The main problem is, however, that we suddenly found ourselves, at SF conventions, up to our collective necks in screaming Trekkies.
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| Title: | The main problem is, however, that we suddenly found ourselves, at SF conventions, up to our collective necks in screaming Trekkies. (the title used here on Fanlore is a line from the essay) |
| Creator: | Bjo Trimble |
| Date(s): | 1975 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The main problem is, however, that we suddenly found ourselves, at SF conventions, up to our collective necks in screaming Trekkies. is a 1975 essay by Bjo Trimble.
It was printed as a letter of comment in Menagerie #6 in response to Paula Smith's essay No Trekkies allowed, gang, and this means you!.
Some Topics Discussed
- the old argument that "real fans" were fans of literature, and Star Trek fans were brainless television viewers: "Trekkies can be subdivided into so many other groups; the people who will eventually become readers of SF, if they aren't, already, and the people who are going to stay visually oriented."
- real fans getting cornered by "weirdo" Spockies
- the lack of value of Trekfic; that it "is probably not going to become acceptable to SF fandom, simply because it is still basically a copy of someone else's universe"
- "The main problem is, however, that we suddenly found ourselves, at SF conventions, up to our collective necks in screaming Trekkies. Now, most SF fans secretly watched and did enjoy ST. However, if you have it shoved down your throat every con, you get a bit tired of the whole thing. Even I get pretty tired of being told something over and over and over. I did start ST fandom, remember; there's not much new I can be told about the show."
The Essay
I'd like to make some comments on Paula Smith's report of Chambanacon 4...One of the reasons [(that there is discrimination against Trekkies in SF fandom))is that most of us SF fans have forgotten what it was like to find out that there were really Other Nuts out there like us, who liked our subject...we did the exact same things, but there were less of us at each con. One or two or a dozen SF neo fans arrive at a large con and they carry on and show off and try to corner Big Names but that's only a dozen or so people scattered thruout [sic] a whole con and nobody much notices. Now take two hundred or more Trekkies hitting their first con at once...yeah, it's a bit more noticeable, and it's a hell of a lot less easy to take! It isn't their fault, individually, of course...
Also, at least the SF fan has some interest in the genre. Trekkies can be subdivided into so many other groups; the people who will eventually become readers of SF, if they aren't, already, and the people who are going to stay visually oriented. And then we have the Spockies, who have NO interest in fandom or NO interest in the genre of SF, either. All they have is a hang-up on the weirdo with the pointy ears... The last thing any SF fan wants to have happen is get cornered by a Trekkie, because he hasn't the time to find out which kind of Trekkie the kid is. OK?
Trash in trekfiction isn't a criterion; fanzines publish perfectly horrible SF trash every year. There is NO WAY to avoid it. Some fanzine editors won't touch fan fiction and some seem to dote on the worst kind. Nobody in fandom has the right to put down ST fandom for that!...Trekfiction, per se, is probably not going to become acceptable to SF fandom, simply because it is still basically a copy of someone else's universe, and copying the scripts and story ideas of someone else. Originality counts, remember. No matter how good the Log One [by Alan Dean Foster] stories get (and they show no signs of it, yet) or the Blish things could have gotten (and they were dreadful), they are still copies of GR's universe, and not original stories.
And fans dote on originality. We had a running joke of a "World-A-Month-From-All-Over" club, where people would send in their fantasy worlds ...A silly idea, but one which shows that none of us thought there would be any problem in coming up "with enough fantasy worlds. An interesting experiment: ask a fan if he has a fantasy world. Then ask him if he's thought out the universe around it. Then ask how many other — not in the same universe -- fantasy worlds he's thought out. The results may surprise you, and give you an interesting insight on how imaginative the person is.
The main problem is, however, that we suddenly found ourselves, at SF conventions, up to our collective necks in screaming Trekkies. Now, most SF fans secretly watched and did enjoy ST. However, if you have it shoved down your throat every con, you get a bit fired of the whole thing. Even I get pretty tired of being told something over and over and over. I did start ST fandom, remember; there's not much new I can be told about the show.)
So that is really more of an explanation of why SF fans seem to dislike ST fans so much: not that you haven't made it into mainstream fandom with trekkie material yet. OK?