Then

In the 90's there were only a few stereotypes, and the breakdown was typically the geek versus the jock with the addition of a few others. The typical stereotype of a geek in comparison with a jock by definition is polar opposite. In the television texts Dawson's Creek (initial release 1998) and Felicity (initial release 1998) there is clear evidence of these two stereotypes.

In Dawson's Creek these two stereotypes are shown in black and white, with Dawson Leery fulfilling the geek portrait and Cliff Elliot the jock ensemble. Whilst in Felicity which was revolutionary for its time, gives two characters that are actually in depth and more complicated than their basic stereotype, Noel Crane being the geek and Ben Covington being the Jock.

In Dawson's Creek, Dawson whilst taking the geek role in the television series and being the protagonist actually gives off more of a unique geeky role, he sets an image of artistic persona with his obsession being of the realm of film particularly Steven Spielberg. He was particularly successful as the geek in the embrace of women, as his awkwardly movie quote charm and aspiring director ambition skills helped him to win over the idolized girl - Jen. He uses his quirky film attributes and geekiness to his advantage in situations and to flirt;

Dawson [to Jen]: See, I believe that all the mysteries of the universe, all the answers to life's questions, can be found in a Spielberg film. See, it's a theory I've been working on. You see, whenever I have a problem, all I have to do is look to the right Spielberg movie and the answer's revealed.
(wikiquote) 
In another scene Dawson despite being heavily abused by the producer of the film class' short film 'Helmets of Glory' he uses his geeky cinematography skills to correct a shot, with the use of a wheel chair instead of walking with a shoulder rig which ends up even earning the respect of Cliff.

Cliff, is your basic stereotype jock. He is in the football team and of course thinks he is above everyone else, and when he sets eyes on Jen it becomes apparent to some extent Dawson has no chance with Jen with Joey saying that his chest measurement is significantly larger than Dawson's. Cliff is the writer, director and star of the movie 'Helmets of Glory' which is practically an autobiography glorifying his football team and himself as quarterback. He is shown through Dawson's point of view as a typical meat head. Apart from that, Cliff is pretty boring as a character except for when we does warm to Dawson as mentioned earlier. He is the stock standard easily stereotyped Jock.

In Felicity however it was more complicated. Felicity for then (1998) was a game changer in the fact that it had the development of more complex characters than stock standard stereotypes.
Both Noel Crane the token geek and Ben Covington the token jock are both love interests of Felicity. In comparison to Dawson's which was of the same era it is comparatively different, with Noel whilst still having his awkward moments, such as when he insults Felicity's parents as he walks into her room to find them standing there. He is slightly better with girls, however only slightly in the fact he doesn't revolve his geekiness around Felicity in order to flirt. Whilst Ben is no where near as mind numbing as Cliff as both Ben and Noel are both a lot more developed characters than their stereotypical portraits.

Noel is felicity's sophomore resident advisor whom really is used by felicity to express her love for Ben. He is associated as that awkward friend, and feels always second to Ben. Noel is a self identified computer geek, particularly fond of Mac computers and graphic design.

Ben is the reason Felicity moves to New York, he is classed as Mr Popular and the high school jock with swimming being his particular sport. Despite denying felicity and her romantic love interest he is in fact an complicated emotional character even though he sleeps with Felicity's close friend Julie.

However in the end, Felicity does choose Noel over Ben because he is the 'safe choice'. Felicity for the time, was the start of the development of characters beyond their typical stereotypes and really daring to explore boundaries.

Now

The Stereotypes of the Jock and Geek has shifted, with the O.C. (2003) and Friday Night Lights (2006) being significantly different with the change in their stock characters of a teenage television show from those represented then.

In the O.C. comes the first complicated character Ryan Atwood, he comes from a troubled family with his biological father and some of his mothers boyfriends physically abusing him and his mother an alcoholic. Ryan resorts to crime to try and find a way out of his practically doomed existence. When he moves to a new surrounding under the protection of his lawyer in Orange County California he is practically labeled as the character of a 'bad boy' this is reinforced of course with his standard of dress being a white singlet even referred to by Seth as the "wife beater". Despite this bad boy image stereotype that is thrown on him he is actually a complicated character whom is overly protected and emotional and really a polite kid with a troubled background.

Seth is Ryan's adoptive brother and often defined as 'gawky', he is awkward with girls especially his crush Summer and extremely sarcastic by nature (which doesn't really help) and his practical jokes tend to just result in him being victimized by jocks (Luke). Seth really is the birth of where the geek becomes cool. He is obsessed with video games, comics and science fiction.

Luke is the typical rich kid jock, who coincidentally thinks he owns Orange County and constantly picks on Seth and has multiple run in's with Ryan - fist to fist. Despite this, there is hints that Luke is actually not a total prick, such as when he genuinely shows his care for Marissa and despite his hate of Ryan, saves him from perishing in the fire of Seth's mothers model home. However he does later completely distinguish these hints that he isn't a typical jerk of a jock when he cheats on Marissa with Holly.

Now there is Friday Night Lights, a 2006 television text which was revolutionary for breaking stereotypes and complicating characters beyond the basic stereotype particularly the Geek and the Jock characters at West Dillon high school in Dillon Texas. It also has uses a motto which reflects this, "Clear eyes, full hearts - can't lose".

Firstly is Matt Saracen whom after star quarterback Jason Street is critically injured in the opening game of the season has to step up to the plate. Although after becoming the new high school football star is not your typical jock. Matt is really nothing like a football Jock, he is generally quiet by nature and has the geek Landry as his best friend. He comes from a rough family background and with his mother having left him and his father serving in Iraq he was left to be raised by his grandmother. He is also not very good with girls, due to lack of confidence despite being impressively polite he tries to win of all people Coach Taylor's daughter Julie, he isn't just about football and gets good grades and can't wait to get out of Dillon Texas and wishes to attend the Art School of Chicago.

Then there is the geek stereotype that is Landry Clarke, however whilst be classified as the geek in the series he has a significant character twist. He is a christian geek who also has his own band and of course intelligent and helps Jock Tim Riggins with his homework and crushes on Tyra, whom is the town vixen. He is typically associated as Matt's sidekick however he breaks free of his shell with the catchphrase of the series "clear eyes and full hearts cant loose" proving true for Landry as he does becomes Tyra's boyfriend and ends up kicking the winning goal against his old school the Panthers for East Dillon in the final game of the season.

Friday Night Lights is the revolutionary show the pitches the difference in the Stereotype of the Jock and the Geek.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts - Can't Lose

Forces of change

It is evident between these four television texts, and society in general that there has been a shift in the stereotypes of jocks and geeks. With the spectrum moving from geeks being social outcast to today in which geeks and the 'geek' look is cool and fashionable amongst teens.

In the 90's the geek was typically the outcast in society that was almost always socially awkward, particularly around girls and this existed in both society and was evident in television shows also and represented this way in shows like Dawson's creek and earlier shows. However there was a transition that began, as the geek became that close friend like in felicity and was regarded the 'safe choice' such as with Noel.

Then there was the evolution of the geek stereotype in the early 2000's with technology rapidly advancing and the internet causing a significant shift in what was more of an 'underground hobby' to commonplace in society. This was revealed through the O.C. in early 2000's with Seth Cohen. Seth does despite being a geek, actually has his moments when he does steal limelight and effectively bring the geek to cool, especially when in the Chrismukkah episode when he does end up having two girls fighting over him Ana, and his long time love Summer. Even though Seth was chasing Summer the 'ever so hot popular girl' around for ages, the tides do turn.
This article particularly backs up the turn of the tide with the internet.

Then there is more recently in Friday Night Lights, Landry Clarke who completely breaks the stereotype of the geek. He is initially an academic christian geek who is overly awkward with girls, and ends up almost defying physics so to speak and loosing his virginity to the vixen of the town Tyra and somehow becoming an athlete himself.

This shift has also taken place in society, not just media and they have really reflected each other over time, in the 90's the social segregation between the jock and the nerd was clear whereas today in society fashion is considered wearing glasses, chino's and button up Hawaiian shirts. With almost all teenage boys having a love for video games, cartoons and of course the internet everybody today has a bit of geek in them and this is more commonly expressed and there is less barriers between the geek and what is normal today.

With the Jocks however, they have moved away from being pricks simply because its not just not cool and because not every person that plays sport is a meat head with different goals and life choices those whom do play sport.

This is shown through the shows however less so in society because this has always existed but it has not been as significant because it has molded with the fact of the birth of the internet and personal interests, life choices and university choices etc becoming alot more broad and that those who do play sport don't just play sport but can also be talented in other areas at high school and have further passions.

This is only shown effectively to a high extent in Friday Night Lights, with Matt Saracen as the key person who even after having to step up as quarterback for the Dillon Panthers does not actually have his life revolve around football and does want to attend art school. I speak for myself in agreeing with this statement, in the fact that whilst i do play Rugby and Rowing and am looked upon by society as a Jock there is a lot deeper story, the fact that I do play video games (rather too much) and i work hard in my academics that i am passionate about and wish to study a co-joint degree in university of law and bachelor of commerce and i really am too addicted to the internet and gadgets and even manga and cartoons. That because somebody plays or loves a sport at a high level does not mean they are a jock and these stereotypes have faded in society to some extent and in the Friday Night Lights the characters are known on a personal level and this is brought out that they are complicated individuals, just like me and not just another 'Jock'.

Geek being used as a fashionable style in society

Impact

This change of the two stereotypes has come about through society from both sides of the spectrum, society has changed to some extent to mold what we see in television with stereotypes and television and media has molded around society. With the audience models, Cultivation theory and Reinforcement model being key in this change. The shift in society was probably however caused by technology changing how we live today, the fact that internet is now common place, that everybody looks to achieve higher and get better jobs and the idea that the 'geek' you picked on in high school is now your boss with people like Bill Gates, whom is a technology geek through and through is publicized by the media as the richest man in the world.

The fact that being intelligent and not relying solely on sport today has changed significantly the aspect of sport, that there is a significant amount of people who play high end sport that don't want that as their life choice, but would rather like Matt Saracen, go to an Art School in Chicago. Today, sport after the completion of year 13 in New Zealand or Senior year in America is not necessarily top priority as further education may be of higher priority. For most, getting a degree at university or starting to work due to help pay rent for the family for those with lesser circumstances may come first over taking a shot at making it big in sport. This is the reality in life today that making a living sport isn't the pathway for high success.

Furthermore as an incentive to move away from professional sport and focus on academics post high school, is that that sport is becoming ever so highly more competitive and challenging with the bar continuously being raised and the use of drugs being common place in athletes lives to get the most out of their careers. This is reflected by the likeness of Smash in the Friday Night Lights, as he resorts to using performance enhancing drugs to improve his level of football. Recently there has been significant use of illegal doping or use of performance enhancing drugs as everybody aspires to be better than the rest. With the likes of 100m sprint event, nineteen runners have run under 10 seconds this year, compared to six in 2007. This shows that the level is getting higher and some are resorting to drugs to keep up. David Howman, the chief executive of the World Ant-Doping Agency, believes that one in 10 athletes are cheating.

Lastly is the idea that sport, as a life choice or path is in fact extremely risky and therefore many are moving away from being overly committed to their chosen sporting code. Injuries in sport, as the level has increased so dramatically have also increased dramatically. Some of which can be career ending, life changing and in extreme cases even life ending. This article shows of some of these injuries which truely change lives of high level athletes. This is represented in Friday Night Lights through the character Jason Street, as his life will never be the same again after his injury. He will be confined to a wheel chair for the rest of his life.

Jason Street

This reinforcement theory leans on the character of Matt Saracen, we believe what the media is portraying him because he really in genuine as a character and we see that in ourselves today as it reflects our own life goals, values and life choices. Matt looks out for his family and puts his grandmother first and instead of being a high school football star he pursues other life choices, because he is not a superstar, whilst being a talented individual he does in fact play football for fun. Which today is hard to come by with those whom take high school sport seriously the term fun. It shows that there needs to be a balance in life.

Friday Night Lights is a perfect example of the cultivation theory, we subscribe to it and watch it so intently because it shows us what we want to see, which is more complex in depth characters than the typical stereotype that is so often portrayed in other media texts on the Geek and Jock. This is evident by its reception of the television series, despite it not having a high viewership it was met with critical acclaim and has a strong fan base  which really was how the show was marketed, with Universal strongly pushing it for its on demand service as a show which it gathered most of its fan base. This further reflects the cultivation theory, that people go out of their way to view the text because it has such well developed characters which you can feel close to over the typical stereotype and therefore the show has succeeded where others have failed because it is a better representation of society today and shows that characters on television can be complicated just like us with reviewer Alan Sepinwall said "Few shows are as willing to so directly confront the emotions of its characters, aided by central performances." and magazine Salt Lake Tribune saying  "For five seasons, Friday Night Lights was both the simplest and most complex show on TV. It felt like real life, and real life is complicated."

Significance for media and society
Today everybody wants to be successful in life, so more and more people have aspirations from high school to achieve in life at the highest level and henceforth people become broader in their knowledge, whereas back in the 90's a significant amount of jocks were not also studying high level subjects or wanting to be anything else other than jocks, particularly portrayed this way in the media and television anyway.

When the idea came through that being a geek means success, and of course success and money is cool (as shallow as it seems). Society significantly changed, whilst there is more money in technology (and certainty) with the likes of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Carlos Slim as examples of this. However with sport because of injury meaning the end of any possible income many sportspeople whom are generally conceived as jocks began to have backup's or other aspirations outside which may be only a hobby to them. For example, Fran Cotton the former England and British Lions rugby player set up Cotton Traders with team mate Steve Smith in 1987. The company started supplying rugby shirts by mail order, but now offers a broad range of clothing, household textiles and accessories. It has a turnover of more than £60 million and directly employs about 600 staff. Cotton and Smith are each worth about £30 million, according to The Sunday Times Rich List. This article details of nine other sports stars along with Cotton whom went on to be extremely successful outside their chosen sport whilst this article shows sporting stars whom went on to become politicians in America, which backs up the fact that today in society diversity is key.

Today, sport has become a career choice and therefore society has changed and adjusted for this. With some attending high school in pursuit to follow this career path rather than academic pursuits. Today, many athletes don't have to have a job on the side in high level sport and athletes being some of the richest people in the world with endorsements and prize winnings. However, whilst doing so there is also this balance today where those that follow this dream with the Jock stereotype may be significantly mellow because the significance technology and media has had on society to the point where it is life changing.

Today the computer, and other technological devices are no longer associated with the geek however used by all people from all reaches of life. What was originally a small part of society that used computers has been completely revolutionized as technology has advanced. 

Computer in 1990's

Computer 2013

With social media being such a significant part of everyday life the geek is somewhat normalized as jocks don't just play sport, but email friends, use social networking and even play games today in society in which was in the past considered to be the realm of the geek.

The lines that separated the two stereotypes have been torn apart as society has changed to the point where everybody has that inner geeky side to them, or that inner jock whether it be on the sports field for their high school premier team or just in core physical education class..

However society has changed, and media has changed with it. Today your typical male can be into all range of gadgets from cars, to i pad's, to the latest video games.

Hence Media today has adjusted and changed to better follow suit and help teenage males break free from their rock solid stereotypes and the show that revolutionized this was Friday Night Lights. The show has removed these stereotypes and allowed teenage boys to really have real personalities that teenage boy viewers can relate to and recognize the characters and the developments that they are going through. Because really nobody is the confined to a seperate stereotype with everyone having different things that make us different, where one member of the football team in high school may like blogging on tumblr as a hobby whilst the other may be secretly a  budding pro gamer. Today everyone has a different identity and different path and society has changed and media changed with it to break down the stereotypes that used to hold people down and make them confine to what they were told was 'normal' for them.

Today the Jock and Geek no longer have boundaries and everyone has a little bit of each in them. In society and media, everyone is different.