[Kyuusaku]

The Kyuu Continuum
By {UFP}Kyuusaku

Issue Three: Confero Ergo Sum
September 29, 2011

NOTE: The following views are to be treated as opinions unless otherwise stated and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of {UFP}.

I've always found one of the more alluring aspects of any fandom, Trek or otherwise, is other fans.

While I am a Star Trek fan, I also happen to be an Anime fan (hence my moniker), a Baseball fan, as well as a fan of many other shows, genres, and topics. Whenever you find yourself at a gathering of some kind, you will meet others who share your interests. This could be a ball game, or perhaps a movie viewing, or even at parties.

However, in both Trek and Anime fandom, the one defining experience is a Convention.

From 1992 to 1994, in my late teen years, I had a great opportunity open up for me. I ended up working for Creation Conventions in various capacities. But prior to that, I attended a number of conventions as an attendee with my mother, as I couldn't drive, and as I mentioned in an earlier column, she was a fan of Star Trek as well. I got to shake hands with and meet a number of cast members and later when I worked for Creation, I was spending a lot more time with those same actors and actresses behind the scenes.

I'll talk more about my convention staffing experiences in another column.

The point of today's column has more to do with how we interact with one another. I think there's a fine line between fandom and fetishizing Star Trek. To be fair or respond to those who object to my use of the word, fetish is defined as anything to which you have "irrational reverence or obsessive devotion" or a "fixation." It is my belief that at points in my life, my fandom for Trek transcended into obsessive devotion. But why?

For answers to that question, I spoke to a few of my fellow Trekkers/Trekkies. To one, they felt that Star Trek idealizes humanity and in following the stories in that vein gave them hope that maybe someday in the future, man would graduate from petty disputes and come together to better themselves as Gene Roddenberry envisioned. Another stated that their interest was far less high-minded; they loved the ships. If you ask a group of twenty Trek fans, there are some common answers and some not so common, but in the end they can all agree that Trek is something they like a great deal.

What happens between fans who disagree depends on the personalities. Ever have a discussion with a fellow fan that went in an awful direction because you disagreed on a point that they held so close? I have. After the disagreement was apparent, it descended into a holy war. Friendships have ended on such discussions. There's nothing more disturbing than watching young and immature Trek fans having a slap fight while waiting in line to enter a convention hall... and for some reason, also nothing more hilarious than watching a slap fight break out because you don't know if you should let it go or break it up.

Certain conversations have a polarizing effect. A more recent discussion I had was regarding J.J. Abrahms' Star Trek film from a couple of years ago. There appear to be two distinct factions: those that adore it and those that hate it. Well, maybe three. There is a group that's completely indifferent to it, but then I don't think of them as fans. If you're serious about Trek, you'll have a strong opinion on that movie one way or another, right? Given that the film takes a lot of liberties with the Trek mythos and "traditions," it's only natural.

Star Trek: Enterprise did the same thing. That show appears to also have a divisive effect on fans. Either you love it to death or wish it never existed. I think any show that purports to reinvent the closely held beliefs or confront the unexplored areas of Trek that occur in the past of the timeline had a chance to alienate the fans if it's not done correctly or with at least a level of proper reverence for what came before.

In the end, though, it is my long-held opinion that a free discussion is good. Heated debate is also good, as long as at the end of the debate the two sides can respect one another for their ideas. Displaying passion about anything is good, and I've often felt that ambivalence and apathy are not. I think it was Shaw who once said, "Indifference is the essence of inhumanity."

I think that one of the best aspects of fandom in general is that it has a tendency to bring people together. {UFP} is a fine example of that very notion, in that we're all here because we love Trek gaming in all forms. In that shared interest, we have come to know a great many people and made friends. Whether it's while playing Star Trek Online, or RPG-X, or just conversing on the forums or via TeamSpeak, this fleet has really presented us with a community that we can be proud of.

This being my third column, I'd love to hear from you regarding this topic (and other others). You can send me a PM or reply to this thread. Either way, I'll respond in the next edition of the Kyuu Continuum.

Until then,

[Airik]

Nice Read Kyuu, interestingly my views about Enterprise differ greatly from my Views about J.J's Reinvention

[Quadzi]

Great read and I'm actually really interested in your next column about working at the conventions.

I guess I'm just kind of weird in the way I like or dislike shows. I've had multiple arguments with people over Enterprise, the JJ Universe, Transformers Movies, X-Men Movies, etc. I just enjoy whatever is put in front of me in a universe I love and as long as the heart of the universe is there, who cares if there are minor differences.

I'd rather have had the JJ film released, which has actually brought MORE fans to go back to view the other series, than to not have had another movie at all. Now we have even larger conventions and people have started talking about potentially new Star Trek series, etc.

You can pretty much replace Star Trek w/ X-Men, Transformers, etc to see my views on most of the movies/shows. Anyways, looking forward to convention stories... keep up the good work!

[mihajlo]

Nice

[Kyuusaku]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

Kyuu