"You can involve yourself in electronics, computers, puzzles... there's a lot of creativity and brain working. There's a lot to model trains that people don't realize"
About this Quote
Coleman is smuggling a defense of obsession into plainspoken advice, and it lands because he frames a supposedly "nerdy" pastime as a kind of hidden artistry. The list - electronics, computers, puzzles - works like a bridge for outsiders: he name-checks things culturally coded as productive and modern, then slides "model trains" into the same category. It is a rhetorical upgrade. Trains arent just toys; theyre engineering, design, problem-solving, patience. The pitch is less about locomotives than about permission.
The subtext is class and credibility. Model trains have long been dismissed as childish, niche, even socially suspect: a basement hobby for men who cant let go of boyhood. Coleman pushes back with a quietly radical claim: the real value is cognitive and creative labor that doesnt have to justify itself to mainstream taste. "People don't realize" is doing a lot of work - its grievance, defense, and outreach in one phrase. He isn't begging for respect; he's asserting that the culture is missing the point.
Context matters because Coleman spent his life being treated like a novelty, his body and persona turned into a punchline. Coming from a child star boxed into other people's expectations, the celebration of meticulous, self-directed making reads as personal. Hobbies like this are private worlds you control. In a celebrity economy built on being watched, he champions a form of play that rewards focus over performance.
The subtext is class and credibility. Model trains have long been dismissed as childish, niche, even socially suspect: a basement hobby for men who cant let go of boyhood. Coleman pushes back with a quietly radical claim: the real value is cognitive and creative labor that doesnt have to justify itself to mainstream taste. "People don't realize" is doing a lot of work - its grievance, defense, and outreach in one phrase. He isn't begging for respect; he's asserting that the culture is missing the point.
Context matters because Coleman spent his life being treated like a novelty, his body and persona turned into a punchline. Coming from a child star boxed into other people's expectations, the celebration of meticulous, self-directed making reads as personal. Hobbies like this are private worlds you control. In a celebrity economy built on being watched, he champions a form of play that rewards focus over performance.
Quote Details
| Topic | Technology |
|---|
More Quotes by Gary
Add to List
