Star Trek

Before I go on, I feel it is only fair to warn that the title of the post may be a bit misleading. My topic today relates to the new Star Trek movie and not the fanbase you try to blissfully ignore. I will not be mentioning Stardates, the Borg, or Klingon text translations.

The new Star Trek film is something that has truly baffled me. It is a good movie, and its box office sales have reflected that, but what gave them the idea to do something like this? Star Trek is probably one of the most "exclusive" things one can be a fan of. It defines the nerdy subgroup that most of America wants nothing to do with. So why would a movie studio choose to base a mainstream summer blockbuster on such an exclusive franchise? There are so many more accessible franchises that could be leeched off of. I don't believe the argument that it was primarily for the Trekkies, either. Apart from a few fanservice moments, such as casting Leonard Nemoy, the film is a nerd nightmare. All of the classic characters have been recast, something that has never been met with happy reactions in fan communities. Fans get bent out of shape when their cartoon voice actors get replaced. Give a monumental role like Captain Kirk or Spock to a young no-name actor and the fans are going to be up in arms. The film's storyline was also much simpler than the other Star Trek films and, while I don't think this was a bad move for the new audiences, it may have been a bit "too simple" for real Trekkies. I think there's a part of them that wants to be puzzled and ostracized by their fiction. It can give them something to feel smart about when talking to other people, or alternatively give them things to argue about on the internet. Either way, this movie hardly felt like a Trek movie. Whether or not that is a good thing is up to the individual audience members.

One thing I found funny was how surprised people were that a new Star Trek film was coming out. Sure, it’s been seven years since the last one, but we’ve been getting new Trek films pretty consistently since 1979. This is the 11th in the series. One of the longest running movie series of all time. In fact, that’s another one of my main gripes with this film. They tried to market it as a kind of “reboot” to the series. They went as far as titling the film “Star Trek”. How pretentious is that? A new director walks in and slaps the name “Star Trek” on his first Trek film even though it is the 11th in the series. There have always been subtitles on each Trek film. Why should this one be any different? “Oh, it’s special! It’s new! It’s a series reboot!”. It’s their choice. I just think it throws off series continuity.

I’m not a huge Trek fan. I enjoy the occasional Wrath of Khan or Voyage Home, but I wouldn’t classify myself as a Trekkie, but something inside of me is glad to know that they’re out there. I’m happy that people can be excited enough about something that they’d be willing to dress as their favorite characters from the movies and wait in line for hours outside of the cinemas to get in. I realize this is a popular thing to pick on because it is kind of a deviant behavior, but, while I’ve never participated in it, I’ve always sort of admired it from a distance. These are people who want to have a good time with themselves. They’re the theatrical types who aren’t willing to settle for just having a “normal evening”, but go out of their ways to do something memorable and unique. That said, Star Trek has really been the first movie since Star Wars Episode III to really invite those dedicated fans to dress up as their favorite characters and again stand around their local shopping malls waiting to buy tickets.

What is it about movies, though, that causes people to do this? You don’t see people dressed as Jack Bauer throwing out one-liners outside of the FOX offices every time a new season of 24 goes on the air. I think it would be fun to bring this tradition to less conventional opening nights. How about dressing as animals to celebrate the opening of a new zoo? We can stand outside in our leopard and penguin suits counting down the minutes until the park opens. Surely, they went through just as much trouble to bring that zoo to life as any film studio did in making a new movie. You could dress up and have opening parties for a number of occasions. The opening of a new hospital, the unveiling of a new Boeing airplane, the construction of a new funeral house… It just takes some imagination to make the tedium of today the memories of tomorrow.

But I digress. Keep your clothes on for now.