Why Star Trek?

[FalTorPan]

Why do we like Star Trek so much -- enough to create artwork, fan films and fan fiction, and enough to continue to engage in non sequitur debates about every last cubic nanometer of the Enterprise? As my web site demonstrates, I've done a lot of the above myself, and I'm certain that I'll continue to do so in years to come.

But why? Why don't we do this for other sci-fi media franchises? I consider myself to be more of a sci-fi fan than a Trekkie, but I've never created a web site for any other media franchise, and I've never obsessed over any other franchise to the extent that I have over Trek. I don't consider Trek to be much if any better than many of the other sci-fi media franchises that I enjoy, so I ask again:

Why Star Trek?

 

[Titan Designer]

Personally for me it is the mix of races, technology, ships and the hope for a better tomorrow ( atleast with TOS and TNG). After winning the Titan Design contest I really got into the concepts behind what we have seen on screne. I really enjoy looking int what it took to get to the final designs, and I even get a kick out of some of the design that didn't meet muster.

 

[QuasarVM]

Why do we like Star Trek so much -- enough to create artwork, fan films and fan fiction, and enough to continue to engage in non sequitur debates about every last cubic nanometer of the Enterprise? As my web site demonstrates, I've done a lot of the above myself, and I'm certain that I'll continue to do so in years to come.

But why? Why don't we do this for other sci-fi media franchises? I consider myself to be more of a sci-fi fan than a Trekkie, but I've never created a web site for any other media franchise, and I've never obsessed over any other franchise to the extent that I have over Trek. I don't consider Trek to be much if any better than many of the other sci-fi media franchises that I enjoy, so I ask again:

Why Star Trek?

People DO do all that for other franchises.

I've seen all the same stuff for Space:1999, UFO, and Galactica...at the very least!

 

[Vektor]

Well, you're already speaking to a group of people who are sufficiently interested in and/or obsessive about Star Trek that they spend a significant portion of their time participating in an online discussion forum dedicated to it. That's kind of like asking a bunch of people at a baseball game, "Why baseball?"

If you're speaking more generally about the fascination so many Star Trek fans seem to have with every esoteric detail of the fictional Trek universe, as compared to the fans of other franchises and genres, I suspect it's a combination of factors. I think Star Trek tends to inspire a vision of the future that a lot of people would like to live in, so all the interest in fleshing out and solidifying its many facets and details is an attempt to make it seem more real. I think it can also be argued that there is a certain segment of hardcore Trek fans that are simply more grounded in the Trek universe than they are in the real one.

 

[BrookeStephen]

Star Trek came along when I was hungry for guiding principles, thirsty for knowlege about people, the universe, and my future.

And I was only 6 - simply the most vulnerable spot in a young man's life!

Even with the inconsistencies there's still so much to inspire, to feed and stoke the flames of the wonder we all found in childhood.

Perhaps enough to have helped us all to keep our imaginations protected and nurtured.

Isn't that alone worth a little obsession?

 

[Ptrope]

Mostly because Firefly didn't last long enough to build up an equally-broad 'verse, although I'd say it was equally rich.

Seriously, though, I think Trek is just such a visually and intellectually diverse background to some very basic, emotion-touching stories that it's easier to get wrapped up in it. A lot of its contemporaries lacked that emotional attachment, and more modern sci-fi has concentrated more on the action than the story, giving fans little more to attach to than the characters themselves. (So, in a way, my humorous beginning is true: Firefly gave us a rich universe as a starting place, and concentrated more on the stories and characters than just the action, so it felt like a place we could live in - just like Star Trek's universe).

YMMV .

 

[Praetor]

That was very well said, Ptrope. I think it sums up my feelings well.