Geeksboro Drops a Charm Bomb for Autism

By carolinianweb on June 29, 2016 • ( 0 )

Ross Kiefer
A&E Editor

Geeksboro has routinely proven itself as viable outlet for entertainment in the Greensboro community. Ever since being established in 2012, the nerd-culture oriented coffeehouse and theater has managed to host a variety of stimulating events. Ranging from video game tournaments, concerts of tribute and fantasy based bands, dances rooted in geek lore and tabletop gaming.

One of their next endeavours will be functioning as an art exhibit. They have formally entered this territory before, usually picking art submitted by amaeteur artists to be displayed within the shop. These events typically focus on a theme, usually a movie or television show. This was seen at “Wes Fest”, which featured art inspired by the quirky and ever colorful movies directed by Wes Anderson.

For this next exhibit, Geeksboro is partnering with neighbor Hops Burger Bar to present “Bob’s Burgers: The Atypical American Family.” Premiering at Geeksboro at 6:30p.m. on Monday July 11th, the event will include “Bob’s Burgers” inspired hamburgers for all in attendance, a showing of two “Bob’s Burgers” episodes, and a conversation with artist Kristin Lozoya.

Originally airing on Fox in 2011, “Bob’s Burgers” centers around the unconventional life of Bob Belcher. Bob balances his relationship with his family and his own small business. His three ever unpredictable and zany children, and free-spirited wife Linda often cause a multitude of problems for Bob as he tries to maintain both order in his burger restaurant and everyday life.

Lozoya choose to focus on this show because she saw similarities between Bob’s children and her own child. Bob’s children, Gene, Louise and Tina, often show their social ineptitude by dealing with situations in outlandish ways. Much of their behaviour is akin to that of children who happen to fall on the Autism spectrum.

Lozoya, herself a mother to an Autistic child, finds solace in the show. Despite their own shortcomings, the Belcher children still manage to thrive and generally find themselves in extraordinarily rewarding situations.

The character Tina Belcher falls into the atypical category more so than her siblings Gene and Louise. Tina is often depicted as being incredibly shy, and tends to not handle moments of anxiety well and takes most things quite literally.

Tina is an interesting member of the Belchers because as the oldest of Bob’s children she’s dealing with the transition of being pre-teen into that of young adulthood. Although she is very aware of her own value and displays a lot of self-confidence throughout the series, her inability to express her emotions shows great personal struggle for her as a character.

“As the mother of an atypical child, ‘Bob’s Burgers’ is the best therapy that I have been able to get because it gives me hope for my daughter’s future,” Lozoya says. “Basically, it gives me hope that my daughter could grow up to be as brave and wonderful as Tina Belcher.”

Because of her close relationship to Autism, Lozoya is choosing to donate the proceeds from the opening gala to Quad F. An initiative organized by the UNC TEACCH Autism Program and Spears Family, Quad F seeks to aid adults on the Autism Spectrum by engaging them with fitness, educational and social programs.

The exhibit will showcase a variety of paintings that explore the endearing and supportive family dynamic that is found on “Bob’s Burgers.” Lozoya also produced a portrait of her daughter, Sophie, for the gala.

In addition to this, Lozoya is an avid blogger. Her blog, which is titled Atypical Viewer, touches on subjects related to Autism, as well as other relationships that parents may find themselves in. She hopes to one day be able to turn her blog into a book.

Lozoya and Geeksboro are hoping to use this gala and exhibit to raise awareness of Autism and the over three million Americans that are diagnosed with the disorder. One message that the show “Bob’s Burgers” promotes is that the people who fall on the Autism Spectrum can still carry out fulfilling lives and be a part of their family.

Located at 2134 Lawndale Drive, Geeksboro Coffeehouse is located on the same shopping strip as Acme Comics and the newly opened Hops Burger Bar 2nd location. Tickets for the event are $10, and can either be bought in store, or online www.Geeksboro.com/bobsburgers.