Star Trek vs. Star Wars, and Trekkies.....
I grew up with TREK; in fact, I was five when the first episode hit television.
At the time, I only thought it was a 'cool space show'; I didn't know about the geo-political stuff they were trying to sneak in; the hidden messages of 'Peace, Love, and Brotherhood', etc .etc. etc.
I only knew that the ship looked cool (and, a few years later, that Uhura was *HOT*!!) Since then, I've become a huge fan of TREK, being more knowledgeable about just what Roddenberry & Co. were trying to do. I've seen every episode of every series, every movie, and plan on seeing as many of them as they make, for as long as I can. In fact, TREK was what got me involved into Sci Fi and comics in a major way; as such, TREK will always be the top 'Universe' for me.
More recently, though, there have been upstarts: in the '70s, SPACE:1999 was considered a slap at TREK fans ("They're trying to buy our loyalty!")...I've NEVER figured that one out. It's as if these people thought that ANY Sci Fi show, was there for the sole purpose of stealing their TREK affections (This came from the so-called 'Trekkers'; more on them, in a moment).
Then, in the '90s, BABYLON 5 was The Next Big Thing, where "TREK had better WATCH OUT, because this show was gonna kick its ASS!!"
Which it didn't.
Then, of course, STAR WARS had a resurgence, with the help of the Prequels. Before, interest was modest, but not too built up, it seemed. Then, after Episodes I, II, and III, Wars fans had a larger Universe to play in. Which was funny, because so many of them will tell you, with a straight face, what was so *wrong* with those movies, yet they own them, and many dress up like characters from them. Now, TREK had a rivalry with a worthy opponent! Plus, it helped that George Lucas lets fans have a good deal of leeway while they play in his Universe; say what you want about the movies, at least he's savvy enough to know where the money comes from.
Myself, I like both, but I lean more heavily to TREK; maybe because I've been exposed to it longer than WARS; who knows? :) It just fits me better than the other.
(By the way, if you're a TREK fan, and some WARS fan starts playing "Mine's BETTER than yours!", remind them that while WARS has Jedi, the Force, and lightsabres, they also have tractor beams, deflector shields, and cloaking devices. Where do they think *those* came from...?)
Now, Trekkers....Trekkers TrekkersTrekkersTrekkers..........
Way back in the '70s, after TREK was canceled, it went through what I like to call, a Renaissance; people were seemingly finally discovering the show, and basically ran with it. They started conventions for like-minded fans, started fan-based publishing of fan magazines (which were called 'zines, and which still survive to this day). The fans and 'zines also gave us something taht still survives in the fan community today: stories of romance---and sex---between same-sex characters. Yep, TREK begat not only 'zines, but also slash. It started as fiction mainly between Kirk and Spock; commonly written as Kirk/Spock, or K/S. Eventually, the letters were dropped, leaving the 'slash', which became the trademark. Bet you didn't know *that*, did you? :D
Anyway.....TREK fans were divided into three separate groups at about this time, as well. The groupings weren't really universally agreed upon by the fans; some people just decided to make them up themselves. The groupings are, as follows:
TREKKERS: These are the people who originally made the groups; they were the die-hard core of fandom (literally). They were the ones who put the Cons together, who sold merchandise (official and otherwise), got to know the people on the show (stars and the technicians), etc. etc. etc. In other words, the workhorses. They also liked to take credit for the massive letter writing campaign that kept the show on the air for three years, but I'm still wondering about how much effect they really had; but, that's just me. Then, we have...
TREKKISTS: These were the people that I fell into: people who watch the show, buy the stuff, attend the Cons, etc., but who weren't actively involved in fandom itself. It's still how I am: I'll go, and buy, and watch, but I'm not going to do the work on it. Selfish? Yep. Oh well. :D And then.....
TREKKIES: These were considered the 'bottom of the barrel'; the ones who were the 'obnoxious little rodents' who were rude, greedy, annoying, and just plain bothersome. They were to be looked down upon, ignored, and ostracized. In other words, the dirt on the bottom of the shoes of TRUE FANS, dammit!
The funniest thing about this, though....in the mid-'80s, I attended a speaking engagement of Gene Roddenberry, who also had a showing of the complete pilot 'The Cage' (it was in black and white, as no one thought to keep a color version of the thing! In fact, the 'completed' version you see in color now, has computer-colored scenes that were missing from the original color broadcast one). During the question and answer period, someone (who I gathered to be a 'Trekker' by the way they asked the question) asked him what he thought of the term, 'Trekkie'. He said, that he approved the term as THE term, for a STAR TREK fan! The reason? He said, he should know, because HE's the one who coined it! The look on Trekker Boy's face was, as they say, priceless!
So remember kids...no shame in being a Trekkie. After all, if it's good enough for Gene, it's good enough for me. :)
posted by Tremas @ 6:02 AM
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