Have you been made fun of for liking Trek?

[The Grim Ghost]

I'm curious as to how many of you have ever been made fun of for liking Star Trek. Or just had people react really badly to it.

I've got a couple of examples.

I started watching TOS when I was about 12 years old in the late 80s. I ordered a generic insignia patch and put it on my jacket, and the next day at school was completely trashed by a number of people. One guy especially gave me hell over it and called me "Spock" for the rest of the year. I took it pretty badly, I was one of those kids who was extremely quiet and always wanted to blend into the background. In fact, it soured me on the show for about six months.

Another incident only happened a few months ago. I had just started dating this girl, and she happened to notice that I had a Trek novel on my dresser. Actually It was Articles of the Federation. The second she saw it she said "Oh god, are you one of those Star Trek freaks? How can you watch that crap?" Needless to say, we didn't date much longer.

 

[Kelso]

No. When I hit middle-school I stopped telling people.

If you were wearing Star Trek patches to school and leaving Trek merchandise out while bringing girls over... then you deserved what you got! ;

 

[The Grim Ghost]

Well as for the patch, I was 12. I had very little understanding at the time of what was considered "cool".

The 2nd incident occurred a few months ago, I'm now 31. I'm not going to hide stuff that I like at this point. That doesn't mean that I go blabbing it around to everyone either.

 

[Kirkunit]

Of course. It comes with the territory. Usually, I beat people to the punch by confessing that I'm a huge nerd. Fortunately, I have a job which requires creativity & open mindedness. So, everyone here pretty much has their own quirks.

In high school though, I learned it was ok to like whatever you wanted -- you just didn't have to tell anyone. That seemed to work out well. Plus I was on the swim team & looked pretty normal. (Well, as normal as one could look in the '80s.)

 

[captcalhoun]

damn, if some girl did that to me i'd kick the bitch to the kerb so fast her ass wouldn't touch the ground.

yes, i was a Trekkie from about 11 and was frequently ridiculed for it. i was also ridiculed for liking comic-books, Transformers and other stuff.

by the sixth form, there were some other kids who'd admit to liking TNG and more particularly DS9 so i didn't get it so much then. they just ridiculed me for other reasons.

i never gave a crap about it.

 

[GreenBlood]

Can't recall being made fun of.
(does the rolling of the eyes and shaking a lowered head count as ridicule or are they just feeling pity for me?)

My Trek and Sci-Fi addiction was always pretty evident to people I encountered.
Sometimes I flip people off with the Vulcan salute.
Sometimes, when I least expect it, people I know will surprise me with a "Live long and prosper."

 

[number6]

Who hasn't?

Anyone who likes Trek as much as I do is usually a friend. Anyone who likes ENT is a good friend.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

"damn, if some girl did that to me i'd kick the bitch to the kerb so fast her ass wouldn't touch the ground."

Well I did have to have sex with her first! Then quickly kicked her to the curb. She sucked for a lot of other reasons besides hating Trek. Of course she was into Lord of the Rings and saw nothing wrong with that because it was popular...

 

[GreenBlood]

... Usually, I beat people to the punch by confessing that I'm a huge nerd...

me too...
I usually admit, early on, to people that I'm a Sci-Fi Freak.

When I'm in my cockier moods , I'll say something challenging like "...you gotta problem with Spock, you've gotta problem with me!"
Then I whip out my phaser, put it on a very high stun-setting, shove it in they're face, and add "Make my day!"

Okay, okay, maybe I don't do ALL of that...

 

[Apogeal Alpha01]

People, friends around me, have always known that I am a Trekkie. Though not everyone was a fan or critized the concept of Star Trek, those who weren't never made fun of me for being a fan of the shows.

 

[Phantassm]

No more than when I was teased for watching Dallas, Transformers, Godzilla or anything else some people deemed adults shouldn't watch.

 

[Kirkunit]

Again, I don't go around telling neighbors or anything. But if it comes up, it's pretty disarming to say something like, "Okay, I know I'm a huge nerd, but..." It's pretty tough to get made fun of when you're already making fun of yourself.

GreenBlood said:

... Usually, I beat people to the punch by confessing that I'm a huge nerd...

me too...
I usually admit, early on, to people that I'm a Sci-Fi Freak.

 

[species5618]

I've been made fun of (good-natured fun) by my friends, pretty much none of whom are into trek, or sci-fi at all for that matter. Luckily some of them like BSG (thanks to me making them watch it) so we have something sci-fi related to talk about.

When it comes to dating women, however, I never, ever, under any circumstance mention trek or any sort of sci-fi during the first few weeks of dating (unless of course, she brings the subject up in a positive manner first). Sad to say, but until a girl gets to know you first, I find that professing love for trek in the early stages of dating can be a definite deal-breaker.

 

[Computer]

lol I remember when I was in highschool a girl I really liked called me up asking if she could come over to my house and hang out so she didnt have to sit and watch Star Trek with her father... I told her that was fine but I was watching Star Trek too. (She still came over)

Most people that get to know me come to realize I have a vast arrary of interests in studies, entertainment, music and so forth so they tend to see Star Trek one of a thousand things with me.

The best defense against critics is using pop culture against them.
"While im sure American Idol is extremely thought provoking for you my tastes are somewhat different"

They really cant argue with that

 

[Smiley]

Nobody's been mean to me about liking Trek, but they'll crack the occasional joke about it.

As far as the dating scene goes, if a female sees my front room, the cat will be out of the bag, so I don't worry about it too much. To paraphrase Picard, if I'm going to be dumped, let me be dumped for who I really am.

 

[species5618]

Smiley said:

As far as the dating scene goes, if a female sees my front room, the cat will be out of the bag, so I don't worry about it too much. To paraphrase Picard, if I'm going to be dumped, let me be dumped for who I really am.

Oh, absolutely, I'd be busted too--I have a massive bookshelf of trek books, both reference manuals and novels, and I have Kirk, Picard and Sisko figures displayed fairly prominently (all in their original packaging, of course).

However, by the time I'm comfortable with her coming to my place and seeing my room, she'd know I'm into trek, so that's not really a consideration for me. Besides, the trek stuff is dwarfed by a massive framed 'Sopranos' Season 4 poster, so maybe it'll act as a distraction!

 

[ialfan]

Yeah I have. Back when I was younger I'd openly admit to watching it and even dressed up as Captain Picard for a costume contest. After sixth grade I never mentioned trek again at school. Luckily most people have short memories.

It's really pathethic how Star Wars is about the only scifi space show you can admit to watching without being ridiculed.

 

[species5618]

ialfan said:

It's really pathethic how Star Wars is about the only scifi space show you can admit to watching without being ridiculed.

I've noticed this as well--there seems to be a lot less of a stigma to openly being a SW fan.

 

[Finn]

Mmm. Wearing a patch like that in school is asking for it. But it could be worse. One of my old teachers in high school once told the class about a student from way before my time who used to carry around a backbag with a Carebear patch right on it.... in high school

As for me, absolutely not. I never showed it. It was always just a show to me. I never wore trek costumes, never got trek toys or posters. Never wanted to. Most of those are more of an indoors thing, and by the time I got into TNG, I spent more time outside in the woods, meadows and the pond behind my neighborhood. I was always and still more into nature than trek. If you went up to most of the kids I grew up with and asked them what I was into, they would most likely say nature, animals and drawing. Some of them knew I liked TNG but it didn't define me.

People would never guess when they enter my apartment. Its devoid of trek stuff, except for a single movie (Wrath of Khan), and one of the Titan books. Thats it. And there's a whole bunch of nature field guides, encylopedias of Mammals (3 sets),Dog/Beagle books, sketchpads. Even my DVD collection looks normal.

So no, nobody ever joked or teased me about it. I don't even correct people when they spell Klingons with a C or the way people do the vulcan salute.

 

[ladyheather69]

Well, have to say have never really been made fun of. I have had a few friends make comments, but not in a bad way, just surprised I guess that I am such a nerd

I suppose at this point in my life-late 30's- that I don't give a rat's ass what people think of me or my hobbies. Granted I was like that in high school too, but most of the people I hung out with were geeky or nerdy in some way shape or form, so it was okay to admit liking Trek.

And I wasn't like most girls in high school. I liked sports, I liked Trek and sci fi, I liked action flicks, etc. I still love all that stuff,and my husband loves me for it. In fact, sometimes he thinks of it as a badge of honor to be married to someone who can quote trek and sci fi stuff, as well as knock off stats from the previous weekend's football games

Thanks