Why are Trekkies so Hateful of Star Trek?

[Amaris]

Well, it's nowhere near as good because your memories have brought it back to you more fondly, on a wave of nostalgia.

Dunno if that's operative so much these days. We live in an age where it's far easier to compare the New Thing with the Old Thing side-by-side in the cold light of day than it's ever been.

It still passes through that lens of nostalgia. The cold light of day's got nothing on warm, fuzzy feelings of yesteryear.

 

[BigJake]

So in other words nostalgia isn't as good as it used to be.

A trend which one hopes will eventually dispel the Endless Vortex of Cynical Remakes.

It still passes through that lens of nostalgia. The cold light of day's got nothing on warm, fuzzy feelings of yesteryear.

I dunno. The vaguer form of warm, fuzzy nostalgia hasn't worked against NuTrek so far as I can see, far from it. NuTrek is designed very effectively and precisely to exploit it, and has done its job.

What's likelier to work against it is people actually being able to see and compare the real article of yesteryear, and not just fuzzy memories of it, with the new property. The warm, fuzzy feelings of yesteryear haven't done much to preserve my affections for TNG Trek; by contrast I was once wont to misremember TOS as being far cheesier and pulpier than it actually was. The ability to re-view it at will has blunted that tendency a lot for me and taught me respect for the old series I didn't previously have. Without that, NuTrek would probably have seemed a lot cleverer to me than it does.

 

[Robbiesan]

Nah, I'm betting the marketing people asked him to say stuff like that as much as possible. It effectively drove home the message that this wasn't going to be Trek made for those Dirty Trekker Nerds.

Doubtful. However bad press is still press and can result in more ticket sales, but usually by saying something more controversial.

I say embrace your trekker nerdiness...especially since a good part of the intelligensia embraced Star Trek.

 

[BigJake]

I say embrance your trekker nerdiness...especially since a good part of the intelligensia embraced Star Trek.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Perhaps Abrams was the wrong person for the job especially since he admitted he wasn't a fan, not a bad thing to say, just an odd one that must have made the marketing people think, "What an undisciplined person to say such thing! How do we spin this positively now?".

Nah, I'm betting the marketing people asked him to say stuff like that as much as possible. It effectively drove home the message that this wasn't going to be Trek made for those Dirty Trekker Nerds.

I agree with BigJake about the message being intended to attract people who wouldn't line up to see the nuTrek films, if they thought they were going to be like that earlier Trek that they specifically elected not to watch or that they lost interest in. I thought that was glaringly obvious.

 

[Greg Cox]

Perhaps Abrams was the wrong person for the job especially since he admitted he wasn't a fan, not a bad thing to say, just an odd one that must have made the marketing people think, "What an undisciplined person to say such thing! How do we spin this positively now?".

Nah, I'm betting the marketing people asked him to say stuff like that as much as possible. It effectively drove home the message that this wasn't going to be Trek made for those Dirty Trekker Nerds.

Well, it was important to get the message out that this new movie was not Just For Trekkies Only. Star Trek was never supposed to be this exclusive, elitist thing that was only accessible to the True Believers. Star Trek is for everybody, casual fans and lifelong Trekkies alike.

And me, I'm a Trekkie, not a Trekker. "Trekker" always sounds to me like a Trekkie putting on airs.

 

[Misfit Toy]

A word to the wise...

The topic (as laid out by the OP) is broad enough to be inclusive of the entire Trek franchise, not just the new movies.

If you're (generic you) is only interested in bashing or praising JJ-Trek (or nu-Trek, or whatever), we have a forum specifically to discuss that portion of the franchise. THIS forum is not intended for discussions of a specific series, etc.

 

[plynch]

It's not just Trekkies who are like this. I've seen it a lot with Whovians and other fan groups.

Reminds me of that Nathaniel Hawthorne story "The Birth-Mark," where a scientist married a beautiful woman but became obsessed with the one flaw in her appearance and ultimately killed her in an attempt to remove the birthmark from her face.

There's Star Trek stuff I don't like, and I'll say so if someone mentions it, but I mostly try to forget it.

His wacky short stories, along with Thoreau's writings are why I became an English major. Scarlet is all ZZZs, but man, those stories are pretty cool.

 

[BigJake]

Well, it was important to get the message out that this new movie was not Just For Trekkies Only.

Robbiesan probably has a point about the specific methodology perhaps not being ideal

 

[BigJake]

The topic (as laid out by the OP) is broad enough to be inclusive of the entire Trek franchise, not just the new movies.

I trust it's clear that any commentary above from me about the nature of nostalgia or the phenomenon of the elusive Yellow-Bellied Hater is just as applicable to any other form of Trek as it is to NuTrek, which of course simply comes up because the OP mentioned it specifically and because it happens to be currently relevant.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It is true nostalgia plays a part, but I somehow doubt the people who had NuTrek as their first Trek will become as obsessed with it as people who started with TOS or TNG. They like the films but 20 years later they probably won't be going to conventions dressing up as characters from them.

Just like the people who had FFXIII as their first Final Fantasy won't become rabid anime-loving Japanophiles the way the people who started with 4, 6 or 7 did.

 

[Amaris]

It still passes through that lens of nostalgia. The cold light of day's got nothing on warm, fuzzy feelings of yesteryear.

I dunno. The vaguer form of warm, fuzzy nostalgia hasn't worked against NuTrek so far as I can see, far from it. NuTrek is designed very effectively and precisely to exploit it, and has done its job.

What's likelier to work against it is people actually being able to see and compare the real article of yesteryear, and not just fuzzy memories of it, with the new property. The warm, fuzzy feelings of yesteryear haven't done much to preserve my affections for TNG Trek; by contrast I was once wont to misremember TOS as being far cheesier and pulpier than it actually was. The ability to re-view it at will has blunted that tendency a lot for me and taught me respect for the old series I didn't previously have. Without that, NuTrek would probably have seemed a lot cleverer to me than it does.

Certainly it's not fool proof, but that nostalgia does tend to create a strong bias in some people. I figure the people who see the comparisons and still go with the nostalgia are the ones who don't want to give in to the idea that so much time has passed.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I hate only two things in Trek, and only one of them do I make a point of hating on every time it comes up (because I don't want to offend people who like the other thing). I adore hating on my pet hate, I adore pulpifying it under my stomping hatey hate hate words of disgust and venom and ill will. Piece of vile crap that it is.

I hate on that thing because it's fun. But if it was dearly loved I would not be doing so, certainly never doing so in the forum it belongs in because that's just being jerky to actual people, not the thing itself. However since I am not alone I am free to hate upon it will all my hatey hate hateness

 

[BigJake]

I hate on that thing because it's fun.

I'm sure it's dearly loved by someone, somewhere, darling teacake... and would you be a monster? A terrible, terrible monster like the awful Willow Rosenberg? Ponder it with care...

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I'm not sure if it is dearly loved by anyone.. but if it is, they are wrong.

 

[BigJake]

I'm not sure if it is dearly loved by anyone.. but if it is, they are wrong.

Actually, I rather liked "Threshold."

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Oh I freaking love Threshold, I will defend that forevah. I've started whole threads about its wonderful campy squickiness.

 

[BigJake]

Drat! I should've known!

I can figure this out... an episode? A character? A uniform?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

An episode.

 

[BigJake]

"Fair Haven"? "A Night in Sickbay"? "Endgame"? "These Are The Voyages"?