What kind of fan are you?
- Thread starter Masao
- Start date
Fundamentalist/Mystic
Thanks. I guess I'm an INTELLECTUAL!
I wanted to make this list because I've recently been observing fandom more than participating in it publicly. All faiths and belief systems (which I believe that Star Trek is, sort of) have times of change, crisis, and upheaval, and Trek is undergoing one now. Such times can bring out the best in people, but it also can bring out the worst, which has caused me to isolate myself a bit. I think that we Trekkies (let us embrace this term!) share characteristics with followers of other belief systems and interests and, accordingly, interact with a similar dynamic. By understanding these characteristics and identifying them in ourselves and others, perhaps we can get along a bit better.
By the way, I was inspired to make this list by a cartoon of Trek fans I remember from Starlog, I think, from many years ago. Does anyone have a copy of it?
By the way 2: I am a traditionalist with evolutionist tendencies (or maybe the other way around), artist, intellectual, archivist, grazer, ecumenialist, sometime scripturist (but trying not to be a know-it-all), and Big-Tenter/Universalist. But, as T'Bonz says, I am, most of all, a Trekkie!
There is now.Is there a category for Irreverent Hobbyist (with Delusions of Artistry)?
I can't see being shoe-horned into just one. As others have noted, we also shift on this over time. I tend to identify with "Evolutionist" and "Intellectual", with a touch of "Reformer".
We're all caught up in an illusion of "modern" living. It's really more aptly put as "technological" living, at least in the 1st and 2nd worlds. But behind it all is the age old human need for power and control. We construct governments that are supposed to keep things fair, but they inevitably end up corrupt to some degree. While the USA has been an oasis of fairness more than most other places, it too has suffered corruption... and most people are blissfully unaware of just how deep it runs.
We're still way too close to the days of global chaos suffered in WWI and WWII. For the 1st world, it appears as though things are more controlled and fair, but it's tenuous at best. There needs to be significant social evolution to catch up with how we've changed our ways of life. People fear they will loose their freedom, and rightly so because of what history has shown us. The only thing that can be the great objective equalizer is the computer. It just has to be programmed as fairly as possible, to help ensure things are managed properly. The integrity of human beings still seems to be far too fragile to be trusted.
And this is what I think happened in the imagined world of Star Trek. Using computer systems and objective social management, societies could normalize and help people make the most of their lives, sufficiently benefiting from it as well, ultimately reducing the number of criminal and corrupt people among the population. This allowed humanity to leap forward to the next level and concentrate on the technologies for long distance space travel. Humanity united, and getting along. Imagine that.
We're all caught up in an illusion of "modern" living. It's really more aptly put as "technological" living, at least in the 1st and 2nd worlds. But behind it all is the age old human need for power and control. We construct governments that are supposed to keep things fair, but they inevitably end up corrupt to some degree. While the USA has been an oasis of fairness more than most other places, it too has suffered corruption... and most people are blissfully unaware of just how deep it runs.
We're still way too close to the days of global chaos suffered in WWI and WWII. For the 1st world, it appears as though things are more controlled and fair, but it's tenuous at best. There needs to be significant social evolution to catch up with how we've changed our ways of life. People fear they will loose their freedom, and rightly so because of what history has shown us. The only thing that can be the great objective equalizer is the computer. It just has to be programmed as fairly as possible, to help ensure things are managed properly. The integrity of human beings still seems to be far too fragile to be trusted.
And this is what I think happened in the imagined world of Star Trek. Using computer systems and objective social management, societies could normalize and help people make the most of their lives, sufficiently benefiting from it as well, ultimately reducing the number of criminal and corrupt people among the population. This allowed humanity to leap forward to the next level and concentrate on the technologies for long distance space travel. Humanity united, and getting along. Imagine that.
I go round and round about that all the time.
I agree.
Some of the fanboys have been celibate for a long time. Perhaps, because of their Trekkie priesthood?
Trekkie
Nuff Said
Nuff Said
You're included on the list of types. You're one of the many who insist that it (Star Trek) is not so important but still discusses it on the Internet. I'm not sure that's a sign of sanity.
Order 66 will take care of those.
As for me, I'm a Traditionalist. I prefer the old, but tolerate the new.
That's not mutually exclusive with any of the ones posted on Masao's list.
I'm a traditionalist.
*incoherent phlegm-spewing raving*
i have followed Star Trek since 1968 but never have thought of it in religious terms. I don't collect any of the stuff, for example: no Enterprise models in the house (save for a saucer section circa 1970), no novels (save Spock Must Die!, also 1970), and the last movies or episodes I bought were VHS copies of TSFS and TVH for less than a dollar each at a thrift store (yes, we have a DVD player, but I will never buy a set of the movies that includes TFF, or Nemesis for that matter).
The main sort of fan that I am is the married kind whose spouse has no interest in it (although we did see Generations and First Contact in theaters). However, I've had the La La Land set of original-soundtrack series music for several months now and have been exposing our teenagers to it, mostly in the car, with positive results - they have never seen a modern TV series with such good (melodically, rhythmically, harmonically) music.
I evaluate the various Trek shows and movies on two criteria only:
Is it entertaining?
Is it stupid?
The main sort of fan that I am is the married kind whose spouse has no interest in it (although we did see Generations and First Contact in theaters). However, I've had the La La Land set of original-soundtrack series music for several months now and have been exposing our teenagers to it, mostly in the car, with positive results - they have never seen a modern TV series with such good (melodically, rhythmically, harmonically) music.
I evaluate the various Trek shows and movies on two criteria only:
Is it entertaining?
Is it stupid?
