Star Wars has been mainstream my whole life it seems. Can't remember anyone being ridiculed for liking it. Can remember people being ridiculed for not having seen it.

Batman has always been cool, as far as I can remember, and especially from 2005 onwards (and especially especially from 2008 onwards).

Can't remember anyone being ridiculed for liking Star Trek. Then again, I'm the biggest Trek fan out of my friends, and I have barely/never seen/don't even like TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise. And I didn't start watching Trek anyway until 2006 or 2007. But the series is pretty cool now as of 2009.

Power Rangers is, and has only ever been, cool to five year olds.

I wasn't aware of Doctor Who until a few years ago. I only knew one person who watched it, too. Yet, within the last couple years, it has suddenly become very popular, it seems.

Of course, I've never really considered myself a nerd or a geek. What do those words even mean anyway? I don't really identify with what I've seen is their "culture." I just happen to like some of the things they do.