Trekkers: The Next Generation

An original editorial by Shelby Brenn

We've all heard about them, and some of us have even met them. The guy that walks around tapping his shoulder and shouting, "Computer!" before giving a random command. The girl that only wears a blue and black spandex outfit and insists that you call her "Commander." The two guys you see sitting at McDonald's speaking in Klingon. And of course, if there's a Star Trek convention within 1,000 miles (or farther away, depending), they are the first people in line. Yep, you know who I'm talking about: the Trekkers, as they prefer to be known.

Almost every comedy show that I've seen has made some obscure reference to these extraordinary fans, and mostly in a "wow, that's pathetic" sort of way. However, the other day I really got to thinking about this, and I realized that we're not that much different than they are.

This is my story: I was walking to class with a friend of mine the other day, and I started talking excitedly about the names of the three chapters that we were just blessed with. I was hypothesizing about what they could mean, what would happen in those chapters, the usual. The girl looked at me and said, "Wow, obsessive much?"

Rather than letting that ruin my day, I started really thinking about it. Yes, I scored a 37% on the Harry Potter Obsession Quiz, and yes, my homework does suffer because I spend most of my spare time reading HP articles online and searching for any new information. But there are people out there that are worse than I am.

This led me to thinking about extreme fandom, which eventually led back to the Trekkers and their cousins: the Star Wars obsessed, those who live their lives according to Lord of the Rings, and the like. Are the Potterheads the next generation of Trekkers?

While searching a Star Trek fansite (I was looking for the correct spelling of Klingon because, frankly, I didn't have a clue how to spell it), I found striking similarities between their fans and HP followers. They have role-playing games, forums, editorials, and numerous information sources for anything you ever wanted to know about Star Trek, much like some of the more popular HP fansites do.

So, what's my point for this article? It's to point out that we're just another crazy group of fans that love the world created by a genius mind. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's good to have something to love and to always make you smile. However, I worry that we may be making a bad name for ourselves when we "go overboard" with our fandom. By all means, I don't mean to say that we should close down every fansite out there and limit our readings to once and once only! I would die. But perhaps we could all make a conscious effort to not end up with the reputation that the Trekkers have formed for themselves. I'm not at all saying that being a Trekker is a bad thing. Quite the contrary, one of the coolest people I've ever met was a Trekker, yellow and black spandex and all. I just hope that the term "Potterhead" won't gain a negative connotation, which would dissuade many potential readers from enjoying a great piece of literature just because they don't want to be labeled as a geek.

Fellow Potterheads, I leave you with this final thought: being a little more aware of our obsession and making a conscious effort to not gain a bad reputation for ourselves may increase our potential to be taken seriously in a world where loving something so much that it almost consumes your life is not necessarily a good thing. Let's stop the teasing and other negative remarks before they start, lest we end up like our dear cousins, the misunderstood and much-loved Trekkers.

11/7/04

Posted by: Sara

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