with a winning smile and a great voice.

And thinking in high school terms, calling Trump “weird” and pointing out all the weird things he’s said and done, and him responding “nuh uh, don’t call me weird that’s not nice, Crazy KaMAHla, by the way, what race are you because I’m confused” is an excellent campaign strategy.

But are we headed back to “weird” being a bullying word? I don’t like that. I don’t think it’s going to make the world a better place if a multi-ethnic group of kids across the gender spectrum are calling the gun nerd in a MAGA hat “weird.” The worst case there is easy to imagine, but also… what if they reclaim the word?

What if whenever someone hears “weird,” they don’t picture a theatre kid showing off his old age makeup and singing “Old Time Rock and Roll” in the hallways; and instead exclusively picture neo-Nazis who want to lower the age of consent to 14? What if a new fringe alt-right group starts calling themselves “The Weird Boys”? What if lonely kids who see no place for themselves in the mainstream are attracted to that instead of to theatre?

I’m not necessarily saying we should do anything different, I just want other people to have these thoughts, since I’m stuck with them.