- Harold Lloyd may have been the first bona fide cinematic nerd. I suppose there were a few mad scientists on film prior to Lloyd's work, but I can't think of anybody who came as close to defining the modern nerd ethos as Lloyd. He's as pleasantly naive as he is socially inept, and neither quality prevents him from striving for success and popularity. It's no wonder that Lloyd served as partial inspiration for Siegel and Shuster when they created Superman's alter ego, Clark Kent. In The Freshman, Lloyd's nerdiness reaches its apex when he stars as a painfully green college student who wants nothing more than to be the big man on campus.
- It's difficult to isolate just one aspect of Lloyd's character that causes him problems. Perhaps it's his tendency to dance a jig every time he meets someone new, a technique he saw once in a movie. Maybe it's the fact that he's perfectly willing to substitute himself for the tackling dummy if it means getting on the football team. Certainly his most embarrassing moment arrives when his implausibly delicate tuxedo finds multiple ways to fall apart at the big dance as his love interest (Jobyna Ralston) looks on. Unfortunately, the film's big football game climax, while funny, is nowhere near as creative or visually impressive as Lloyd's amazing turn as a building climber in Safety Last!. I'm sure the occasional mediocre movie wouldn't diminish Lloyd's gee-whiz attitude in the least.
