Which fans are we talking about?

[DarthTom]

egonbeeblebrox said:
I've had arguments with friends who mock my love of 'Trek' over this. I always ask "Why is it OK for me to own eleven seasons of MASH, but owning four seasons of Star Trek makes me a loser?" They never really have a good response, other than "Because it's Star Trek."

The honest answer is that Mash was based on a real war, in our real world, with yes fictional characters that was a overall very popular comedy series whereas ST is based on a fictional universe, with some undeniably very wacky fans that can become very often obsessive compulsive about their favorite TV shows that Mash fans seem to lack in their fervor.

When you show me MASH fans who dress up as Klinger going to work [as some Trek fans have done going to jury pools or to their place employment] the comparison would be valid. But sense it's not - neither is your comparison.

 

[Nerys Myk]

DarthTom said:

egonbeeblebrox said:
I've had arguments with friends who mock my love of 'Trek' over this. I always ask "Why is it OK for me to own eleven seasons of MASH, but owning four seasons of Star Trek makes me a loser?" They never really have a good response, other than "Because it's Star Trek."

The honest answer is that Mash was based on a real war, in our real world, with yes fictional characters that was a overall very popular comedy series whereas ST is based on a fictional universe, with some undeniably very wacky fans that can become very often obsessive compulsive about their favorite TV shows that Mash fans seem to lack in their fervor.

When you show me MASH fans who dress up as Klinger going to work [as some Trek fans have done going to jury pools or to their place employment] the comparison would be valid. But sense it's not - neither is your comparison.

Maybe they do. How would you know? People dress in Army gear all the time. Some guys like to wear dresses. They might be M*A*S*H fans.

 

[Balthier the Great]

A desire to dress up in costumes from the favorite group
-- Never been to an Anime Cosplay Convention, have you? You'll love it. People dressed as Gundums, Naruto, Yuna, Cloud. And if you go to a comic convention, you might see 10-15 of each X-man.

A tendency to wear make-up associated with that favorite group, sometimes covering a large portion of the fan's body
-- We don't even do that. But I know there are Final Fantasy fans with the logo tattooed on their arm. Somebody must have the Trek logo tattooed on their ass.

Rooms filled with memorabilia
-- similar to comicbook and anime fans.

A sometimes frightening, sometimes awe-inspiring ability to both know and recite the most minute details about any and every episode of the subject of the fan's obsession

-- don't ever argue with a gundum fan. They know the exact specs of everything.
A constant need to armchair-quarterback the decisions and the results of the management

Congregation in large groups of fellow fans

Excessive purchasing of more memorabilia at those gatherings

Arguments between fans of the various sub-groups within the overall fandom, sometimes even violent ones
-- never heard of the great Sub VS Dub debates. Apparently according to self proclaimed Otaku, the only proper way to watch Pokemon is to watch a subtitled version.
Decoration of the fans' transportation, proclaiming their fandom to anyone and everyone


My point is that every thing that Trek fans do is done by other fandsoms. We might be more visible, but other than the lady who wore a SF uniform to jury duty, almost all hardcore fandoms do the same.

But maybe people wouldn't recognize a juror in a Rikku costume.