President Obama Confuses Star Trek & Star Wars, is a Fake Geek Girl

Jedi mind meld is a real thing. – http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Force_meld

It looks intentional. I have no problem with that. Government programs which a lot of people depend on are going to get shut down or significantly reduced like after school programs for at-risk youth and other worthwhile programs and butthurt nerds are gonna whine about this? Priorities, people.

So I guess Obama is a bigger nerd the collective internet. How embarrassing for us.

Pretty sure that’s not what he was referencing, especially since that’s called a “Force Meld” or “Jedi Meld.” It’s more reasonable to think he combined Jedi Mind Trick and Vulcan Mind Meld. Especially when you consider the White House put out that joke afterward.

While conceding that you are most likely correct… I do know some fairly die-hard Star Wars fans who refer to Force Melds as ‘Jedi Mind Melds’ specifically to riff off of the Vulcan Mind Meld.

Yeah but if he was making that specific reference don’t you think he would have them put out a joke showing he’s THAT nerdy rather than admitting he messed up?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/joke

There may be method to his madness. Intentionally mixing up terms makes him look like the parent who has picked up bits and pieces of geek language from his kids, rather than somebody who speaks it himself, which is closer to the public image he’s presented.

To be honest, I’ve always thought of Obama as more of a “lapsed geek,” at least compared to, well, people that read sites like this. But that’s okay since A. That still makes him the geekiest president in history, and B. HE’S THE GODDAMN PRESIDENT! I’m glad he liked The Avengers, but come on. North Korea’s nuclear weapons are a little more important than keeping up on J.J. Abrams.

Can’t I whine about both? Or enjoy this thing as a humorous distraction from the other thing?

That’s what you get when you let JJ Abrams direct both franchises.

I kind of feel like the mixed metaphor, as it were, accurately captures what a jacked up mess this is.

You have to admit: Seeing the Rebel Alliance and the Federation Alliance from DS9 fight the Empire and the Dominion could be the greatest thing ever

I admit to feeling a wee bit disappointed when I read the Jedi Mind Meld thing this morning. Not to Nerd Rage levels, but more like, “Awww, man, Obama, I thought you knew this stuff.” And then I went on with my day, ’cause, y’know, more important things to worry about.

But I hadn’t seen that official response until just now (Thank you, Mary Sue!), and that? That makes my day. xD THAT is the way to recover from a geek faux pas. Well done.

My dream government is now Obama, whoever it is in his administration who can make things like this and draft responses like the one to the Death Star petition, and then the Canadian MP who wants to prepare for the zombie apocalypse.

I knew he was just being President for the attention.

I gotta say, this is one of the funniest headlines I have read from you guys.

Dude. This isn’t a politics site. If it was they….

No. Still not a Politics site. Go away.

It isn’t confusion, it’s intentional bipartisanship! Just as there can be a balance between Klingons and Wookies, there can be a balance in tax cuts and spending reductions in the budget.

But honestly, who cares? It’s awesome regardless.

I agree that it appears intentional. If you look, they’ve kept the Star Wars font for, “Jedi,” and the Star Trek font for, “mind meld.” They know they’re combining idioms.

I’m just shaking my head at the fact that everyone is getting all worked up over this. Like, I’m a pretty geeky person, but even I didn’t catch onto the mistake until it was explained. Even then, so what? He’s the President, he has more important things on his mind than what term go to which franchise.

My thoughts exactly: he’s *conflating*, not confusing, the Star Trek and Star Wars universes. Now he just needs to go after the Twilight franchise, as George Takei so memorably suggested in response to the Carrie Fisher/William Shatner feud.

I’ve done this, actually–you start to say “Jedi mind trick” and then change your mind to say “Vulcan mind meld” and your traitor mouth comes out with “Jedi mind meld.” Seems like an honest mistake to me; I could give a pass on this one, Mr. President.

Just to note, he very well may have been referencing both shows intentionally, in a way to appeal to viewers of both.

Also, the term “fake geek girl” is a wonderful way to keep women out of geekdom, as is insults women who are attempting to understand the things sci-fi enthusiasts enjoy. Instead of branding them as fake, help them embrace the things they’re referencing incorrectly. “Here, let’s watch the movie!” or so on and so forth.

Hate if you want, but I find that term to be a worthless one.

You’re right, it is a worthless term which is why we decided to make a joke of it.

Feel free to survey our fake geek girl tag to see our previous dissections of it: http://www.themarysue.com/tag/fake-geek-girl/