"Why Ren Hates Trekkies..."

[Eric Renderking Fisk]

I had an experience today that I need to share with this group that was relevant to this conversation and elsewhere on the internet where Barbara Adams name came up again.

I just bought a $900 laptop that’s necessary for my graphic design business. My wife and I shopped for the best HP and found out that the fastest way to get it is to order it through Staples. We planned the morning around it, and we went what my wife thought was “the best” branch or outlet.

I’m not going to bore you with the details of how this laptop is the absolute best one money can buy, the bells and whistles, the specs because it’ll be irrelevant when they come out with something even bigger or more powerful in 6 months or obsolete in two or three years when “Windows 9” and Adobe CS8 is released; just know that my wife and I are huge technology geeks and computer nerds. (It’s really fun watching my wife – The Blond - out-geek the geeks at Geek Squad about the power and abilities of professional workstations.)

We placed our order, and my wife had to get some other important items, I’m listing to the sales person who just helped me place my order with HP HQ talk to another floor drone about The “Transformer” universe… as if it’s “real.” Don’t ask me why because I’m not sure I understand myself, but this was really unsettling.

I might be alienating some people here as it has in the past; I’m deeply disturbed by people who actually gloat about how obsessed they are with Harrison Ford or William Shatner, the Indiana Jones movies, Star Trek, Star Wars, Transformers, Lord Of The Rings, or any other performer or entertainment franchise and forsake their real lives or reality. To these people it’s somehow “noble” to work a horrible minimum wage jobs because they didn’t bother going to college or a trade school, have nonexistent career paths, hate their jobs and their superiors, all so they can be there “first” at a movie’s release at the local theater and then be there when the store opens when the same exact movie is released on VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray.

These are same type of clowns that ask me for advice. How come I’m a huge nerd but I still have things? (A house, a wife or girlfriend, a cool car/SUV) What’s my “secret?”

There’s a time to work and there’s a time to play. There’s a time to let your freak flag fly and there’s a time to put on the suit and tie and accomplish something. Make money, advance your career and actually build a life and something of substance.

If you can’t put your brain power into memorizing and mastering a subject that’s important to an employer or educators but you can remember every line to “Temple Of Doom” or “Wrath of Khan,” you have a problem and perhaps a mental disease. Rather than obsess about the possiblitities of a possible future; how about that same effort into making some of those possibilities a reality?

Since that (rhymes with punt) Barbara Adams was made into a “folk hero” by other fanboys and fangirls, she’s been an excuse for nerds and geeks to drop out of the real world. For that reason and others she has my complete and total disrespect. There’s an ounce of me that wants to give her the benefit of the doubt because she might have a serious mental health problem and I should be more compassionate. But it’s only an ounce.

[Major Eaton]

Barbara Adams, the Egyptologist??

[Eric Renderking Fisk]

It's funny how the same people find their way into the same arguments over and over again... I find myself added into these groups; nobody asks I just get added. Don't these people know that it's just a matter of time before I turn into a real prick when some topics come up?

Mention "Trekkie" and a torrent of bunk will pour out into my keyboard. I wrote what I wrote above, and someone posted this...

its nice to have interest in something that helps relieve stress as well.

It was my husband who introduced me to BSG and I love the series! I'm also a fan of Indiana Jones, Star Wars, LOTR, Stargate, Buffy and Angel to name but a few. Am I a geek? Yes, actually I prefer the term Geekette. My husband also got me into Dungeons and Dragons. Does this mean that I have time for real life? Of course. The good thing is that my husband has many of the same interests as me. We went to see Titanic in 3D yesterday and had a great time. We have a Miltary Vehicle Show and swop meet that we are going to tomorrow. http://www.militaryvehicleshow.com/

“It’s nice to have interest in something that helps relieve stress as well.” I totally agree but I draw the line when that interest consumes your life to the point when you stop living a productive life and your sole ambition is to become <echo booming voice for effect> THE MOST FAMOUS FANBOY (or FANGIRL) IN THE WORLD!

I love some of these franchises but I’m able to put them down and set them aside when it’s time to participate in life.

In response to the other comment; the problem with dealing with irrelevant people is that if you take a minute to tell them that they’re irrelevant, then they’re not THAT irrelevant. They’re relevant enough for you to mention that they’re irrelevant, and somehow that might actually make them sound relevant. If I take the time to tell someone that they’re irrelevant and their argument either makes no sense or they’re just attention whoring as usual; that takes time out of doing something else important. Like cleaning my basement or checking out what’s behind the fridge.

For that reason I think I’ve said too much about Barbara Adams and fangirls, fanboys and Geeks and Geekettes more than I should. By talking about them, even in a negative context, I’ve given them some validation. I’m talking about them, so somehow they must be important. I have no doubt someone has taken what I’ve said here and reposted it on another forum or two with the typical histrionics and there are a couple of responses of “what an asshole” and “arrogant bastard” and I totally understand the outrage. I’ve become that asshole and bastard. Guilty as charged.
My response to those people; what have you done this week? What have you built or completed? Writing your fan fiction story integrating Indiana Jones into the upcoming “Avengers” movie doesn’t fracking count.

There’s going to come a time in these geeks and geekette’s lives when they ask themselves; what have I done with my life? This usually happens when they (or to throw myself into the mix, “we”) reach an age that ends in a “0” or a “5” – Like “35,” “40” or “45.” Or there’s a life changing event when someone close to you almost dies or you face your own mortality. If you look back on your life and realize that you’ve obsessed over a movie you experienced in the theater that lasted just two hours (not counting the sequels) and follow every fart and every burp from your favorite actor and you haven’t done anything for yourself besides be a cheerleader for your favorite franchise; you’re going to get pissed.

You’re an unpaid cheerleader or evangelist for someone else’s brand, whether that brand is a SF franchise, sports team, or rock band. What have you done for YOU?

When was your life ever about you and what you’re doing? When does the story of your life take precedence over the story of a fictional character? Rather than look at these things as inspiration to be better than we are, too many of us “Geeks” and “Geekettes” turn these franchises into a philosophy and religion. If you wake up every morning in your shitty apartment consumed with checking “IMDB” to see if the sequel to your favorite movie has been green lit with no thought or regard to your own plans or tasks, you have a problem.

I blame the fanaticism many of us (myself included) on our parents’ generation who decided to go out and “find themselves” and forgot to raise their children. While we’re struggling to find a meaning and purpose in our lives with hardly any guidance much less genuine nurturing, we turned towards the reality that was presented to us by our electronic babysitters. The Television showed us an alternate reality that was better than our own. We see a world like that depicted on “Star Trek” where everyone belongs, everyone has a job, and everyone is someone who is relevant; totally the opposite of what we had in our own lives as children. So we cling to that as our “reality.”

Show me a fanatical, rabid fanboy or fangirl and I’ll show you someone who was the product of horrible parenting and offspring of neglectful, loathsome parents.

Why is all this important enough for me to rant a couple of pages about this? Cause I see a lot of the “Barbara Adams” in our midst. I see a lot of us (myself included from time to time) incapable of participating in the real world and angry because we’re not accepted by society. Why should society accept us when we’ve opted out?

Perfect example; I was asked to help kickstart a SF forum elsewhere on the internet. The was a particular member who wanted all of us to celebrate the fact that he was able to be put on long-term disability and unemployment so he would watch “Star Trek” that aired during the day on the “Spike” channel and read all the Star Trek novels when they’re released. Does this seem normal? Basicly this guy is living on welfare thanks to Gene Roddenberry. Maybe that’s a good thing because we don’t want his kind at our workplace. And I’m helping to build a forum that celebrates this, at the peril of neglecting my own?

I think about the couples who meet at Star Trek conventions, and then get married at a Star Trek convention with everyone in costume. Here a quick question – what happens when one of them just doesn’t like Star Trek anymore? What if the one thing you have in common just isn’t mutually enjoyed anymore?

During the past 6 months I’ve stopped all my fanboy activities cold turkey and used my own website and forum as a testbed for all the things I’ve learned in college while earning my third degree while trying to make them better for my people and extended cyber family. They deserve better than what I gave them before I went to college. All my “Geek Drive” had been put into my graphic design career and I’m enjoying success that I didn’t know was possible for me and my life, my work was nominated for three awards, I won two awards and redesigned a cereal box that might be showing up in a grocery store near you.

Now I’m wondering; what if I took the energy I wasted on other people’s fan sites and forums and put them into other things a lot sooner? Where or what could I have been besides just “The most controversial Indy Fan on the internet?” How much further and better would I be now? We’ll ever know.

I genuinely wish all of you (OK, most of you) the same success I’ve enjoyed. Why aren’t you?

I say this as the “Harlan Ellison” of this particular group. This is my “Glass Teat” for you folks. We’ve been played as sucker. We’re “The Mark” and we’ve been “Brandwashed” for this franchise or that. We’re not as bad as Barbara Adams or others, but some of us are pretty bad. We’ve been duped into promoting nonsense, we’re free advertising agencies for famous people and media; they get richer while we’re missing out on what real life and real work promised us.

Like you guys, I love chatting about “Battlestar” and the real meaning to the words of “All Along The Watchtower” but I’ll be damn’ed to turn my life over to it until someone cuts me a check for doing so.

[Hakaider]

I think there is a BIG difference between people who do have lives, and are fans & do cosplay/costume as a hobby, and people who are so obsessed with their fantasy, that they can no longer separate fiction from fantasy.

Not all fans are going to be as fanatical to the point where they can't separate fiction from reality, and I don't think being a fan is wrong in itself. (Unless, you count "Twilight". )

On the other side of the coin, you also have some people who mock at anyone who watch sci-fi & adventure shows, and their lives are just as pointless & empty as the super fanatical fans. Their idea of a good time is getting drunk on the weekends. They aren't doing anything to pull their way out of a minimum wage job either, and can't look beyond what's next week. (Other than getting drunk.)

Some of the scientists & astronauts from NASA will tell you that they were Star Wars & Star Trek fans, and those shows inspired them to become scientists & astronauts. Some historians & teachers will also tell you that Indiana Jones inspired them to become teachers, historians & archaeologists. (In fact, it was those shows that helped them to become interested in space exploration & digging for history.) For them, their fandom has helped them to become something better, instead of letting it becoming a hindrance to their lives. Not every fan is going to be living in a basement of their parent's house, and they aren't all going to fit the typical stereotype of a smelly fanboy or crazy fangirl with no lives.

This reminds me of an incident back in 2007 when George Lucas was selected to be the Grand Marshal for the annual Pasadena Rosebowl Parade in Pasadena, California. Lucas specifically requested the Star Wars 501st Legion & the Rebel Legion (Star Wars cosplay/costuming groups) to march for the Rose Bowl parade. (You had a whole formation of 200 Star Wars Imperial Stormtrooper cosplayers from all over the world marching in unison at the parade.) When one of the the MC Host, Bob Eubanks saw them all marching, he said on LIVE T.V., "There's a bunch of guys who need to get a job!"

The funny part about that is some of those Star Wars fans that Bob Eubanks intentionally insulted actually had better jobs than he did. Some of those Stormtroopers are police officers, lawyers, doctors, military, scientists, teachers, game designers, computer technicians, and just about from every walk of professional life. Some of the members of the the 501st Legion are also scientists & engineers for NASA, and some of them are in the military, who have have seen more than a few combat tours in Afghanistan & Iraq. (So yes, Mr. Bob Eubanks, they do very much have a "job".)

Even the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is a big Star Wars fan, as well as the famous British actors, Kenneth Branagh, (Who was most famous for his movie role as "Henry V") and Brian Blessed. In fact, Kenneth Branagh was very disappointed when he tried to get just about any role in the Star Wars prequels, and he wasn't selected. (All 3 of them are not afraid to admit that they are big Star Wars fans.) I also remember when I was selected for jury duty, the female judge openly said that she was a big Batman fan. At one of the police departments in Los Angeles, (I won't say where) many of the police officers are Star Wars & Batman fans, and they even jokingly put a sign at one of their rooms with sensitive information & equipment as "The Batcave".

I agree that there is a time to play, and there is a time to work. I think this is the difference between fans who do have lives & jobs, and fans who let their fandom become an obsession & consume them to the point that they can no separate fiction from reality. (Again, it isn't wrong to be a fan, in itself.)


The idea of fandom also isn't new, and it didn't spring overnight. During the 1930's and 1940's, there were many fans of the "Lone Ranger", and "Flash Gordon". The shows may have changed today, but the fandom base has been there for a long time.

Fan obsession is also nothing new or unique to the 20th or 21st century. There were obsessed fans that dates back during the Roman times. There were complaints from the Roman government officials that some of these obsessed fans were lazy, did nothing all day, but just watch chariots races, gladiatorial games, & get into violent fights. (Some of them even complained that these obsessed fan's lives were not going anywhere & they were directionless.)


In short, fandom is what you do with it. You can use it to help you with your life, or you can let it hinder & control you.

[n11pilot]

I think I know the kind of fan Eric is talking about.

A few years ago a woman in one of the Southern states showed up for jury duty wearing a Star Trek uniform. I believe that after some discussion the judge dismissed her and she raised a row citing jury regulations that permit military uniforms. The woman could see no difference between the uniform worn by a service member of the US military and the costume of a fictional Star Fleet.

I personally don't think there is anything wrong with a hobby that includes cosplay. It can be a mini vacation that makes life interesting. However like regular vacations it can't last forever, just like you can't live at Disney World (You would go broke.) you can't live full time in a fictional universe.

[Major Eaton]

to himself...(wear a star trek costume to get out of jury duty...why didn't I think of that?@!?)

[Hakaider]

I think I know the kind of fan Eric is talking about.

A few years ago a woman in one of the Southern states showed up for jury duty wearing a Star Trek uniform. I believe that after some discussion the judge dismissed her and she raised a row citing jury regulations that permit military uniforms. The woman could see no difference between the uniform worn by a service member of the US military and the costume of a fictional Star Fleet.

Actually, she IS one of the fanatical & super obsessed fans that Ren was talking about.

Her name is Barbara Adams from Little Rock, Arkansas, and in 2006, she showed up for jury duty wearing a Star Trek-The Next Generation uniform, and carried a plastic phaser, tricorder, and communicator badge.



She also insisted that everyone at her workplace should address her as " Commander". (Her Star Fleet rank in Star Trek.)

She was actually dismissed from court, not because she wore the Star Trek costume for her jury duty, but she violated the Judge's rule of talking to the press during the trial.

You can read more here:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,291848,00.html



As I said before, there's nothing wrong in being a fan & wearing a costume or cosplaying at sci-fi/comic book/ anime conventions, special events, and Halloween. (I do that too, and I have my own Darth Vader costume) But like everything else, there is a time & place for it.

Both Jury duty & being in court are one of those times that you have to set aside your hobby. It's the same when you go to work. (When it's time to play, it's time to play. When it's time to work, it's time to work.) It also stops being a hobby, when it consumes your entire life, you can no longer separate fiction from reality, and it become a 24/7 obsession.

As a side note, Barbara Adams also wears the Star Trek uniform at work as a bookbindery employee.

The woman could see no difference between the uniform worn by a service member of the US military and the costume of a fictional Star Fleet.

That's what she kept repeating when she was interviewed. She couldn't see really the difference between a uniform that's from a fictional universe, and the military in real life.

you can't live full time in a fictional universe.

Trust me, it's too darn expensive to live full time in a fictional universe. (The dry cleaning bill for the costumes alone is a real killer. )

I think the reason why some of the super obsessed & fanatical fans withdrawn 24/7 into the fictional universe, is because they find the real world too repulsive, too scary & too boring. They don't want to have to deal with it. (Unfortunately, the real world has a real knack of biting you hard in the butt, slap you around in the head really hard, and throw you under the bus, if you don't deal with it.)

[Doug Palumbo]

I sat down once and explained to my wife why Star Trek Voyager was such a bad show when she started watching it on Netflix. Here's just one example.

In the first few episodes it's revealed that Janeway had a lot of personal space on the ship... her Ready-Room, her personal quarters, and the "Captain's Mess" or "Captain's Galley." That's the same location of the ship that Nellix took over and became more like the "Crew Mess." The "Captains Galley" was much larger than the "Crew Mess" as seen in the first episode "Caretaker" - but after Nelix took over the "Captains Mess" we never saw the former ever again.

Judging by the sense of scale... the "Captains Ready Room" was about the size of my Living Room and Dining Room area. Her sleeping quarters was about the size of my kitchen and home office. Her personal "Capains Galley" or "Captains Mess" was the size of my entire second floor!

That is A LOT OF SPACE for just one person on the ship. Compare that to the sense of scale of the USS Voyager... it's not exactly a big ship as we've seen in episodes when the ship is on the ground and there were people walking around on the hull. The original lay-out of the ship before they were "Lost In Space" and merged with the rebellious crew means that Starfleet put way too much emphasis on just one person.

There's also the sense that the few officers on this ship had HUGE quarters. Does that mean that the personal space for the crew took up the majority of space on the ship or that the common, plain ol' vanilla crew members get to sleep in quarters the size of a broom closet?

But then there are vast work spaces in the ship as well! Those work spaces are HUGE!

Then there's the space the life-pods take up... The landing bay, the cargo bay, the hydroponics bay where Kess kept a garden. Then there's the holodecks and the turbo-lift...

When we see the crew walking about the ship surface on the few occasions when the ship actually lands, you would think that I could walk across the length of the ship in about 5 minutes. What do you need the turbo-lift for? Are people REALLY that lazy in the future?

Do they use some kind of technology borrowed or stolen from Galafrey? Because it seems, just like the Tardis, it's bigger on the inside.

That's just my beef with the "lay-out" of the ship. I also have a lot of issues with many of the plot devices that seem to play both sides of the fence when it comes to pandering to men and women. There are some "Soap Opera" aspects geared towards women. There are some "Babewatch" aspects geared towards men.

"Seven Of Nine" always pissed me off... how can you have a woman who was a Borg since she was a "Tween" and then suddenly stop being a Borg know anything about make-up, sex appeal... and at the same time be about as cold as the dark side of Pluto?

I don't "hate" "Star Trek Voyager" but my disappointment in the show always made me mad. They had a great idea, a great cast, a great team of writers and FX artists. I felt as if UPN put handcuffs on everyone and then demanded they perform miracles.

That feeling of a little shock and surprise I feel when people defend "Voyager" never goes away. It's like finding out that the person your respect and admired has a "Jar-Jar Binks" memorabilia collection.

And that is why 'Enterprise' is, in my opinion, the best incarnation of 'Trek', hands down. It took all the crap and mistakes from all other versions and tossed it out. It kept the sense of awe and wonder mixed it with traditional Trek-isims (to make it seem familiar) and became a sci-fi adventure/drama show unto itself. Not to mention it had a better cast of actors, better writing, decent effects, a sense of realism and little, if any, last minute save the ship/crew/situation resolution. Often, the ship and crew were crippled and beaten having to make due with what they had, or in one case, steal what they needed to continue the mission.

[Eric Renderking Fisk]

I can’t believe that I have to tell other mature adults this; you build a ship for the realities of the medium it'll be traveling first, then you add all the cool “widgets” on second.

The idea of building a spaceship to look EXACTLY the way a fictional ship looked in a TV show or motion picture is in fact a HORRIBLE idea wrought with obvious problems. Putting aesthetics first and the actual practicalities second is like saying "Sure, plow through that iceberg, Captain Smith! What could possibly go wrong! This is the Titanic, after all! God himself can't sink this boat!"

I can't believe I get sucked into these nonsense debates and people send me links to fanboy drivel thinking it's "cool."

Engineer: Star Trek’s Enterprise ship could be built in 20 years at a cost of $1 trillion - By Tecca | Today in Tech

Whether you're a Trekkie or not, you have to admit that there's some sense of wonder toexploring the stars and trying to find life on distant planets. Of course, the U.S.S. Enterprise is a fictional ship, but have you ever put in the thought as to what it would take to actually build it, and when we could get it done if we really put in the effort? The man behind the well-researched site buildtheenterprise.org has, and he's determined that a fully functional Enterprise is only 20 years away if we put in the effort.

Created by a systems and electrical engineer with 30 years' experience, the BuildTheEnterprise site sets out a very specific timeline for the research and construction of such a massive space-related undertaking. The first nine years are dedicated to research, component testing, and drawing up a number of possible blueprints. The following 11 years are dedicated to development, where components will be manufactured and launched into space for assembly.

Could someone please tell the mysterious "BTE Dan" to GTFU?

[Major Eaton]

If they dream it, and raise the capital, and inspire commerce, and it flies...what do I care?

[Doug Palumbo]

If they dream it, and raise the capital, and inspire commerce, and it flies...what do I care?

It may indeed be a strange fantasy to have but I am on the Major's side with his above comment.

[Eric Renderking Fisk]

I have no problem with the idea of creating a cutting edge spaceship that will allow us to travel the solar system with relative ease. If someone wants to build a practical spaceship and build it to handle and maneuver in that medium (or lack of medium, since it's literally the vacuum of space) that excites me. But to build something only to make it look like something out of a TV show and focus more on the aesthetics? To me that's nonsense.

[AeroDillo]

But to build something only to make it look like something out of a TV show and focus more on the aesthetics? To me that's nonsense.

Welcome to my issue with most fantasy and sci-fi fandom. Nothing against people who can run with the inspiration and make something practical, but if you're spending time aping a particular style it had damn well better do more than look pretty.

[DanielJones]

At the very least it needs to be able to make the coffee in the morning.

Cheers!

Dan

[Doug Palumbo]

At the very least it needs to be able to make the coffee in the morning.

Cheers!

Dan

"Make it so."



Sorry.