Why do non-fans think we think it's real?

[Sector 7]

Q: Why do non-fans think we think it's real?
A: If they have read some of the rants on this, and other, Trek forums... I can see how they could make that assumption. I have never seen fans of other fictional universes get so emotional and argumentative as Trek fanboys do over mundane minutiae.

Like any class of people, it is easy to stereotype the entire group by the actions of a radical few. It is not logical, but I have found it to be true.

 

[Too Much Fun]

I can't believe this thread has reached two pages and no one has busted out a Sisko gif and a Sisko-like ITTTT'SSSS REEEEEALLLLLLLL!

There was this episode of "The Big Bang Theory" where Rajesh says to Summer Glau something about her being in space when she starred in "Firefly" and she asks him if he's one of those people who actually believed that. I assumed this was just some typical sitcom insult line, not a question based on a genuine belief that such people really exist.

 

[Robert D. Robot]

It is the extreme fans that get out of control and become the bad stereotypes that the average fan gets accused of being. Anne Rice has commented on how some of her fans freaked her out when they would come up to her at book signings with stange contact lenses and canine teeth surgically/dentally modified into "real" fangs.

Over the years I have been teased a bit about being a "Trekkie", but I only shake my head when I think about the football fans that paint faces and bodies, stand shirtless in snowy stadiums, let games monopolize their fall weekends, spend small fortunes on tickets, memorize their own set of "equally useless" trivia, and get in fights in bars over teams. The best was when my neighbor actually charged and kicked in his television set when his team lost a big game. His wife was less than impressed with him.

 

[Too Much Fun]

I like the sports comparison. I read the same thing on another Star Trek forum...it seems to be a common defense among Star Trek fans that us obsessing over a TV show and spending a lot of cash on merchandise related to it is no crazier than how much time and money people spend on sports.

 

[Jack Bauer]

Why? 'Cause they're soulless idiots.

 

[Shatnertage]

Probably because of fans like that jury duty lady. She didn't do any of us any favors, IMHO.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Because so many of us get emotional about the minutiae of the "Star Trek universe" and its continuity.

How "real" is this piece of made-up pooh-bah compared to that piece?

We talk about things like "the post-Dominion War era" as if it matters.

"How soon do you think we'll have something like the transporter, if ever?" I mean, that's a completely meaningless question for several reasons, but we can generate pages of discussion about it that appear to be predicated on a consensus that there's a chance that we can derive an answer.

It also doesn't help when the occasional whacko shows up for jury duty in a Trek costume while calling it a "uniform."

EDIT: I see spookytage beat me to that last observation.

A fictional franchise is only mildly comparable to a sports team, unless you're talking about something like the WWE.

 

[thumbtack]

Overheard at Shore Leave...

"Why are they whining about canon?"

"The whole thing seems less real to them now."

 

[Warped9]

It doesn't help that the general media perpetuates the cliche of us as a collection of socially inept wackjobs.

 

[Clare]

oh trekkies get crap from everybody.......nobody understands it's no different to liking any other kind of fandom. I know it's obviously not real in this world but there is that crazy side of me that likes to think there's an alternate universe where they are all real........ahh you can but dream!

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Over the years I have been teased a bit about being a "Trekkie", but I only shake my head when I think about the football fans that paint faces and bodies.....

Exactly!

When I became assistant executive director of the agency I worked for, I hung a UFP flag in my new office. The executive director seriously questioned whether it was appropriate -- what affect would it have on my image as a leader of the organization? This was the same person who showed up every Friday in baseball season in an Orioles shirt, and every Friday in football season in a Ravens shirt!

 

[Hofner]

It doesn't help that the general media perpetuates the cliche of us as a collection of socially inept wackjobs.

Correction: Socially inept wachjob virgins

Robert

 

[AstroSmurf]

^ If any of them would bother visiting MISC they would know that we are not virgins... or sexually repressed for that matter. Most of us are some kinky monkeys.


I have often wondered about this myself and the origins of it. The social stigma for being a Trek Fan is not pleasant. From the silly skits done by SNL to all the nerd jokes bandied about, its a miracle we haven't been rounded up and interned. To be honest, I consider myself a "Closet Trekkie" and have no real interest in discussing Trek in my RL, unless it is with close friends. I do not want people making assumptions about me. But I don't fit the stereotype anyway and the people who do know have a hard time processing it. I love it when they come into my home studio and see all the sci-fi toys scattered all over the place. They don't know what to make of it. But I also get weird looks from people when I go to the comic book store. They make it very clear that I don't belong there based on my appearance. Now once they get to know me... that is another story.

Maybe we need to work, as a group, to change our image. As a demographic we are some of the most inventive and intelligent people on the planet. From the space program to inventing cellphones, Trek fans have changed the world several times over in the last forty years. I think we need to remind the common folk of that.

 

[Neutral Zone]

You trying to say that I don't really live on the Enterprise, I'm gutted!

I have had the same thing happen to me too with some of my friends, they poke fun and ask which planet I'm visiting and if I've seen Spock lately etc.

I put it down to that they have a serious lack of imagination and do not have any form of escapism themselves.

 

[Warped9]

I think it was harder in years before. In the past twenty years or so fans of every stripe have come out embracing some aspect or other of pop culture. Yes, I did get some grief when I was a teenager in the '70s, but after that no one ever hassled me about ever. Today everyone I know knows I'm a Star Trek fan and no one treats me oddly or utters a word. And if the subject arises I don't hesitate to admit to it matter-of-factly and without reservation or awkwardness. No grief.

 

[gomtuu20]

Did anyone but me notice MYTHME has a rockin' Avatar? (It is in post #12 in this thread) Is this one of the real Orion slave girls or just a hot chick dressed up like one?

 

[AstroSmurf]

Real? That character is from the Enterprise episode "Bounty". But she is a real human with green make-up on. She is also really hot.

Wait... did I break the illusion? Sorry! She is a real Orion Slave Girl and not actress Cyia Batten. Is that better?

 

[Forbin]

It doesn't help that the general media perpetuates the cliche of us as a collection of socially inept wackjobs.

I am NOT socially inept!

 

[Forbin]

A fictional franchise is only mildly comparable to a sports team, unless you're talking about something like the WWE.

Oh, I find it completely comparable. We're both nothing more than fans of a form of entertainment.

 

[RandyS]

Because they need to get a life.