| By Marlaina Gray |
They're not so much a subculture as a subset of a subculture. They have their own languages, their own mannerisms, and their own songs. They are so firmly entrenched in American society that even the mundanes know what a starship is, what one does with a phaser. Even the uninformed are familiar with catch phrases like "He's dead, Jim" or "Fascinating." But what most don't see is the mindset behind the sci-fi antics. To most, Star Trek fans are best represented by the 1970s Saturday Night Live skit in which William Shatner berated a bunch of unattractive techno-nerds for their lack of a life ("You! Have you ever kissed a
A Trekkie is "the most die-hard fan, who lives, eats, and breathes Star Trek; someone who wears Spock ears and thinks that makes them important; a fan who is interested in the show and the idea of Star Trek, but doesn't let it interfere with his/her life." — Peter Muller |
"Star Trek is what led me to an interest in science fiction," says longtime fan Bob Vosseller. Vosseller, 33, of Ortley Beach, New Jersey, is a member of Starfleet, one of the several worldwide Trek fan clubs that have sprung up over the years. Each local chapter of the club is called a ship, with all the ship-type ranks that go along with it. Vosseller is captain of the U.S.S. Challenger, a ship based out of Seaside Heights, and is region coordinator for the ships in his area.
Vosseller, who has reported for several area newspapers since graduating college, says, "In this area, I'm known as much for my being a reporter and associating with newspapers as being a Trekker." He's decided not to be ashamed of this -- "might as well flow with it."
Trek fandom is an offshoot of science fiction fandom, which has been around for most of this century. Fandom first began in the Golden Age of science fiction in the 1920s and 30s. The regular letter writers to the "pulp" science fiction magazines of the time, who were known as letterhacks, were kicked off letters to the editor pages and started corresponding with each other instead. This led to social gatherings, and eventually, organized fandom.
Fans (or fen in the plural form) have certain noticeable attributes. Their own slang, for instance. Beer in fenspeak is bheer. Various types of fan activity are classified as fanac. Mundanes are the people (and the world) outside fandom. Fen are also fond of acronyms. FIAWOL--Fandom Is A Way Of Life.
Probably one of the main staples of fanac is conventions, or cons. Vosseller describes them as "one part flea market, another part show, where you can see videos and things, another part guest and autograph session, and for some it's one part social activity." Also, they're a place to learn more about the shows and the stars and what's going on. "(I've) been to more conventions than I care to even think about."
Science fiction cons have been around for decades. Trek cons began popping up in the early 70s. They started small, but grew in in size and numbers. German student Peter Muller, who is writing a Web-posted book about the Treknomenon, says, "What is interesting about these events is that they were spontaneously created by fans and not the result of an organized campaign by any company involved in merchandising."
A perennial part of both general sf and Trek cons is the costume contest, where fans come dressed as anything from Trek aliens to punk elves and are judged on a number of things, mostly the intricacy of the costume.
The first and only time Vosseller participated in a costume contest was with a friend who didn't want to do it alone. He went as an Andorian, one of the Trek alien races. Andorians are blue. He couldn't wear his glasses because of the paint and didn't have contacts, so he couldn't see. His friend had to lead him on and off the stage. Vosseller couldn't tell what the audience was thinking, so he walked up to the mike and announced, "Hey, I'm not a smurf." Everyone laughed. Afterwards, he went with his partner and another friend, dressed as a Vulcan and a Klingon respectively, to lunch at Roy Rogers. "No one batted an eyelash."
Another common fanac is filksinging. "Filk" supposedly came into existence due to a misspelling of the phrase "folk singing." It is also said to be an abbreviation for "filthy folk singing." Filksongs are songs which deal in primarily science fiction and fantasy subjects. One of the most famous, in fact so overplayed and overspoofed that no one in their right mind sings it anymore, is "Banned from Argo," which depicts an unusually rowdy shore leave of the original Enterprise crew. Most of the lyrics are suitably bawdy. For instance, one version goes: "Our Captain's tastes are simple but his methods are complex,/We found him with five partners, each of a different world and sex,/The shore police were coming, and we had no second chance,/We beamed him up in the nick of time, with the remnants of his pants."
Trek fandom began with the airing of the original show, which first aired on Sept. 8, 1966. It gained an almost immediate following.
According to Muller, "Star Trek" was nearly canceled twice but saved for a second and third season due to fan letter-writing campaigns. A group of science fiction authors calling themselves "The Committee" organized the first campaign. Fans Bjo and John Trimble, later extremely active in Trekdom, organized the second. After that campaign, NBC went on the air to tell fans there would be a third season and to please stop writing letters. But the fans couldn't save it again; the last episode aired on June 3, 1969. Of course, then it went into syndication. And then there were the movies. And
"Everybody in this country has seen Star Trek." — Dr. Lawrence Schoen, cognitive psychologist |
Now, Trekdom is worldwide. There are more types of Trek merchandise than could be conceived of. Dozens of cons are held each month in nearly every major country. Trekfen even have their own bar -- in London. Page's Bar, on Page Street in Westminster, is advertised on the Web as being "Earth's first licensed Star Trek bar." According to the Web site, the bar staff wears Trek uniforms while serving drinks such as Cardassian Blood Wine (Malibu, Bacardi, vodka, grenadine and lemonade). Biweekly, the bar, owned by "Admiral" Bob Benton, holds a Trek quiz with prizes.
Much has been said about the difference between Trekkies and Trekkers. Muller sums it up well. A Trekkie is "the most die-hard fan, who lives, eats, and breathes Star Trek." Or as he puts it: "someone who wears Spock ears and thinks that makes them important." A Trekker is "a fan who is interested in the show and the idea of Star Trek, but doesn't let it interfere with his/her life."
Vosseller can only think of one person who took her fannishness to an extreme. She was a fellow Starfleet member who had developed a Vulcan persona (some clubs have more of a roleplaying aspect than others). He didn't think too much of it until he noticed she was "always in her Vulcan ears," and that her growing persona was "starting to unnerve some people." He eventually got on her bad side after writing a newsletter story about personas and how fun they could be. He'd used her real name. "She was always an intriguing person to me," because it was the closest he would come to a real Vulcan. But, Vosseller says, it was "disappointing she took it too far."
Whether Trekkie or Trekker, a characteristic of most Trekfen is an eye for Trek snafus. Fans, watching as closely as they do, know every single mistake in production, special effects and continuity that every show and movie has ever made. One example, as posted on the Web by fan Otto Heuer, is in the original series episode "Return of the Archons": "When Kirk's landing party starts running from the festival, a quick shot shows a rock bouncing off the head of one of the landing party members and up into the air. Now that's a thick head!"
Different aspects of the world of Trek have their own separate fandom. For instance, Klingons. The Klingon Language Institute is a worldwide nonprofit group dedicated to promoting the Klingon language and bringing together Klingon language enthusiasts. Linguist Marc Okrand invented the language for use in some of the movies. It's a complete language, with developed vocabulary, grammar and usage.
The language institute is in its fifth year, according to director and founder Dr. Lawrence Schoen. Schoen, who has a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, said the institute began as "something of a whim or a lark" when someone gave him a copy of the Klingon Dictionary (written by Okrand). He thought it would be fun to study the language as if it were a real one, and founded the institute when he realized there was no central organization for fans of the language. Now there are over 1,000 members in 30 countries around the world.
"It's fascinating to watch a language community develop," Schoen says, calling it a "dream come true." Klingon is the only artificial language he knows of that grew out of popular culture. "Everybody in this country has seen Star Trek."
Although there is work involved in learning Klingon, people don't see it as learning a foreign language. People who never finished college and people still in high school and junior high school all study Klingon, he says.
Schoen, who has written and published science fiction, is hardly the typical Trekfan. Although he grew up with Trek, he "never owned a pair of pointed ears." He is still more the scholar than the fan; he doesn't own a Klingon costume as some might expect. He does speak at cons, though. "I think fans aren't quite sure what to make of me."
Schoen is aware of how his hobby must look to people. "It's probably kind of silly that we've translated Hamlet into Klingon," but it was hard to achieve and they're proud of it. Maybe this isn't something to put on one's resume, but the skills involved in learning this language help in learning any language, he says.
A current project of the institute is translating the Bible. The difference here is that the translators, all of whom either have or are about to get Ph.Ds, are working from the original Hebrew, Aramaic and ancient Greek because "so much is lost in translation." It should be done in another three or four years. The institute has also helped in such things as the upcoming interactive Trek CD-ROM and in translating Klingon for the Trek comic books.
Schoen says he's looking forward to the institute's annual July meeting -- "for five days, it's a living language." This year, they're planning to play poker in Klingon.
Vosseller became a fan when he was very young. "Captain Kirk for me was what I always wanted to be." And the show's outlook on the future appealed to him. He got into Trekdom in 1982, when he joined a ship in Starfleet. He eventually helped form the Challenger. Starfleet was the "little extra spice in my life outside of work," which helped him meet a lot of people he wouldn't have met otherwise.
Challenger, like many other Fleet ships and other clubs, performs a lot of community service, such as participating in walkathons. Members also walk -- in uniform -- in every parade they can get to. Vosseller wanted to show people that Challenger "wasn't just a bunch of goofy people that watched Star Trek all the time," he said.
Vosseller has even gotten the opportunity to interview many Trek actors for various ship newsletters, including Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura in the original series), Patrick Stewart (Capt. Picard in Next Generation), and Armin Shimmerman (Quark on Deep Space Nine). He speaks proudly of the time he talked his way into joining a dinner interview between Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi in Next Generation) and another reporter.
Vosseller is comfortable with the large role Trek plays in his life. In fact, he says he's sure Starfleet and his various ship involvements will be mentioned on his tombstone. "I just don't know if they'll bury me with my uniform on."