Trekkies-Fair or Foul?

[stonester1]

I love fan culture, I love nods to fan culture, I even like good natured jokes directed at fan culture. I don't like mean spiritedness, unfairness and I REALLY don't like stereotyping.

That said...how are these films?

 

[Brian]

I enjoyed them. And they don't feel mean-spirited. After all, they didn't make anything up about these people, it's them in their own words. They're real people that you're likely to meet at conventions. They just picked the more colorful people because they're more interesting to watch.

People who say they're mean-spirited are imprinting their own feelings about people like that onto the films. As if just showing a segment of fandom that they personally are ashamed of or dislike makes it mean-spirited. No, it's real. It's mean-spirited to say those people should be hidden away rather than talked to on camera.

I enjoyed the first one better than the second, probably because the second one just felt like more of the same. The real difference being that they expanded the focus from US conventions to worldwide conventions.

 

[stonester1]

Like I said, I haven't seen them. But I would tend to think of them as mean spirited if they didn't attempt to depict fandom in a balanced way (this is a documentary, after all) or if they showed all the oddballs and didn't put either themselves in context, or them in context with the larger world of fandom.

IE, did it simply serve to perpetuate another stereotype? Again?

 

[Brian]

For someone who believes the stereotype, probably. Your average Football Joe who thinks Trekkies are geeks will not get his mind changed by watching these films. Though he probably wouldn't watch them, anyway.

What the films do is highlight the passion these people have for Star Trek, and lets them voice what it means to them. Football Joe wouldn't get that. (After all, it's not like wearing a fright wig and painting your face in your team's colors, which is normal, right?) He'll just see the strange clothes, language or actions. It's impossible to change his mind anyway, IMO, so why bother trying?

These films are really about Trekkies, for Trekkies.

 

[stonester1]

Ah...might be my kind of thing then.

 

[23skidoo]

For someone who believes the stereotype, probably. Your average Football Joe who thinks Trekkies are geeks will not get his mind changed by watching these films. Though he probably wouldn't watch them, anyway.

When I read that I just remembered the image of an overweight topless guy standing in the crowd at a professional football game with his body painted the colors of his favorite team and wearing one of those big "We're number 1!" styrofoam hats. We've all seen them on TV at some point, admit it.

And they're the first to poke fun at people who put ears on for Trek conventions! At least (most) cosplayers keep their shirts on!

Alex

 

[stonester1]

Oh absolutely. They do the same things we do, and behave FAR more outrageously in many instances. Yet because their passion is directed at sports, somehow it's cooler.

Put a shirt on, tubby.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

I think I may have sold something on ebay to that Trek loving dentists years ago.

How did that geeky "de-back-ull" kid get a decent looking girl by the next movie?

 

[Neroon]

Even though I know a couple of people who've appeared in these films, I am no real fan of said films. While my participation and interest in Trek fandom has evaporated for the most part, it still holds a special place in my heart. For that reason, I wish they had been more balanced in portraying the makeup of Trek fandom. True, what sells the most is the distinctive, the unusual, the person that stands out. Yet that seemed to be all that was shown of what has become a very diverse group of people. Perhaps the films are not "mean-spirited", but they don't come close to being as inclusive as they ought to have been.

At the same time, there is a great deal of truth in pointing out how such "geekness" colors more facets of society than just Star Trek fans. The aforementioned sports fan who dresses up in equally odd outfits is just one example. Even so, wouldn't it be better if the Trek fan avoid fighting stereotypes with stereotypes? It doesn't pay to take umbrage at the way we as sci-fi fans are treated if we simply turn around and make fun of the person who has an equivalent passion for something else.

And all that before transporting to the GTD forum......

 

[stonester1]

It doesn't pay to take umbrage at the way we as sci-fi fans are treated if we simply turn around and make fun of the person who has an equivalent passion for something else.

And all that before transporting to the GTD forum......

I agree in principle, but also as has been pointed out, the sports geeks are some of the worst offenders when it comes to bashing our community. I don't think we are making fun of them as much as we are pointing out the hypocrisy...and having a little fun with it.