Anyone catch these two ‘documentaries’? Care to comment?
They need to be watched as a set. The first was criticized in some quarters as being too hard on the fans (they focused on the ‘most interesting’ ones, not the typical ones.)
The second one was better received, partially b/c they followed up on some of those same fans. OTOH, the section on the bands in T2 showed a marked favoritism for the pop-ish Warp 11, vs. the rawer punk stylings of No Kill I. (W11 were allowed to do a separate show, and had proper mixing, etc. (It doesn’t help that W11 were essentially a rip-off of NKI. (But that’s another rant.)))
I saw Trekkies when it was first released. I was fascinated (no pun intended, nah I intended that) by the psychology of fandom. Here I was a fan and I started to question my position in the cult of Star Trek. Did I worship and sacrifice to the Great Bird of the Galaxy? Was I committed to the notions and principles of the Federation? How much of my salary was given to the Church of Roddenberry?
In all honesty, I was a bit freaked out. Had these people some sort of neurosis from being treated as exiles? Had they escaped to the fantasy world of a TV show to cope? Was I one of them? Did I want to be?
In podcast #159 during the interview with Roger Nygard, he mentions something I experienced, a “those” people moment. My obsession was ok, but “those” people were freaks. I didn’t like that.
I decided to do some soul-searching and found that I wasn’t accepting people for where they were at or even where I was at. Trekkies were not deranged and delusional psychotics involved in a cult bent on world domination. They were kind, thotful, intelligent people who at times helped their community. They all shared a harmless obsession with a TV show. I was proud to be counted among their numbers.
Trekies was funny as hell. The second was kinda an apology, i felt.
Too many of those “never got laid in high school” type fans bitched and complained about the first one.
I have been a trek fan since birth and have attended cons since age 12. these people have always weirded me out. It’s weird to be 15 and see 30 year olds that are below your level of maturity. ( dressed as andorians and shit) I have never understood why some people have this need to embarass themselves just because they like something cool. ( I know that they aren’t embarasssed… but they bloody well should be) Their actions give the normal people who like Trek a bad name.
I felt Trekkies was not done so that non fans can laugh at us ( us meaning trek fans). It is a movie FOR us to laugh at those weirdos that like the same stuff as us… but have emotional or mental prblems. ( such as the woman who wears a starfleet uniform to work and to jury duty- I am sure her parents are proud. )
but the funniest thing in trekkies is the kid who does special effects as a hobby. The kid in your friend group that never had a girlfriend or a life. He is funny as hell in Trekkies 1. In 2 he has grown up, redeems himself. has a wife. and is one of the digital artists for BSG. So it makes it ok to laugh at him in part 1 ( like you wouldn’t have anyway).
Trekkies shows you Trekkies to the MAX. A level of geekdom that I rarely see in BSG fans ( thank god). Plenty of really fat people in poorly done klingon costumes and makeup. Almost like there is a trailer park where fans of trek live and come out to conventions.
there are some great interviews with trek cast members as well. This is a must see for trek fans,
I haven’t seen Trekkies 2, but I really enjoyed Trekkies 1. I didn’t think that those were people to laugh at - they were people who were passionate about something. I can respect that, even if I think that some decisions may have been taken to go too far.
However, I don’t really like to laugh at people, since I find that kind of humor painful and just not funny.
You know my mom was a lot like many of the fans of BSG I have met. She was a bright young woman who happend to like Star Trek, lost in Space and Star Wars. She wasn’t a “nerd” She was a cheerleader, homecomeing queen, nurse and later a cool single mom.
I was watching Star Trek in syndication every night at 7pm with my mom. When TMP came out I was 4. We went and saw it. It was the second movie I remember. ( the first being Star Wars)
When ST:TWoK came out we were right there. I grew up believing that Star Trek was a part of american culture and that everone liked it.Most of the kids at school watched Star trek ( just not as much as me). All the kids had seen the movies and watched a handful of episodes.
As I got older (6th grade) I played the FASA Star Trek game. I read the comics, read the novels and knew pretty much any star trek trivia you could throw at me. Star Trek 4 had just came out.
I began going to conventions and was weirded out to the max. It’s like the star trek fan base had gotten to the convention on the “short bus”.There were all these adults wearing poorly made costumes ( they are much better today). It was unnerveing to be a kid and to feel kinda afraid of the adults around you. Me and my two 13 year old friends were approached by countless 35 year old creepy, nerdy men wanting to “talk trek” with us. I didn’t know at the time that these people were just nerds. I thought that they were emotionaly handicapped, mentally ill, pedophiles or just simply desperate for human contact. Why would they be involved in all this kids stuff. They were buying toys and wanting to get involved in correcting my 13 year old friends when they messed up the name of an episode, or didn’t know some background characters name. It really was JUST LIKE the SNL skit where Shatner tells those guys to get a life.
As a child it is unnerveing to no end to see adults that are like this. Until I started going to trek conventions, ALL adults were obeyed, looked up to, and respected. For the rest of my childhood I went to comic book shows and Star trek conventions and had countless run ins with those geeks that made my skin crawl. Children don’t deal well with adults that they cannot respect. ( kinda like the 30 year old guys that wanted to play D&D with us in 7th grade. I didn’t play D&D and wouldn’t with a 30 year old when I was 14 in any case! I never thought that they were pedofiles- just pathetic)
I hold against them what they have done to trek. It isn’t those people that kept TNG-Enterprise on TV. It was the mainstream success of St;4 and the good rateings from all the normal well adjusted Trek fans.[ Much like BSG. Actually the "geek fans hated it. They were the “Starbuck is man” crowd. Bsg’s rateings came from mainstream american viewers.]
Those people act like they personaly made trek work. They think we owe them something as fans. They are the Vocal Visable minoity of Trek fans. They are our face to the person who is thinking about watching trek, but they look at those people and think…“damn, I am not watching that geek shit”.
We have all ( I am assumeing) had to defend trek to someone at some time, and the thing that was the obsticle was the perception caused by those people. I hate what they have done to the series.
So I like Trekies. That movie shows those people for what they are. I always wondered if it was just me that thought them strang. I felt like maybe I was missing it. “I am a fan” I would think “… but I don’t want to wear a uniform in public and disgrace myself for all to see” is there something wrong with me? No, and obviously the filmmakers agree.
And I am so glad I met BSG fans. I love trek, but a meetup with BSG fans is a meeting of normal people who happen to like a TV show. Trek ( or Babylon 5) is like being a substitue teacher to the special ed class.
I haven’t seen either and am wanting to view them (are they available for online viewing somewhere?) I’m not A Trek person though I’ve seen all of TOS. I enjoyed it and am enjoying our Trek arc.
My only experience with the fandom is at Phoenix Comicon in January. I sat next to a great guy during the BSG panel with Aaron Douglas we talked BSG non-stop. Then came the Trek panel with Wheaton, Spiner and the gal who played Troy. The guy next to me completely changed. Not in a bad way though. The room filled to beyond capacity and I felt guilty taking a seat when I’m not really a “true fan”.
I was glad I stayed though because I enjoyed myself. The Trek fans were more vocal than the BSG crowd, but I don’t see this as negative. They are escaping for a few hours, I can relate. I paid $35 to have Stabuck’s tattoo put on my arm for our GWC meetup. I bought dog tags and flight undershirt. I spent about $100 on my costume and it was worth every penny. I felt like a total bad ass and I was in the company of others who cared about the show as much as me. It didn’t matter that some of us were in costume and others weren’t. It was fun. It was pure escapism and I needed it.
I think if you can find a legal way to let yourself go, have at it. Life’s too short.
Found this and had to share.
Oh, that is priceless. 
Speak it, sistah!
I finally watched Trekkies 1. I really enjoyed it. Given that I’m all set to dress up at Comicon, I can’t judge others doing so in or outside of a con. The one thing I noticed, that even though some folks are more extreme in their Trek love than others, they all sure seem like happy people. The world can use more happy people. When I talk about GWC or BSG or grab my Star Wars species guide, I’m happy. I probably need to do all three more.
You should watch 2, then. They follow up with some of those same people years later. If you liked the first, you’ll love the second.