How I Escaped The Trekker Subculture

I became interested in Star Trek in 1992. I was dating a guy who, by all accounts, was perfectly normal, but for a few exceptions, one of them being his fanatic devotion to Star Trek: The Next Generation. When it came on, he'd turn on the stereo system attached to the TV and crank the bass up. This allowed us as viewers to hear and feel the rumble of the ships engines and to hear things in surround sound. It really drew me into the show.

The show itself is great. It represents a future you could hope for, where poverty and hunger are no longer problems to grapple with and people are free to explore whatever catches their interest. I also appreciated the diplomacy and care the crew used to explore the universe and find new civilizations. I'm a fan of this type of science fiction, as opposed to most of the doom and gloom post-apocolyptic stuff that's out there. I like to believe that the human race well evolve rather than devolve. So, I was captivated by this romantic and hopeful depiction of the future; I wanted to be a part of it.

I started buying Star Trek related items. I had a communicator badge that was very nicely made. It was silver and brass, a high quality pin. I wore it on my parka that was the same color yellow that the engineering staff wore. I had a bumper sticker on my car, on the driver's side door, that read "Official Star Fleet Vehicle." I also had a couple of ID cards.

At one point, I discovered a Star Trek store called Starbase Columbus, which sold everything you'd need to outfit yourself like a true Starfleet Academy graduate: uniforms, phasers, plates, cups, tricorders and communicator badges. It was quite a heady experience, like hitting the jackpot. There was a bulletin board where you could find other Trekkers to hook up with as well as convention announcements. I've never been to a convention, but hoped to one day.

That is until I saw the movie Trekkies. This movie painted a portrait of people's dedication to this show. Frankly, it struck me as a bit sad and unhealthy. One of the people featured was a dentist who outfitted his office like a sick bay and made his staff dress like medical staff from the show. Also, a dude rode around town in the little motorized box with just his head sticking out. This box was a recreation of prop from the original series.

My heart began to break for these people. They seemed happy with their lives, but sometimes, as in the case with the dentist, you could tell that his wife was kind of going along for the ride. But every now and then, I could see shame around her eyes, like she wasn't entirely committed to dressing as Dianna Troi for the rest of her life.

It was shortly after viewing this documentary that I put away my communicator badge and peeled the bumper sticker off my car. I love ST:TNG. I hope that we have such a future ahead of us. But, these days, I prefer to leave that future in the future and do what I can to Make It So in my own time.