Star Trek stigmatised

[MacLeod]

I used to know the names of every episode, but then it was only remembering, TOS and about 4/5 season of TNG woth maybe a season DSN.

These days I might remember the name of the episode whilst watching it but not if I were asked to say the names of the episodes before hand. SO many episode titles to remember (what with all the other shows B5, SG-1 etc..)

 

[lisa]

Well I am trying my hardest to enter in to a new stage of fandom by going to the Vegas convention... But Its so expensive! What I wouldn't give to hang out with a real live star trek fan! I have probably 5 friends that I hang out with on a regular basis and none of them will even consent to watch an episode with me....

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Yeah, conventions can be pretty spendy. I used to do a few, but now I only do the San Diego ComicCon because its not devastatingly spendy yet, and I don't have to deal with travel costs.

Have you tried linking up with local Trekkies through Meetup?

 

[lisa]

I've never heard of that site! Thanks!

 

[Count Zero]

There's also a Meet-Up section on this board. It's a subforum of Miscellaneous.

 

[teacake]

It so happens I'm wearing my MLP t-shirt to day. However, people with tattoos from the older MLP shows existed before there were any Bronies (who are fans of the new show first and foremost and often exclusively), weirdly enough.
However, I highly doubt Bronies are considered cool by anyone. I'm happy when we're not being suspected of being pedophiles. Talk about stigma. Though, to me, the stigmatisation is purely an online thing. My real life friends just thought it was a little weird at most.

I think it might be easier on females to be a bronie.

Bronies aren't cool.... They are just 4chan nerds. though "cool" and "nerdy", which used to literally mean opposite things, somehow now mean the same thing...

I think they are cool and because I am the Arbiter of Cool on my planet (Planet Teacake, its got custard) then they are cool.

I used to know the names of every episode, but then it was only remembering, TOS and about 4/5 season of TNG woth maybe a season DSN.

These days I might remember the name of the episode whilst watching it but not if I were asked to say the names of the episodes before hand. SO many episode titles to remember (what with all the other shows B5, SG-1 etc..)

In my TOS only days (because that's all there was) I knew every episode, guest star, much of the dialog.. I could pick the eps from just about any still of the show just from the expressions or lighting. And of course somehow managed to absorb all that without the aid of the internet. Most of that has dropped out of my brain now but I still know the TOS ep titles better than the other series despite them being a lot fresher in my watching.

 

[Sindatur]

I thought Bronies were only the male ones? Brother Ponies. Aren't female bronies called Phillies or something feminine?

 

[teacake]

I don't know Sindatur and I'm too scared to go into the Brony threads to ask

 

[Sindatur]

I don't know Sindatur and I'm too scared to go into the Brony threads to ask

Dang, you stand there with an Urn of The Borg Queen's ashes and you're scared of cute little Rainbow Ponies

 

[Count Zero]

I thought Bronies were only the male ones? Brother Ponies. Aren't female bronies called Phillies or something feminine?

People came up with a few other names, namely Pegasisters and Equestria Girls, but Brony has become the name for the whole adult fandom.

 

[Sindatur]

I thought Bronies were only the male ones? Brother Ponies. Aren't female bronies called Phillies or something feminine?

People came up with a few other names, namely Pegasisters and Equestria Girls, but Brony has become the name for the whole adult fandom.

Thanks, though Pegasisters is a pretty cool moniker

 

[teacake]

I don't know Sindatur and I'm too scared to go into the Brony threads to ask

Dang, you stand there with an Urn of The Borg Queen's ashes and you're scared of cute little Rainbow Ponies

You're right!

:: prepares the mortars :

 

[Enterprise is Great]

In school I got more flack from reading comic books than I ever did with Star Trek. For some reason comics were considered to be more childish than Star Trek at the schools I went to in my youth.

 

[Alienesse]

Well I am trying my hardest to enter in to a new stage of fandom by going to the Vegas convention... But Its so expensive! What I wouldn't give to hang out with a real live star trek fan!

I can testify to the fact that hanging out with other Trek fans in real life and at a Star Trek convention is one of the coolest things ever. I attained the new stage of fandom you speak of last year when I went to my first convention and it was fabulous! In addition to seeing the actors and the costumes and all that, my favorite thing about the experience was just being there with a group of like-minded people that I felt in tune with, in spite of the fact that I didn't really know any of them. There was this strong, almost magnetic connection between all of us, at least it felt that way to me. And to feel that sort of bond with total strangers, that's pretty amazing.

On topic, I have to say that I have never been ridiculed for being a Star Trek fan. Quite on the contrary! The stigma so many people mention does not exist in Romania. In fact, if there is a lasting image that Star Trek has here, it's a positive one. People have a sort of reverence for it, and it's always mentioned in contexts where someone wants to refer to scientific and technological excellence or pioneering. When I tell people I'm a Star Trek fan, they seem impressed and look at me as if I suddenly appeared smarter.

 

[Count Zero]

That's cool. I should really go there someday soon. While there isn't a stigma attached to being a Trek fan here you aren't thought of as smarter or anything like that. It isn't anything special. Both TOS and TNG are relatively well known here because both shows (and the movies) have been shown so often on TV (more or less continually since the early 90s).

ETA: I should probably add that 'here' in this case means Germany.

 

[The Trekster]

normal trekkies...yes trekkies not trekkers get this label heaped upon them over here.

I've never liked either of those terms. There's nothing wrong with them but I don't feel like either of them 'fit' me.

So I came up with (and use) the alternative 'trekster' to denote someone who enjoys star trek but also happens to be a normal, or even cool, person (like me )

 

[teacake]

So I came up with (and use) the alternative 'trekster' to denote someone who enjoys star trek but also happens to be a normal, or even cool, person (like me )

A normal cool person named VulcanLoveSlave

 

[Therin of Andor]

Actually, if Trekkies is to be believed, she did routinely wear that uniform to her job down at the copy shop.

Except that 21st century Star Trek costumes don't really stand up to everyday wear, nor frequent (as in daily) laundering. Any more than one day and the underarms start to reek. (Actually, that does explain some dealers' halls I've been in on Day 2 of a ST convention.)

So either Barbara had five robust, well-tailored uniforms and undershirts in strict rotation for her job at the copystore, or she did (or didn't) do a lot of laundry.

If we are honest some fans truly deserve the grief and are far too mental, look at some of the fruitcakes in the movie trekkies, its because of them normal trekkies...yes trekkies not trekkers get this label heaped upon them over here.

You know, it's not "because of them" at all. Go to any dog show, or football match, or chess club, or cooking school, or wrestling tent, or political support group, or single mothers' club... and you'll find examples of people who are so focused on their topic of interest that they are unconcerned, or less concerned, about other aspects of their lives (clothes, weight, acne, social skills - or whatever other attributes you might want to name).

"Star Trek" fandom has no more or no less "fruitcakes", as you call them, than any other pursult. Are you so scared that someone might think you are a "fruitcake" that you let it prevent you from simply enjoying being a ST fan?

 

[Miss Lemon]

So I came up with (and use) the alternative 'trekster' to denote someone who enjoys star trek but also happens to be a normal, or even cool, person (like me )

A normal cool person named VulcanLoveSlave

VulcanLoveSlave honey, we spend our days posting on a Star Trek Message Board. We are neither cool nor normal.

 

[teacake]

VulcanLoveSlave honey

As a sports fan, trek fan and fan of a lot of things i do believe each has its fair share of nutters, that said the saddest and most retarded in my mind are the total geeks that give all trek fans a bad name.

I have seen simple minded football fans, over zealous and diluted movie fans etc...but no one can compete with a full on pedantic self serving trekkie that truly believes he is some sort of authority on intelligences while acting like the federation actually exists while dressed up in his uniform sitting alone at home putting on clearasil on face, dreaming of having a real women rather that a blow up doll with a cardboard cut out of deanna trois head stuck on it.

Those souless minions of orthodoxy fail to grasp the fun and enjoyment in star trek and let the whole thing consume what shallow lives they already have.

This is parody, right?