A new generation of Trekkies

[jgdst]

[First off, I apologise if this thread should be in General or Future of Trek]

I'm putting all controversy aside here, and assuming straight off that Trek XI will be a success. If this leads to a new wave of fans, does anybody have any opinions on what will happen in general, or to the long-time fans?

I'm not sure what my opinion is yet, but there are a couple of situations I thought about: The most obvious being, will there be a rift in the fans between old Trek and new? Will we see the old terms of Gushers and Bashers being applied? Will the stalwart Trek fans welcome the new fans into the fold, and aid them in their slow assimilation of 40 years of Trek?

Will it be a good thing or a bad thing having all these new fans? Not from a franchise perspective, because obviously that's good. Will there be a feeling that the new fans have cheapened or sullied Trek somehow? (Just an example I can think of offhand is the hype that surrounded Red Dwarf VII back in 97 with all the new fans heralding it as the best television ever, despite it being the poorest series to the old fans).

What are they going to call themselves? Trekkies? "People who liked that new Star Trek film"? Eleveners?! What names will the longtime fans call them?

Does anybody else have opinion on this? Any other ideas about what could happen? Or have you already seen the future?

 

[Jon1701]

[First off, I apologise if this thread should be in General or Future of Trek]

I'm putting all controversy aside here, and assuming straight off that Trek XI will be a success. If this leads to a new wave of fans, does anybody have any opinions on what will happen in general, or to the long-time fans?

I'm not sure what my opinion is yet, but there are a couple of situations I thought about: The most obvious being, will there be a rift in the fans between old Trek and new? Will we see the old terms of Gushers and Bashers being applied? Will the stalwart Trek fans welcome the new fans into the fold, and aid them in their slow assimilation of 40 years of Trek?

Will it be a good thing or a bad thing having all these new fans? Not from a franchise perspective, because obviously that's good. Will there be a feeling that the new fans have cheapened or sullied Trek somehow? (Just an example I can think of offhand is the hype that surrounded Red Dwarf VII back in 97 with all the new fans heralding it as the best television ever, despite it being the poorest series to the old fans).

What are they going to call themselves? Trekkies? "People who liked that new Star Trek film"? Eleveners?! What names will the longtime fans call them?

Does anybody else have opinion on this? Any other ideas about what could happen? Or have you already seen the future?

I hope nothing will happen. I honestly can't see why there would be a rift. If anyone has a problem with "new Star Trek fans" coming into the fold, they need to get over themselves.

At some point, everyone discovered Star Trek. We all did.

Some when they were young, others when they were older. Some love TOS, some think Voyager was the greatest Star Trek show.

Doesn't matter.

We are all Star Trek fans. Some of us weren't even born back in '66 - makes no difference. You can't look down on someone because you liked it or watched it before they did. Oh, and I'm a Trekkie. Star Trek fans are called "trekkie's". I've never understood why some people have a problem with that word.

"I'm not a trekkie. I'm a trekker..."

Pur-lease...

 

[jgdst]

I hope nothing will happen. I honestly can't see why there would be a rift. If anyone has a problem with "new Star Trek fans" coming into the fold, they need to get over themselves.

At some point, everyone discovered Star Trek. We all did.

Some when they were young, others when they were older. Some love TOS, some think Voyager was the greatest Star Trek show.

Doesn't matter.

We are all Star Trek fans. Some of us weren't even born back in '66 - makes no difference. You can't look down on someone because you liked it or watched it before they did. Oh, and I'm a Trekkie. Star Trek fans are called "trekkie's". I've never understood why some people have a problem with that word.

"I'm not a trekkie. I'm a trekker..."

Pur-lease...

I also hope it'll just be an adding of fans to the mix... my experience on the ST.com boards showed me how vitriolic some fans could be, depending on which series you preferred Scary stuff...

Wasn't Gene Roddenberry quoted as saying something like "It's Trekkies. I should know, I invented the damn thing"? Case closed, surely? I'm still expecting some fans to come up with their own terms for separating themselves from the past 40 years though.

 

[Jon1701]

^ Oh, there is the lunatic fringe. Always has been.

Generally speaking though, we are an accepting bunch.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Personally, I think the battle lines are already being drawn between "New Trek" and "Old Trek". It's probably unavoidable since some people do have a "my Star Trek is better than your Star Trek" attitude at times with each subsequent Trek series. Star Trek XI will probably be no different.

To be fair, I also think that the majority of Star Trek fans are united in their fandom of Trek in general, but it would be sometimes hard-pressed to know that by internet message boards alone, IMO...

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Both TNG and "Enterprise" caused "rifts" between members of the existing fan base and between the existing fans and new fans (the latter was much more of a factor with TNG, since the viewership of Trek increased a great deal with that series. By the time of "Enterprise," Trek viewership had been in decline for eight years and the trend continued).

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

^ Oh, there is the lunatic fringe. Always has been.

Generally speaking though, we are an accepting bunch.

I agree...

...I bet at least 75%-85% of the existing Star Trek fanbase are easy-going enough to accept this new film for what it is (I'm not saying they're all going to like it; I'm just saying they will accept it).

There is also the radical fringe that just wants to complain about something/anything/everything. Even if the late David Lean was the director, and the film turned out to be a epic masterpiece of filmwork, there are the radicals who would find some great fault with the movie.

But what will become of the old Trek Fans? As I said, for the most the old trekkies and the new trekkies (spawned by this film) will both be part of the same group of Trek Fans; i.e., they will all be trekkies.

All of the other old fans who don't agree with me will be rounded up and sent to internment camps.

 

[Lord Garth]

[First off, I apologise if this thread should be in General or Future of Trek]

I'm putting all controversy aside here, and assuming straight off that Trek XI will be a success. If this leads to a new wave of fans, does anybody have any opinions on what will happen in general, or to the long-time fans?

I'm not sure what my opinion is yet, but there are a couple of situations I thought about: The most obvious being, will there be a rift in the fans between old Trek and new? Will we see the old terms of Gushers and Bashers being applied? Will the stalwart Trek fans welcome the new fans into the fold, and aid them in their slow assimilation of 40 years of Trek?

Will it be a good thing or a bad thing having all these new fans? Not from a franchise perspective, because obviously that's good. Will there be a feeling that the new fans have cheapened or sullied Trek somehow? (Just an example I can think of offhand is the hype that surrounded Red Dwarf VII back in 97 with all the new fans heralding it as the best television ever, despite it being the poorest series to the old fans).

What are they going to call themselves? Trekkies? "People who liked that new Star Trek film"? Eleveners?! What names will the longtime fans call them?

Does anybody else have opinion on this? Any other ideas about what could happen? Or have you already seen the future?

I became a fan "late", in 1991. TNG was already half-way done and I wasn't even a teenager yet. So I remember what it was like to be a newcomer and only be a fraction of other fans' ages.

Should we get a bunch of new fans, especially younger ones, I'll be sure to treat them exactly the same way I wanted to be treated. I'll think to myself "I used to be you".

 

[Brian]

This reminds me of something I saw on another message board. I heard that there was a movie version of the Broadway musical Wicked in the works, so I was Googling around looking for information on it.

I found a message board where some woman said, "This is really bad news." When someone else asked why, she said, "Now there'll be a whole wave of new fangirls saying 'I'm the biggest Idina [who played the wicked witch in the original Bway cast] fan evar!!1!! She's mine. I've never seen the show live, so it might be nice to have a DVD version, but I'd rather go on not seeing it than have to deal with that."

So someone who jumped on the bandwagon late, having never seen the show.. would deny someone else the chance to jump on the bandwagon late. I see. She's f'in NUTS.

So I'll be happy to see a wave of new fans. And I'll try to be patient with their enthusiasm.

And as an old-timer, I will laugh at those NextGen-on fans who get all high and mighty about how Trek was theirs long before Abrams' movie.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

If this leads to a new wave of fans, does anybody have any opinions on what will happen in general, or to the long-time fans?

Suicide booths for all!

Okay seriously. Do you expect something to happen to us? I sure don't. I plan to be right here, bitching my head off, for all eternity.

 

[Brian]

To cite my favorite quote from Dolores Claiborne...

Sometimes, being a bitch is all a woman's got to hold onto.

Love that one!!

 

[Dale]

Trekkies are Trekkies regardless when they come aboard, IMHO. As a guy who got on at the start of the ride back in '66, I welcome anyone who loves and enjoys Star Trek into our bizzare little fold.

All I ask for the new movie is "please don't let being a Trekkie become cool."

 

[Brian]

You mean... it's not?!?

 

[drasche]

We will add their technological and biological distinctiveness to our own

 

[Nedersong]

I prefer the term Trekkers myself because Trekkie is a lot like junkie or druggie. And that's why some people have problems with the term.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

^
^^Right -- and being a drug addict is much more acceptable than being a junkie.

 

[OneBuckFilms]

Every new series has bred it's favorites.

When TNG first came out, the Original Series fandom thought it was a form of blasphemy, while there was a perception among some TNG fans that TOS was cheesy.

Truth is though, in all of those incarnations, Star Trek fandom has been united behind a love of the entire franchise, warts and all.

There will be no significant Rift between fandom groups, just different favorites and a love of the greater whole.

 

[Dale]

I prefer the term Trekkers myself because Trekkie is a lot like junkie or druggie. And that's why some people have problems with the term.

I honestly thought the pretentious "Trekker" monniker had been put to rest.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I prefer the term Trekkers myself because Trekkie is a lot like junkie or druggie. And that's why some people have problems with the term.

I've been into Trek since 1966; I came aboard back when we were just called "losers."

 

[Tan Ru]

We will add their technological and biological distinctiveness to our own.

Ditto. And well said..........