There are things I do not understand in this world. Many things. One of them is the inter-nerd battles that go on between Star Trek and Star Wars fans. As I have said before, I love both Trek and Wars. I personally don’t understand why liking one thing more than the other makes you inherently good or bad. But if you like Star Wars more, then you are wrong, and I hate you.
JK. Lolz.
I’m a big ole bucket of nerd. I have a Tolkien tattoo (with plans on a second one, sorry mom). I’ve logged hundreds (probably thousands) of hours on video games. Many of those hours on Star Wars games. I’ve seen every episode of Clone Wars (the cartoon series that takes place between Episodes II and III) and I’ve even read a few of the expanded universe novels. So, I’m a pretty legit nerd when it comes to George Lucas’ bastardized child. But nothing compares to my love of the Trek.
I don’t know why Star Trek is such a passion for me. Maybe because they do so perfectly what great sci-fi can do: explore everyday themes in an extraordinary setting. Sure, it’s the 24th century, but why not have a militaristic regime controlling an alien race? What brutality does a dictator impose on people? What about societies where religion and politics are mixed? Trek covers that too. And because they can do all this without being preachy, it just works better than a straight up critique. And because they have an endless supply of alien races to choose from, they can craft whatever analogy they want to tell. It’s what sci-fi does best, and when Star Trek is good, there is nobody better.
Last night I went to a special screening of Star Trek: The Next Generation at a movie theater. Not my beloved Alamo Drafthouse, but only because they weren’t showing it. The night would feature the classic TNG episode “Best of Both Worlds” parts 1 and 2. For those of you unfamiliar, catch up, it was made 24 years ago. The story involves the Borg, a ruthless collective of technologically driven automatons, who assimilate all races they encounter. (See? Sci-fi can be applicable to all sorts of things! Like obsessing over technology and letting it run your life instead of emotion and interaction!) If you’ve ever heard anyone say, “Resistance is futile,” it’s because of the Borg. It is a great episode (or two episodes, whatever) rivaling anything else TNG ever made. Except for maybe “All Good Things…” this is my favorite thing TNG has ever done. So, when they announced it would be re-released on Blu-Ray and to coincide with that they would be screening it nationwide, well, I nerdgasmed pretty uncontrollably.
I got to the theater about twenty minutes before the show (my only real fellow Trekkie was sadly out of the country and therefore I was going alone) and the Fandango machine was broken. I walked inside and there was a twenty-person deep line at both the ticket window and the concession stand because there were only two people working that night. It’s like nobody at the theater bothered to check the schedule. Once I finally conquered the line (and my rage had quelled slightly) I headed off for the theater. And once I got inside, I found, much to my rebuilding rage, that the lights were already dimmed in order to show pre-show nonsense. Probably some “TNT knows drama” bullshit. Since it was dark, I couldn’t see if there were any open seats. But, since it was a screening of Star Trek, I assumed there should be some dudes there by themselves. So I stood at the end of a row and shouted, “Does anyone have a single seat open?” I chose the closest option from the dozen or so lonely men who raised their hands.
The night was amazing. We started with a thirty minute documentary about the making of the episode (eeep!), then watched the two parter (double eeep!), and then the gag reel for season 3 of Next Gen (nerdgasm eeep!). The night left me positively swimming in happy Trekkie feelings of joy.
Here’s another strange contention I don’t get: some Trekkies hate to be called Trekkies. They prefer Trekkers and find the former insulting. Chill out nerds.
In a few short weeks Star Trek Into Darkness will premiere. The movies are a bit more action-oriented than the Trek of the past, but they’re great. And they’re introducing a whole new generation to the Trekkie lifestyle. Let’s just hope JJ turns down the lens flares, for chrissakes. And maybe give us a little more than just action and fun. How about a parallel or two?
Oh, and if Benedict Cumberbatch is playing Khan, I’m going to murder the face off every fanboy in the entirety of the world.
Live long and prosper, my friends.
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