A Trekkie's Trepidation

Today's Special: Any one of these three beverages: tea, Earl Grey, hot; raktajino (Klingon coffee); and coffee, black. Also all the gagh you can eat.

OK, I just want to get this out in the open right away:

I am a Trekkie.

And by Trekkie, I mean hard core. I've been a fan of Star Trek practically since birth; in fact, Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) began in 1987, the year I was born. At age seven, I had a complete set of TNG action figures. When TNG ended, I moved on to DS9 and dreamed about ordering a drink at Quark's and watching the wormhole from the Promenade. And of course, I cheered on Captain Janeway as she led the crew of Voyager and became the first female captain to star in a Star Trek series.

All those years of watching Trek has given me a store of knowledge and trivia that would make most of the non-Trekkies in the world shake their heads in wonder. If you tell me about an event from TNG, DS9, or Voyager, I can probably give you the episode name and the season number. I know what the Prime Directive is. I can recite the entire Borg assimilation speech and Seven of Nine's complete designation from memory. I could make an impassioned, fact-based argument for why Janeway would kick the asses of all the other captains if they were in a fight. I even know the standard drink order for Picard, Sisko, and Janeway. No doubt there are Trekkies who know more than I do, but I think I have enough Trek cred (and, therefore, geek cred) to be considered a bonafide Trekkie.

And still, I'm unsure about the new Star Trek movie. I haven't seen it yet, but based on the articles I've read and the trailers I've seen, I have my reservations, and they boil down to two main things:

1. I'm not a big fan of The Original Series (TOS). That might be considered sacrilege, but TOS was really before my time. I grew up watching TNG, DS9, and Voyager. (Don't talk to me about Enterprise. Just... don't.)
2. I'm afraid - really afraid - that the movie creators are going to sell out the fans.

More than almost any other fandom, Star Trek owes its life to its fans. After all, a letter-writing campaign to NBC is what save the series in the first place and allowed TOS to reach the magic number for syndication. In reruns, more fans fell in love with the series. The fans made Star Trek into the cult hit that it has been for over forty years.

These fans - and as I said, I count myself among them - are almost universally considered members of the upper eschelon of geekdom. People call us outsiders and freaks for embracing a futuristic fantasy world with aliens and space battles and time travel. But we don't care. We've formed our own fan communities, where we can be around other people who know the difference between a Klingon and a Cardassian and with whom we can discuss the finer points of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. Despite the teasing, despite the eye rolls and the mocking laughter, we've stuck with Star Trek through the years.

I don't think it's too much for us to ask that the Powers That Be in the Trek franchise could return the favor and stick with us as well.

However, it doesn't seem like this new movie is really going to be for the fans at all.

First off, director J.J. Abrams, despite having some geek cred of his own for conjuring up the hit sci-fi show Lost, is NOT a Star Trek fan. Apparently, the Star Trek higher-ups are trying to reach out to the non-fans, and that means bringing in a director who doesn't have any particular need to hold onto certain aspects of the canon or the universe that Trekkies have come to love over the years. Maybe, they think, if we eliminate the things that might alienate the "normal" people out there - the non-fans - then we can get a broader audience.

OK. I understand that. But here's one thing they don't understand.

We're the geeks. We've spent our lives being shunned. And to be honest, this feels like one more instance in a long history. The Star Trek execs are like that friend who abandoned us for a chance to sit at the cool kids table. And so we sit alone, clutching our combadges and our action figures and hoping that our old friend will eventually realize we're the true friends - the ones they really want to keep.

I get trying to reinvigorate the franchise. But alienating your fanbase is not the way to do it. Give us a new series with strong characters and an intelligent, interesting premise. Give us a reason to feel excited about Star Trek again. Show us that you aren't out of ideas, that there are still interesting corners of the Trek universe to explore.

Give us a reason to believe, Star Trek Powers That Be. When you do, I promise you that your faithful fans will not disappoint you.

Just please, stop trying to trade us for the cool kids, OK?