I regard myself as a second-generation Trekkie (my Mum is a first-generation Trekkie, and she got me into the franchise when I was a kid). I’ve seen pretty much every bit of Star Trek TV and film material, I’ve read several of the books, I’ve owned models, uniforms and toys. I’ve been lucky enough to attend a couple of conventions (thanks Mum!). My love of Star Trek runs deep. Being a part of this fandom makes me feel like I’m part of a truly special, warm and diverse community.
This is, in a way, what the Star Trek shows and movies are. They are a diverse mix, stretching across more than fifty years, all meaning different things to different people. It therefore pains me when I see some fans playing a divisive game on social media.
Out of courtesy I’ve refrained from revealing the tweeter’s identity, but this sort of thing annoys me. It is anathema to what Star Trek is all about. It is not for me, or anyone else, to decide what is ‘true Trek’. The above tweet represents the desire to take a personal opinion and have it regarded as objective fact. It represents the wish to have one’s personal views override everyone else’s.
This tweet is in itself an act of trolling. It’s deliberately creating an ‘us versus them’ culture. It’s telling fans of Discovery the show they like isn’t really Star Trek, and there’s the implication that they’re not really Star Trek fans. Such an attitude is incredibly arrogant, and deeply ironic too.
I’m sure there are fans of Discovery who take their defence of the show too far. For the record, they’re just as bad (though I’ve not actually observed any such behaviour directly). If you’re a fan of Discovery and someone else isn’t, just shrug and move on. If you’re not a fan of Discovery, don’t watch it, shrug and move on. Labelling certain things ‘true Trek’ certainly isn’t a sensible or mature approach, and the implication of it isn’t going to accomplish anything. To some, Discovery will be their first taste of Star Trek. To others, including lifelong Trekkies, Discovery will feel every bit as relevant and important to the franchise as TOS or TNG.
See, here’s the thing. As I mentioned earlier, Star Trek fans are a diverse bunch, and the shows and movies reflect that. To some, TOS and only TOS will do. Others might have never seen TOS and their first experience of Star Trek will have been through JJ Abram’s films. Some fans will love TNG and hate DS9 and some will hate ENT but love DS9. There is no ‘true Trek’, there is only different Trek that means different things to different people.
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Well said. I, too, am a second generation Trekkie. In my case, it was my dad that got me invested in the franchise. I have a lot of fond memories of trips to the movie theater to see each new movie that was released. Well, from the fourth installment on. Not sure I was old enough to sit through the movies prior to that. Once he was retired, he spent a lot of his days watching and rewatching reruns of all the TNG era series that would air five days a week. He got to the point where he knew exactly what episode was on after seeing only the first 30 seconds of the show. Didn’t stop him from watching the whole thing. Sadly, he passed away before Abrams’ reboot on the big screen, but I have no doubt he’d have embraced it, just as he did all the others. If he’d had a problem with any of it, he’d have quietly made his opinion known (probably just to me) and then moved on. He still would have continued to watch every bit of new Trek footage that gets released.
Thank you for your comment. It’s great to have those moments to share with our loved ones, and I am eternally thankful to my Mum for introducing me to Star Trek. I am proud to be a Trekkie, it’s a special club, a great community. There will always be points of disagreement (I personally am not fond of Enterprise and felt Voyager got weaker and weaker as it went along), but I wouldn’t have the gall to tell other fans it’s not true Star Trek. I might make my criticisms public, but I wouldn’t treat it as fact or want it regarded as such. I can’t understand the attitudes of those who do.
I am a 1st, 2nd, 3rd Generation who got into Star Trek myself when I was a kid and I was very fortunate enough to go to a Star Trek Exhibition in London with my best friend John after the release of Generations, I absolutely love the Borh as they my favourite Enemy of all time, I loved all the Movies with Captain James T. Kirk and then Star Trek The Next Generation with Jean Luc Picard, Star Trek Voyager is a favourite of mine, Star Trek Deep Space Nine was also brilliant, Star Trek Enterprise ended Tom early as I liked Archer T’Pau, Trip, Hoshi, and now over 100 Years later in the Star Trek Universe “Star Trek Dicovery” It is going from strength to strength set 10 years before TOS Captain James T. Kirk 5 year mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701 which is a iconic Ship…..As she will always bring you home! Here are some Quotes
“To Boldy Go”
“Kplah”
“Live Long and Prosper”
“Revenge is a dish best served Cold”
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So much of the ‘True Trek’ nonsense is from arrogant gatekeepers that seem to think they can decide who does and does not qualify as a Star Trek fan. Many of them do the same thing with Star Wars too – in fact, these groups often overlap. It’s sad and pathetic but there seems to be little to be done to convince them that their elitist behaviour is wrong.
I personally think if you love Star Trek for the right reason then Great, #Sharethelove otherwise if you do Not have a true passion in the current Star Trek Discovery rather then complain about it, Just move along and just watch Eastenders instead and let us True Trekkies continue to enjoy everything Star Trek has to offer and as for those doubters “Just go to maximum Warp and leave the System”
I have no problem with people not liking DSC – people can hate it, they can criticise it, they can say whatever they like – and I’ll still consider them Trekkies if they’re fans of other parts of the franchise. It’s when they dictate to fans whether or not they’re actually fans… it’s the most un-Trekkie like thing they could do.
I totally agree with you there Ben!