ST XI good for fandom

[S'kai]

I said (somehere?) in my first reaction to the movie, that whatever our feelings about it were, and whatever issues we had, it would be good for fandom.

In addition to the merchandising making new stuff available (e.g. the Hot Wheels ships) interest is widespread, and Trek references in the media have increased.

Finally, in the bottom line, STARFLEET International, reports that their membership has increased by 10% in the less than one month that the movie has been out.

I also said before that if it was necessary to kill Trek in order to save it, so be it. I stand by those words, and thank you, JJ.

Now about that Vulcan thing . . .

 

[TheArsenal]

Re: ST IX good for fandom

The natural reaction to anything good is "more please". And there's plenty already out there.

 

[USS KG5]

Re: ST IX good for fandom

I looked at the title of this thread and thought "I don't think ANYONE thinks Star Trek IX was any good..."

 

[Borgminister]

Re: ST IX good for fandom

Thread title might cause an Insurrection!

 

[M'Sharak]

Re: ST IX good for fandom

I looked at the title of this thread and thought "I don't think ANYONE thinks Star Trek IX was any good..."

Heh, maybe I should fix that.

Edit: Okay, the Roman numeral fail has been reversed.

 

[urbandk]

I agree. Didn't want Trek to go out like a chump with Nem and Ent, no offense to fans of either.

 

[scottydog]

STARFLEET International, reports that their membership has increased by 10% in the less than one month that the movie has been out.

What is STARTFLEET International and is it worth joining?

 

[urbandk]

STARFLEET International, reports that their membership has increased by 10% in the less than one month that the movie has been out.

What is STARTFLEET International and is it worth joining?

Do they sing the Internationale?

 

[M'Sharak]

STARFLEET International, reports that their membership has increased by 10% in the less than one month that the movie has been out.

What is STARTFLEET International and is it worth joining?

A very old Trek fan association, apparently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STARFLEET_International

http://www.sfi.org/portal/index.php

 

[S'kai]

STARFLEET International, reports that their membership has increased by 10% in the less than one month that the movie has been out.

What is STARTFLEET International and is it worth joining?

Would you want to join any club that had ME as a member?

For a straight answer, I would suggest you check out

www.sfi.org .

It is definitely worth joining if there is a chapter near you. There are correspondence chapters for those that do not have one near them or are so anti-social that they do not want to meet other Trekkers in person . Explore the SFI site and the chapter sites to see what is to your liking. If there is a chapter near you, attend a meeting or two to see if you like the folks before plunking down your 15 bucks.

 

[Opal1]

I said (somehere?) in my first reaction to the movie, that whatever our feelings about it were, and whatever issues we had, it would be good for fandom.

That is something i still don't understand...

The last movies were a desaster and "Enterprise" got canceled... look at it however you like but ST had become pretty unmarketable.
Finally Abrams took Star Trek on and turned it into a success AND made a witty, engaging, gripping movie (with an amazing cast, to boot)...

And instead of being glad (and grateful) that their franchise has been given another chance, the fans pile hate on it! I don't get it.

Yes, the movie had plot holes and the "alternative timeline" will take time getting used to (although alternative universes and time travelling aren't exactly new in ST) but IMHO this "alternative timeline" was the only way to capture the essence of Star Trek without it turning into another "Nemesis".
Abrams knew that the movie needed to appeal to "non-fans", too, but how many "non-fans" have you met who know fictional dates, names and references of 40 years and countless hours of movies and shows...or would bother to learn them just to understand some science fiction movie???
(And let's not forget that all the canon names, dates and references are just that: Fiction!)

I get why some fans don't like the idea of an "alternative timeline" but it's not like Abrams has personally destroyed all your DVD boxes... they're still there.
So why the ranting and raving?
STXI is successful, it actually made being a Star Trek fan cool for once and there will be at least two sequels that will keep the interest in Star Trek alive.
And who knows, there might even be another show on the horizon now that STXI is a box office hit?

 

[Aragorn]

I think this was good for fandom in terms of "addition by subtraction." If Star Trek loses all the whiny little bitches who spent endless months complaining about the movie before it came out yet still went to see it with the intent of hating every second of it so they could tell us how right they were, I don't see any down side to it.

 

[urbandk]

I think this was good for fandom in terms of "addition by subtraction." If Star Trek loses all the whiny little bitches who spent endless months complaining about the movie before it came out yet still went to see it with the intent of hating every second of it so they could tell us how right they were, I don't see any down side to it.

awesome

 

[Shaw]

More is better.

Is that the general consensus here? That more Trek, more Trek fans, no matter how it happens, is better?

Personally, I don't need others to validate my likes and dislikes. If people agree with me, I don't care. If people don't agree with me, I don't care. I'm my own person.

But I've noticed that these days (specially in the age of the internet), many people need others to validate their feelings on any number of topics. Even more disturbing, people have become openly hostile towards those with differing views because those differences makes them uncomfortable.

Abrams delivered what he promised to the studio, Star Trek for the masses.

It required diluting Trek... but the goal wasn't better Trek, it was to make more money.

So what would you do to extend the existence of something you loved?

Lets say you have one bottle of your favorite drink left. Would pouring it into a huge barrel and adding 10 gallons of water to it give you more of that drink?

We have watered down "Trek", designed for non-Trek fans. We have an influx of fair weather "Trek" fans who are following the latest fad (last year they were Batman fans, and next year they'll be onto something else). They don't care for old Trek because they are just here riding the wave of popularity and really don't want to invest themselves in something they know they'll have forgotten a few months from now.

But hey, this is apparently all good... more "Trek" and more "Trek" fans seems to be what many of you guys wanted.

For me, quality over quantity, and less is more. Had I gotten the best Trek ever that no one else liked and guaranteed that no future Treks were even made as a consequence, it would have been worth it rather than to dilute a really good thing. But of course I can live with less, and I can enjoy things without requiring that enjoyment be validated by others.

This was an entertaining movie to me. I don't need the influx of new fans, I don't need to watch the box office numbers to tell me to like (or dislike) it, and I don't need there to be any more of them in the future. I saw it twice in the theaters, which is once more than I saw Generations, Insurrection or Nemesis in the theaters, so it was a nice change compared to those movies (but I also didn't think those movies needed to be made either).

I'm willing to endure mediocre Trek (and an influx of mediocre Trek fans) on the off chance that we might stumble across a truly compelling Trek story in the future. After all, there were a few pearls in the Trek of the last few decades, so maybe...

 

[scottydog]

^But is it possible to make a Trek movie that tells a compelling story and appeals to the masses? I think it is possible, but difficult. And movie studios who want a return on their investment often aren't willing to take such a chance.

 

[donners22]

Regardless of your feelings on the movie itself, it's nice to have something new for Trek fans to debate, and it is good to get the Star Trek name out there in a positive sense for people who may potentially take a further interest in what has come before.

 

[Tarek71]

Well it was a fun movie and this is a business, and making alot of money on Trek is the corporate goal. Even if its "90210 to the Stars" in place of Wagon Train to the Stars, i dont think they care either way. A cast of young hotties cruising the galaxy with slam bam action and blowing things up is a-ok with Paramount as long as it makes a boat load of cash.

But for myself, I dont think any Trek is better than no Trek or that ANYthing that brings in more fans is a good thing. It depends. Trek XI will bring in more fans, but I dont know how many more it will really be. Alot of people will go see this that wouldnt have seen a Trek film normally, but that doesnt mean that they are Trekkies now. They liked it, they had their popcorn and coke and then left the theater and thats it. A good flick. But that doesnt mean youre going to be seeing them at any conventions any time soon. We'll see.

 

[Flamegrape]

Yeah, but they blew up Vulcan.

 

[Tarek71]

Yeah, but they blew up Vulcan.

Not one of my favorite moments either. If they wanted to let fans know this was an open-ended reboot they could have just said that. Ron Moore did, and old BSGfans knew what the score was well before the airing. Killing 6 billion Vulcans just to make a point to existing fans was overkill in more ways than one.

It was always going to be a reboot and re imagining so they could have just said that, and everyone would have understood.

 

[Tribbles]

Shaw,

While I understand your concerns (I am similarly protective of anything Tolkien and several other literary properties), the new movie was my first exposure to the characters from the original series. I found them charming and have since been watching the old episodes and reading various databases, trying to learn the lore of the universe. I am enjoying my exploration of the world that is so dear to you and many others.

I'm sure your Batman analogy rings true in many cases, but some people are genuinely interested in experiencing Star Trek beyond the realms of the new movie. Isn't it kind of fun to share something you love?