Anyway, Sheppard is more like Watson, in that he is very intelligent but just isn't a genius like Holmes/McKay.
(trucking in from metafandom)
Actually, what drives me COMPLETELY BALLISTIC about Sheppard & McKay is that both canon and fangirls (hee) keep telling me that McKay is smarter _when it is perfectly evident to me that Sheppard is smarter_. (Look, I don't want to insult any Mensa members, but -- there's a joke, right, about how Mensa is full of people who are smart enough to join Mensa, but not smart enough NOT to join Mensa. I'm just pointing out here which of them joined Mensa, and which of them was smart enough to join but didn't.)
You're right about the social aspect thing, completely -- I think so completely that even in cases where the socially competent character is actually smarter than the awkward nerdy character, people just don't notice or believe it. (Available evidence from Star Trek, for instance, tells me that Kirk is not just extremely smart, but that he might be smarter than Spock; certainly he does not evince any difficulty keeping up with Spock intellectually, um...ever, that I can think of.)
no subject
(trucking in from metafandom)
Actually, what drives me COMPLETELY BALLISTIC about Sheppard & McKay is that both canon and fangirls (hee) keep telling me that McKay is smarter _when it is perfectly evident to me that Sheppard is smarter_. (Look, I don't want to insult any Mensa members, but -- there's a joke, right, about how Mensa is full of people who are smart enough to join Mensa, but not smart enough NOT to join Mensa. I'm just pointing out here which of them joined Mensa, and which of them was smart enough to join but didn't.)
You're right about the social aspect thing, completely -- I think so completely that even in cases where the socially competent character is actually smarter than the awkward nerdy character, people just don't notice or believe it. (Available evidence from Star Trek, for instance, tells me that Kirk is not just extremely smart, but that he might be smarter than Spock; certainly he does not evince any difficulty keeping up with Spock intellectually, um...ever, that I can think of.)