You...mean...they're...not...real?????? Noooooooo! I...I....I don't believe it!! Please say you're not telling me that Captain Kirk is...is....FICTIONAL???!?!?!??!!! Oh My Gosh!!! You're ruined my whole life!!! Are you actually trying to tell me that my DVD's aren't really "historical documents" from the future????? How can this be????
Sorry, just had to do it. It really boggles my mind how some people seem to insist that others have some delusion that Star Trek is somehow "real" and not a work of fiction.
Hah! Seriously, I don't think anyone is really suggesting that the hardcore continuity fans actually think this stuff is real, but there does seem to be a segment of fandom that is
emotionally invested in the idea that there is a "real" and a "true" STAR TREK canon that trumps all others. As opposed to those us who attach less importance to canon and see it just as raw material to work with--and revise as necessary.
(I, of course, may be biased here, having spent my entire career writing books that were
never considered canon. So I stopped worrying about canon decades ago)
So, yeah, some of us get baffled and scratch our heads when people start complaining that this isn't the "real" Kirk. It's not that we think those other posters are delusional; it's just that we know in our hearts that
none of it is real. So arguing about which imaginary fictional constructs are more real than others seem kind of puzzling . . . .