 |
 |
 |
| previous column | next column |
The Shocker(s)
03/24/06
by Clay
Is the shocker the peace sign of the twenty-first century? Admittedly I feel like fictional Sex and the City star Carrie Bradshaw after the opening to this column. (And for the record that has absolutely nothing to do with the fabulous new pair of high heels I am currently wearing as I type this.)
The shocker symbol has come into ascendancy in the national consciousness with the drive of the Wichita State Shockers basketball team into the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16. It’s gotten so popular with the Shockers cheerleaders that they are even giving the shocker signal to the CBS cameras in the midst of their games. One can only imagine senior citizens across the country turning to one another and saying, “Lordy, I think that young lady just said her team was number 3 These young people today…so silly.”
But on a more serious note, if you asked a random person to explain the symbol that most often appears in photographs from the 1960’s, I’m betting that random person would say, the peace sign. (This is the kind of due diligence we are famous for at Deadly Hippos). For most of the 1990’s the middle-finger assumed the role of digital prominence, and now, I would argue, the shocker may be about to see its day as the finger symbol of choice for young America. I, for one, think this is swell and my rooting for the ascendancy of the shocker symbol is the real reason I hope Wichita State goes to the Final Four.
At this point, some of you might be completely confused as to what the hell I’m talking about. This is not entirely by my choice. Remember when Seinfeld had that memorable contest to see who could hold out the longest but couldn’t use certain words. This is the Deadly Hippos equivalent. How shall we put this in a delicate manner? Let’s just go with wikipedia’s opening line which states, “The shocker is a hand gesture with a sexual connotation that has become popular in many high schools and colleges throughout the United States.” You know how Wichita State sold a ton of baseball caps with “Shockers” emblazoned above the brim? Well, someone in the marketing department was probably sitting around just absolutely stunned about the nationwide popularity of Wichita State. That person probably even called the admissions office and told them to expect a tidal wave of new applications. Hate to burst their bubble but it was because the shocker was well on its way to being the most popular hand signal in the United States. And because kids loved wearing something their parents didn’t get.
Rather than rely entirely upon my own understanding of the shocker phenomenon, however, I decided to contact the guys at collegehumor.com who one could accurately describe as the pied pipers of the shocker revolution. In the past year, they have featured tons of shocker photos and even captured Duke pretty boy JJ Redick giving the shocker insignia on television after nailing a three earlier this season.Senior writer Streeter Seidell responded to our hard-hitting interview request.
1. Would it be accurate to describe collegehumor.com as shocker-central?
Definitely not “shocker central” but, we certainly have our share. We did not invent the shocker either, as we are sometimes credited as having done, but I think we helped launch it into the pantheon of obscene finger gestures. If you’re looking for pictures of people throwing up the shocker you really can’t beat our site. The kids who submit pictures are usually doing something else – writing on a passed out friend, lighting something on fire, etc – but they make a shocker as added value I guess.
2. How many photos of college kids giving the shocker hand signal do you estimate you have featured on your site?
According to our tag browser we have 321 pictures that have something to do with the shocker. However, we only have about half of our picture archive tagged, so the real number is probably around 600.
3. How many shocker foam fingers have you guys sold (note the shocker foam finger resembles the popular number 1 foam finger only it has three fingers up and only one down)?
We’ve sold tens of thousands. You’d be surprised where they wind up: on TV at sports games, on tanks in Iraq, on an unknowing grandmother’s hand, people really seem to enjoy them.
4. If you were a college basketball player who was deadly from three would you give the shocker signal after a made basket?
That depends. Considering I played basketball for two years as a kid and made a total of one basket – a lay up, at that – I don’t know what it feels like to sink one from behind the arc and cannot, therefore, judge what sort of hand sign I’d throw up. But if I had to guess, I’d say I’d steer clear of the shocker only because I think my parent’s are catching on to what it means.
5. Who is more likely to accidentally give the shocker sign while having no idea what it really means, George W. Bush or CBS’s Jim Nantz?
I’d say Bush. I’m sure at some point on the campaign trail back in 2004 he posed for a picture with some college kids, tried to copy their hand gestures and wound up giving a shocker. And if that picture existed it would be the most popular picture on the Internet in minutes.
6. Can you confirm or deny the rumor that Chuck Norris invented the shocker and its symbol?
I can’t confirm or deny that. Although given Chuck’s religious beliefs and his concerns about the deterioration of the youth of America, I doubt he would have dreamed up one of the most perverse hand moves in history. I’m sure the true inventor was some bored farm kid who spent too much time reading his dad’s Hustlers.
Seidell also confirmed my belief that the shocker is well on its way to becoming the new middle finger by remarking that, “It seems that the new ‘flicking off the camera’ in class pictures is getting a shocker in your high school yearbook.” But all this leaves us with one question, why the shocker now? What about our current situation leads to shocker ascendance? I think there are a couple of answers: First of all, the twenty-first century is a much more open sexual society. Can one imagine a 1950’s cheerleader from Kansas giving a sexual hand signal on television? My guess is no. Particularly given television in the 1950’s wasn’t even allowed to show Elvis’s swiveling hips. Second, there’s something fairly entertaining about being able to give a hand signal on television and have less than 10% of people understand what you are saying. For instance, how many times have we seen black athletes give fraternity signs on fields of play? How many white people have spent the collective equivalent of the mental energy required to defeat polio trying to figure out what the hell is being said? The shocker speaks to an audience of the young within the construct of the olds media assemblage. And hardly anyone was any the wiser. That kind of humor, which is lost on a large majority of the people who see it, is the 21st century humor Rorsach test. If you don’t get it, per this view, then you really weren’t worthy of the joke to begin with.
But in order for the shocker to emerge from its cloistered status as a twenty-something and younger hand signal, eventually an article like this had to be written. In fact this article might represent the first instance of the shocker phenomenon crossing over into the world at large. We here at Deadly Hippos are very proud to be bringing you such important news. I’m expecting any day to get my White House press credentials.
It won’t be too many years now until a suburban housewife with four kids in elementary school rolls into the Boise PTA mixer and brings down the house with the shocker signal. Then the shocker will go the way of the peace sign and the middle finger and the bunny ears as another symbol which is so embraced it loses its humor and uniqueness. Sadly the shocker will have become just another hand signal whose very popularity brings it tumbling down the road of obsolescence. Already, new hand signals like the Spocker and the barracuda are out there (don’t ask), waiting to be embraced. And just maybe these hand signals are waiting on a college wearing a Cinderella slipper to bring them to the forefront of the nation. For the record I don’t know whose mascot is the barracuda. I know I said it would never happen again in recorded history but here comes this phrase again, bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, meet the shocker.
Every single Wichita State cheerleader is doing the shocker in this photo. This
is unbelievable. Even the girls. Maybe everyone should just go to Wichita State.
________________________
Discuss this and any other column deadlyhippos.com column at our message board.