What it means to be a trekkie

[Nerys Myk]

Sports teams represent the pride of entire communities, towns and cities. Olympic sports represent entire countries. Perhaps, that's why?

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.

 

[JarodRussell]

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.

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

So whatja gonna do when you find the right one? Are you going to "come out of the closet" and fess up to being a Trekkie, or are you going to leave your beloved collection in the closet? Maybe the solution to your "embarrassment" problems would be to meet that special someone at a Star Trek con!

I'm not going to find my Guinevere at no STAR TREK convention! I want a woman I can be eXcited by. Big glasses, dirndl skirts and all that just won't do. I insist upon having Women of Quality™: All of their lovin' ... all of their huggin' ... and all of their kisses, too. And when I meet The Right One and she finds my Secret Stash of STAR TREK, I'll ...

I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

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

 

[Greg Cox]

Odd thing about those that were doing the ridicule. They, in almost all cases, were the ones lining up to go see The Muppet Movie...something I would never have done if even under the threat of death. And I was "the nerd"?

Hey, "The Muppet Movie" is great!

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

 

[Marsden]

Odd thing about those that were doing the ridicule. They, in almost all cases, were the ones lining up to go see The Muppet Movie...something I would never have done if even under the threat of death. And I was "the nerd"?

Hey, "The Muppet Movie" is great!

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

I agree with this comment 100%.

 

[bbjeg]

Odd thing about those that were doing the ridicule. They, in almost all cases, were the ones lining up to go see The Muppet Movie...something I would never have done if even under the threat of death. And I was "the nerd"?

Hey, "The Muppet Movie" is great!

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

I agree too.

 

[AtoZ]

Odd thing about those that were doing the ridicule. They, in almost all cases, were the ones lining up to go see The Muppet Movie...something I would never have done if even under the threat of death. And I was "the nerd"?

Hey, "The Muppet Movie" is great!

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

I agree too.

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

 

[Vandervecken]

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.

 

[Vandervecken]

Sports teams represent the pride of entire communities, towns and cities. Olympic sports represent entire countries. Perhaps, that's why?

My husband isn't from the city that his football team represents. He's never lived there. Maybe its different in the US.

Dallas fan?

 

[Vandervecken]

It's odd. I hear a lot about the "stigma," and I've heard the jokes on TV, but I can't say I've ever experienced it personally. Maybe this is an issue if you're still in high school and trying to fit in, but, in the adult world, I honestly can't remember anyone ever giving me a hard time about being a Trekkie. Not my friends, not my family, not my neighbors . . . .

And I'm hardly secretive about it.

...my home has a certain ST look about it...if you look, you will find things...I am not ashamed, either...but I have experienced the eye rolls and the. "...you gotta be kidding me..."

...there does not seem to be a gender or age or geography to it...but, interestingly enough, if I were to stereotype the unwashed
-er...sorry...um, ....those that do not like Star Trek (and cannot see the light and feel the rapture...oo, damn keyboard...what the hell) if I were to do that! I would say the majority of the Rollers of Eyes lack that spark of child and wonder and imagination...I am sure they have other fine, valuable qualities...seriously...

...I do not mean those that like SW over ST, or Dr. Who forever or one genre over another...I mean those that do not care for the whole thing...those who are more serious, less willing to suspend the disbelief...get into the fiction cum reality of it...starting to babble now, but I hope I have managed to explain without offending...

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?

 

[1001001]

^ Please learn to use the multi-quote function.

Thanks.

 

[Nerys Myk]

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.

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.

 

[Mario de Monti]

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.

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

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

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.

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

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

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

 

[Vandervecken]

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.

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.

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.

 

[Yanks]

My name is Kristi and i am writing a final paper on Trekkies/ star trek fans. i need to answer these three questions:

-Why is there still a stigma around the star trek fandom when their fandom is so large and popular today?

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.

-How does the mainstream fuel the stigma to the trekkie fire?

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

-How do trekkies see themselves in contrast to how everyone else does?

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.

Any thoughts or comments or thoughts? I would really appreciate some feedback! Thank you guys for helping!

Hope your research proves fruitfull

 

[Vandervecken]

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.

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

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

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.

 

[Mario de Monti]

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

 

[Robert Comsol]

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

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

 

[Greg Cox]

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.