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.....Space the final frontier,

these are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.

Its five year mission; to explore strange new worlds,

to seek out new life and new civilizations,

to boldly go where no man has gone before!

moose

the motion picture

the wrath of khan

the search for spock

the voyage home

links

Star Trek has been established as one of the most popular television series in history, as well as one of the most financially successful science-fiction (sci-fi) franchises. (www.wikipedia.org) The thousands, even millions, of fans around the world dedicate themselves to this fictional, futuristic portrayal of life beyond Earth. Fans spend their time and hard-earned cash on making weapons and clothing, buying Star Trek memorabilia, and attending fan conventions (a.k.a. cons).

But, other than autism, why this obsession with Star Trek ? What makes it more appealing than other sci-fi endeavors, like Buck Rogers, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Stargate, or Babylon 5? Many fans say that Star Trek represents a positive alternative to “mindless television because it promotes tolerance, peace and faith in mankind.”(Barbara Adams, www.wikipedia.com) Another possibility is that it fills a need to devote oneself to a collective cause or purpose. According to a reviewer of the documentary, Trekkies:

“The general consensus is that religion has faded noticeably from prominence in American lives, largely because people find that the solutions offered at church don't match the problems. Whether that's true or not is immaterial…but one has to wonder if the need to devote one's self is innate in the human psyche, and if those for whom religion no longer fits the bill find themselves latching onto some other cause, no matter how little practical importance it may have (or maybe because of its lack of practical importance, and thus separation from the workday world). (www.coldfusion.com)

We must admit that we chose this particular topic solely for its obvious comedic value. We don’t know of any non - Trekkie who, at the mention of the word, doesn’t immediately conjure images of a forty year old virgin dressed as a character from one of the many incarnations of the series. Furthermore, after some of our research, it is increasingly difficult for us to expel these stereotypes. However, maybe we have at least come to understand the Trekkie, even if we are unable to appreciate him/her.

For those who don’t know, a Trekkie is a person who is a fan of one or more of the Star Trek television series on a level somewhat beyond that of a normal fan. Now one of us greatly enjoyed the shows (pretty much all of them with the exception of the original) and watched them with some degree of regularity, but doesn’t believe that makes him a Trekkie. A Trekkie proper is someone who is so devout to the philosophy and other aspects of the show that they devote a significant portion of their life to the pursuit of this passion.

To further confound things, all fans believe that there are different kinds of fans within “Trekdom”. They believe that there are Trekkies and Trekkers. Trekkies are generally thought of as the 40 year old virgin, but Trekkers as those who take it little further than watching it on T.V. However, Gene Rodenberry, the creator of Star Trek, said it best when speaking at a convention. His greeting, "Welcome Trekkies!", was followed by a quick retort of , “Trekkers.” Mr. Rodenberry corrected the person saying, “The work is Trekkie. I should know, I created them”. (www.wikipedia.org) So we will group all of the fans as Mr. Rodenberry saw fit, and hope not to offend anyone.

While watching the Trekkie movies and doing various other internet based research, we wondered, what could possibly fuel such an obsession with something so intangible? You can watch the shows or the movies again and again and that makes them tangible, but still it seems to be a kind of empty obsession. To put it in the perspective of the male half of this project, Dan, says, “I am a car guy, I obsess about them and dream about them and make money from them and focus a good portion of my time in the pursuit of this hobby. When I am finished working on one of my cars, I end up with a valuable and beautiful end result that can be enjoyed (or cursed at) for years.” But the average Trekkie just has a wealth of, what we would call, useless knowledge about the various shows and movies. Now certainly there are action figures, and other collectibles derived from the shows that they can collect that have some monetary value, but what is the purpose behind it, and what is the end result, or is there one?

It is worth noting how fans obsession brings in capital for a country, and with the scale of Star Trek, possibly the world. Earning, spending, and trading money and resources is one of the hallmarks of a free democratic society. The increased use of the Internet has made these transactions easier, and has united fans from across the globe, emphasizing the role Star Trek plays for many people as a cross-cultural bridge.

According to popular culture critic, Stuart Hall, culture is the way we make sense of and give meaning to the world. Through metaphors and a shared conceptual cultural system, communication becomes easier within one particular culture, but harder for those outside of the shared system. (American Popular Culture, notes) For example, how could a country or culture with a history of hatred and war understand the ideals of “tolerance, peace and faith in mankind” as depicted in the Star Trek series?

After finishing the research for this project, we think that we can understand the purpose behind the obsession. It seems that Trekkies are Trekkies for the fellowship. They go to conventions and hang out with other Trekkies just to talk with people who share the same interests and hobbies. Now if we leave out the Trekkie part, this doesn't sound so strange to me. Dan says, “I am a member of a national car club, and I frequently look around the website for this club looking for various information about whatever project I have undertaken, and I talk to people I have met through the club in order to exchange information and ideas about my hobby.” So in all honesty, we really must say that being a Trekkie isn’t that weird. Although the subject matter tends to be related to a more eccentric type of people, the idea behind the Trekkie seems to be just innocent social acceptance…for the most part.