Star Trek Week: Make it so
When we decided to do this whole “Star Trek Week”, I got a little nervous. To me, Star Trek is like flowers. I like flowers – but I couldn’t write about them. But hey – the big boss said, “Make it so.”
So after much thought about what exactly I could write – I almost decided to post a bunch of pictures of hot alien girls. But that’d be cheating.
Anyway – here I go.
Star Trek is a cultural phenomenon. Its impact on interstellar exploration can be compared with the moon landings. NASA named its first Space Shuttle, “Enterprise”, after the starship in the show. Among Star Trek fans or Trekkers you can count astronauts, astronomers, inventors, and of course dreamers like you and me who still hope of going where man has never gone before.
One of the best examples of the fulfillment of human potential can actually be found in the Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry was more than just a TV producer – he was a true visionary who spoke at NASA, the Smithsonian Institution and many universities.
What I liked most about the Star Trek universe wasn’t the technology or the aliens but rather the vision of humanity’s future that Roddenberry developed. Despite the fictional elements, it’s actually a very compelling model for thinking about where the pursuit of personal development might take us.
And yes, I said Trekkers earlier on. Why? Gotta problem with that already?
Trekkie is “frequently depreciative” and is thus “not an acceptable term to serious fans”, who prefer Trekker. The distinction existed as early as May 1970, when the editor of fanzine Deck 6 wrote:
…when I start acting like a bubble-headed trekkie (rather than a sober, dignified—albeit enthusiastic—trekker).
By 1976, media reports on Star Trek conventions acknowledged the two types of fans:
One Trekkie came by and felt compelled to explain, while paying for his Mr. Spock computer image, that he was actually a Trekker (a rational fan). Whereas, he said, a Trekkie worships anything connected with Star Trek and would sell his or her mother for a pair of Spock ears.
In the 1991 TV show Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special, Leonard Nimoy attempted to settle the issue by stating that the term ‘Trekker’ is a more preferred term. In the documentary Trekkies, Kate Mulgrew stated that Trekkers are the ones “walking with us” while the Trekkies are the ones content to simply sit and watch Star Trek.
Enough of that debate – I just needed to get it out of the way.
Anyway, I am not really a Trekker. I’m more of a simple-to-serious fan. I grew up watching re-runs of the original series, about 10 years after they aired. I had seen all the movies, of course (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is still watched once a month at stately Dane of War Manor), but I never really got too much into the original series. That’s not to say that I didn’t like it – but my generation had Star Wars, and in my mind there really is no comparison.
Then along came 1987, and I was introduced to Star Trek: The Next Generation. Bam. I finally got hooked. Got the uniform, the props, went to a convention (and shook Sir Patrick Stewart’s hand). If I had one complaint, it was Wil Wheaton – best known for walking away from his part on the series (as the ultimate “Mary Sue”, Wesley Crusher) to lead a successful career appearing at the Penny Arcade Expo. Of all the characters in all of the Star Trek episodes ever made… his was the worst.
Sadly, as do all things, TNG came to an end – and we were greeted with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It was a fantastic show that was on par with TNG in every single way – if not actually better written. I loved it just as much.
Later came Voyager and Enterprise, which in my mind were like torture devices in television format. About the only good thing about them was that there was no Wil Wheaton. And I mean that… honestly. Despite a decent cast for Voyager (Robert Picardo was amazing), the show was really meaningless. I mean… there wasn’t much plot expansion and they never really evolved as a cast. And on top of that, they ruined the Borg, too. And Enterprise killed the TV franchise completely. How it lasted 4 seasons is beyond me.
But anyway – instead of going on and on about the episodes I watched, let me get to the main point of this post. And that is what Star Trek itself means to me.
To me, Star Trek has always been a reasonable model of how we human beings should behave and interact with each other. To watch an episode of Star Trek is to look into a possible future that can guide us out of the slump we’ve been in for 200 years. Star Trek is unquestionably a great place for inspiration.
Many scientists, theorists, architects, inventors, aviators and astronomers have gotten inspiration from the world of Star Trek to make our world a better place. Not since Jules Verne has a form of fiction inspired so many of us.
This is exactly why I like Star Trek – there’s so much wrong in the world today, and we would be so fortunate if humans could live like those in the Federation where there is almost a true paradise – with no wars, poverty, greed, or crime. Star Trek can give people hope, belief and strength. It is a world I would love for my children to live in. The thought of the human lives that are lost every day unnecessarily due to poverty, depression, disease, and war depresses the hell outta me.
That is the dream, I hope that one day it will become true, but I will not be alive to see it.
