Movies That Settle: Trekkies

As our podcast stretches towards episode 500, my fellow podcasters and I occasionally struggle to find something to talk about. Granted, the first 400 or so episodes were mostly us just talking, aimlessly and scriptless-ly, about what comic books came out that week. As the pandemic began screwing with our lives more, we started doing watch-along episodes, where we would watch a whole damn movie and chat about it as and I would usually drink a lot. I don’t know if anyone actually watched along with us while they listened, or even listened without watching, but it was a good way for us to keep our sanity. It was then that we decided to “Trek Through Trek,” and watched all of the Star Trek films. Well, ok, just the ones that featured Captain Kirk. We weren’t that bored.

Recently, while we were debating what to watch as a podcast discussion, I suggested the 1997 documentary Trekkies, which covered Star Trek superfans. I thought it would make for a fun bookend to our Trek Through Trek. We decided on a different podcast topic (“Talking Apes,” in fact, where three talking apes talked about Planet of the Apes. Far less nerdy), but I thought I would cover Trekkies here in the ol’ Substack. Hell, I took the time to watch the damn thing, so I should get something out of it.

I kid, I kid. Actually, when I saw it in 1997, I thought Trekkies was one of the most hilarious movies I had ever seen. And at some moments, maybe one of the saddest. I have always had an issue with second-hand awkwardness, even before I had ever heard that term. This movie has its fair share of that, if you want to look at it that way. But is there any other way to look at the Spiner-Femme? She was the girl who lived a few houses away from Brent Spiner, and was, to put it mildly, into him. She admitted to not being able to see his house, but vaguely knew what direction it was in, so when she got stressed, she would just walk out onto her porch and stare into that direction and imagine what he was doing. Pretty awkward, especially if you’re Brent Spiner. 

Since I was a young, dumb college student, I chose to take the high road and laugh and laugh and laugh at these people. It was easier than admitting to myself, and any girl I was interested in, that I liked Star Trek (although I didn’t like-like Star Trek) and that I was just one short, warp speed cruise away from being one of the people in Trekkies. No, it was better to make fun of them. I had a lot of issues.

However, that was then, and this is now. It was 27 years ago, and while there were obviously conventions back then, they weren’t quite as prevalent as they are now. And they were different. Star Trek conventions, like the ones that are covered in the movie, were frequent, and while cast members from the various movies and shows attended as guests, I don’t know if it was the money pit that most conventions are now. In fact, for those unaware, most of these types of gatherings have been rechristened as “Fan Expos, '' or something like that, because to say that it is a comic con or Star Trek convention doesn’t begin to cover it. These things are a huge money-maker for artists, models and C-List actors all over the world.

In fact, Trekkies looks at the early days of Star Trek conventions, where basically a small group of fans would get together and talk about the Original Series. One of them then had the idea to pool their money to pay some of the cast members to come and hang out with them. Remember, the Original Series only ran for 79 episodes and was well over by the time this first convention was said to have taken place in January of 1972. As George Takei put it in Trekkies, “These people are foolish.” But it worked, and now there are conventions of every sort, every weekend, everywhere in the world. And they weirdly all kind of smoosh together. I once went to a Walking Dead convention (called Walker-Stralker Con) and the guy who played Billy from Gremlins had a table. And he looked exactly the same!

Even now, I feel a twinge of that awkwardness when I go to a convention, or any gathering really, and am forced to admit that I like something that can be construed as weird or geeky. Sticking with Star Trek, I have been a fan since seeing Wrath of Khan back in 1982, when I was six years-old. I actually haven’t seen all the shows, because that’s a lot of Star Trek, but I have seen (and yes, mostly enjoyed) all the movies. And yet, I write about movies a lot, but have never really devoted a post about a single Star Trek movie. I would have to say that I still love Wrath of Khan, but if you were to ask me to list off a top ten of my favorite movies, would it make the list, or would I be too embarrassed to put it on there? It’s an interesting question, so be a pal and don’t ask me to list my favorite movies, ok?

Like I said earlier, in 1997, conventions weren’t as big a deal, and I, and geekdom in general, certainly was in a different place. There weren’t any decent Marvel movies to speak of. Warner Brothers had released Batman & Robin that year, and it pretty much killed the franchise until Batman Begins almost a decade later. Other than Lucas mucking around with the Special Editions, there wasn’t much Star Wars to get excited about. I had stopped buying comics pretty much completely, and maybe I wasn’t the only one, because Marvel Comics had declared bankruptcy in 1996. I mean, what were nerds even doing in the late 90’s?

Whatever it was, they were easy pickings, and Trekkies gave me plenty of ammunition to do so: The woman who wore her Starfleet uniform in court when she served on the Clinton Whitewater jury, feeling that it was her duty to do so, as any military officer would do the same. The dentist who rebuilt his office into Starfleet Dental and made all his employees wear replica Starfleet uniforms to work. And the guy who had actually changed his name to James T. Kirk… All comic gold.

But overall, it was 27 years ago. The world has changed, and so have I. I am less cynical, and have attended many, many conventions, as press, as a panel host, and even a panelist myself. And of course, as a fan. And I am less embarrassed about that now. As one gets older and meets different people, some who grew up in other parts of the country, or just shared the same experiences as you, you realize that we’re all fucking nerds. And sometimes for things that you wouldn’t think are nerdy. I’m a nerd for Seinfeld, and baseball, and yes, probably Star Trek. 

I should also say, however, I have some personal experience with Star Trek fandom. After kick-starting my comic several years ago, my friends and I decided to get a table for the next big comic-con, to sell the comic and some artwork, and some cool masks that one of my more crafty friends designed. I thought we had a good spot, relatively close to the door, but on the very first day, a family of Trekkies settleed in to the booth next to us. The patriarch of this family considered himself a Starfleet Officer, and was selling memberships to his “federation.” Every person walking by got his spiel, even if I was actually already talking to them, trying to sell them my book. I think I sold 3 comics in 3 days, while this guy sold hundreds of dollars worth of memberships to his weird Star Trek club, because he had no problem stepping on my toes, and because all nerds know what Star Trek is, and nobody knew what my comic was. Well, to be fair, it wasn’t all that guy, because the masks sold very well. It was also poor salesmanship on my part. But he did cost me some sales. Not that I’m bitter.   

But I bring that incident up for a reason, the same reason that I wanted to write about Trekkies. Watching it at 47, I understood it a little differently. It wasn’t making fun of these people. These were just passionate fans of Star Trek, like my friend next to me at that convention. You could argue that they have some… different takes on the world, because they view everything through a Star Trek lens, but hey, it could be a lot worse. At least they’re not passionate about murdering people. Well, hopefully. That guy wasn’t trying to cost me money, but he couldn't help himself because he loved Star Trek. He even apologized at the end of the convention.  

In a small way, I’m jealous of him, and all of them, because I would never allow myself to be so passionate about anything. I once went to a comic con that offered free admission to anyone wearing a costume, so I showed up in my replica Star Trek shirt to get in free, and then promptly changed out of it. I was in one of the few places where it would have been fine to wear it, and I still couldn’t bring myself to do it. Most of these people have jobs and spouses and homes, and to pass their free time, they just go all-in on Star Trek. And if staring into the middle-distance, wondering what the guy who plays Data might be doing, helps you get through the day, I say go for it.

There were a couple parts of the movie that I found compelling this time that I didn't really focus on in ‘97, probably because I was too busy laughing. There was the story of James Doohan getting a fan letter from a woman, and the letter was basically a suicide note. He said he called her, and told her was going to be at a convention in two weeks, and he wanted to see her there. When he saw her at that con, he said he was doing another one two weeks after that, and he wanted to see her at that one. He said this continued for two or three years, and then he lost touch with her. Eight years later, he got a letter from her, thanking him for all his help, and she wanted him to know that she had just gotten her degree in Electrical Engineering, so she could be like Scotty. He went on to say that it was “the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Then there’s The Kid. Gabriel Koerner, who was only fifteen at the time and incredibly awkward (as most teenagers are). He was shown going to a convention wearing his new Starfleet uniform (which he did not change out of after he got there) from Star Trek: First Contact, which was released in 1996 but at the time this was filmed, had not been seen yet, but this kid knew what the uniforms were going to look like and had a seamstress whip one up for him. He actually had some really nitpicky ways in which she could make it more authentic - Like I said, awkward - but he looked pretty snazzy. Gabriel’s father was going to drive them to the con in their pick-up that had been modified to look like a Starfleet shuttle, complete with name and registry number. Also, Gabriel was working on a Star Trek movie of his own, for which he had a completed screenplay and some visual effects, which for 1997, weren’t horrible. Still, I remember thinking that if I knew this kid, I would definitely punch him.

The interesting thing about him though, is that, according to his IMDB page, he actually has worked as a digital compositor on a lot of movies and shows, most recently on season one of Loki. Now, I feel like he probably curates his own IMDB page because there are a lot of, shall we say, lesser-known Star Trek projects on there (read: fan films), and one of them is probably the screenplay that he was writing in the 90’s. Still, he worked on them and is working in the entertainment biz, which is more than I can say for myself. He was even on 2 episodes of The Drew Carey Show as “Frank, The Geeky Contestant,” so at least he wasn’t trying to be something he’s not.

The point is, that guy is 42 now, and he probably still tells people about being in Trekkies, and how that probably opened a lot of  doors for him. He is very active on social media and various fandoms, and I’m sure he has even used his celebrity status to get laid a few times. So, he’s living the dream. I guess all I can say is, Gabe, sorry I laughed at you when I was 20.

I guess my final thoughts on Trekkies is that it is kind of a roller coaster. Like any good documentary, there are parts that make you laugh, parts that make you cry, and parts that make you kind of shake your head. Mostly, it made me realize a few things about myself, and that is usually a good thing.

Thanks, as always, for reading. please check out my comic and podcast and RedBubble store, and if you are so inclined, you may donate to my buymeacoffee page. My Substack is free, but if you have the means, it’s always good karma to support a starving writer.

And of course, live long and prosper.