What it means to be a trekkie

But they aren't on the team and do not contribute to the teams wins or losses. If the pride in your community rests in the records of your local sports teams, your priorities are messed up. These are businesses, they can get up and move when ever they want. ( Am I right Oakland ans LA?) It's no different than an auto plant moving out of a city. Though the auto plant shutting down is probably worse when you think about it.

 

Fandom is fascinating. When people define themselves over the achievements of others, and think they are superior to other people because someone else is successful. It's funny.

 

I'm probably being my usual slow and dim-witted self here - but you are kidding with that comment, right?

 

Hey, "The Muppet Movie" is great!

Trust me, you can be a Trekkie and still enjoy the Muppets.

 

I agree with this comment 100%.

 

I agree too.

 

I agree you can be both, but that wasn't my original point.

 

How about Trekker vs Trekkie? I make that distinction, and I'm the first. If folks want to wear Spock ears with other folks who learn Klingon, and go to conventions everywhere or even eventually model their homes on the Enterprise or 24th-century earth, that's fine, but it's not my thing. I just like watching Trek in most of its incarnations, and knowing a lot about episode minutiae and chewing over stuff with peeps on this site. That's enough for me.

 

Dallas fan?

 

But, I'd bet a good percentage of even those folks are watching Game of Thrones and/or True Blood, and probably a bunch have watched the Harry Potter movies (the third of which I have less than zero interest in, myself; and I was sort of dragged into watching GoT and TB by my girlfriend, although I've ended up enjoying both). Your point does resonate---I feel there's some validity to it too--but it does also seem that there can be exceptions. Maybe water-cooler syndrome would explain why there seem to be some exceptions? Office mates are talking about it, so they want to as well?

 

A Trekker is what a Trekkie calls himself when he's embarrassed by the word "Trekkie".

I've never worn Spock ears, don't speak Klingon and can count the number of cons I've been to on one hand. A movie poster is the most visual piece of memorabilia in my home. I'm a Trekkie because I enjoy Star Trek. That's all it takes. How you express that enjoyment is up to the individual fan.

 

Or when he/she thinks, they´re something "better" than the average Star Trek fan.

This

Although I recently bought a bathrobe in the style of a TOS science uniform and I can´t wait to wear it the next time I go to the sauna and see if I get some reactions from people

Mario

 

I wore Spock ears to a formal dinner once. To annoy people. Got some laughs.

 

Nope and wrongo. I'm not "embarrassed [to be called] a Trekkie"--it's simply inaccurate; no more accurate than calling a reform Jew a Conservative Jew, for example. A Trekkie does all the extra stuff I just mentioned. That you don't and still choose to call yourself a "Trekkie" simply makes you unorthodox and/or unwilling to accept certain consensus definitions; it doesn't disqualify the distinction. A Trekker just watches the shows/movies, loves them, and knows a lot about them. That's a distinction, and it's one with a difference. You can all yourself whatever you want, but sometimes nomenclature does expand to encompass more nuance, and this is one of those sometimes.

 

Not sure the fandom is that popular outside us trekkies. We are certainly popular amongst ourselves and trek is a wonderful community, but probably still aren't accepted by the masses. The commitment of this fanbase is really pretty astounding though. Just go online and see ho many Trek conventions are held each year around the world. You'll see nothing like that for any other single franchise. COMIC CONS are popular, but they include a few genres. The Trek Vegas con for instance draws about 25,000 fans each year. That's pretty amazing if you think about it. Trek has been off TV for almost 10 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02LgdXVkXgM

I'd say the lions share say it's no different than supporting a sports franchise. "Football fans can dress up and it's cool"... same thing for Trek conventions.

Hope your research proves fruitfull

 

Some insecurity/defensiveness here, it seems, in more than one case.

Take a look at what I wrote. I made no value judgments. I wrote "that's fine" regarding what I consider the general hallmarks of Trekkies as opposed to Trekkers. I don't think I'm better than the average Trek fan; I think I AM an average Trek fan. One who fits one of two broad subcategories. Both of equal worth, if the meaning of "worthiness" in some general sense even has any relevance when discussing a fandom.

 

Sorry if you feel offended; my remark wasn´t directed at you. It is merely an observation I made when talking to various Trek fans over the years.

Personally, I think whether you call yourself (or someone else) a "Trekkie", "Trekker", "Star Trek fan", or whatever is a matter of personal preference and really makes no difference whatsoever in "categorizing" fans. YMMV of course

Mario

 

That is not the original distinction I remember from the "veterans" of our fanzine back in 1980.

Back in the 1970's and 1980's you had fans interested mostly in the concepts of Star Trek ("Trekkers") and you had fans mostly interested in the actors ("Trekkies").

Over the years "Trekkies" became the dominant nickname for the general public, but I don't like the "cute" connotation.

After all, "Trekky" sounds rather like a name for a pet or a nickname for a child. YMMV.

Bob

 

I'm fine with "Trekkie." I'm also inclined to think that a "Trekker' is just a Trekkie who is putting on airs. And insisting that "No, I'm a Trekker, not a Trekkie" is just going to make most people roll their eyes . . . which is probably the opposite of what you're going for.

I'm a Trekkie and proud of it.