A Tall Tale

Meta
Title:	A Tall Tale
Creator:	M.J. Fisher
Date(s):	February 1976
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Topic:
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

A Tall Tale is a 1976 Star Trek: TOS essay by M.J. Fisher.

It was printed in Spectrum #23.

Some Topics Discussed

• rumors in Trek fandom about the actors
• Leonard Nimoy has been a focus and "scapegoat" of these rumors
• the actors are victims in many ways regarding the lack of privacy, but also because they will never be able to unshackle themselves from being typecast (and this is fans' fault)
• most of the Star Trek actors have plenty of money because they make a lot of money from being guests of honors at conventions
• some dissemination of what makes a fan (going to a con, owning a Lincoln Enterprise catalog), what makes a trekkie
• if the celebrities look tired at their appearances, it's because fans are being bad
• bad fans equal a bad image of fans in the eyes of the bigger world

From the Essay

Okay gang, time to cut the crap. There have been FAR too many flagrant rumors going around Trekland this winter and it doesn't seem as though anybody is giving thought to ending the torrent of canards or even admitting to their existence. Now, now kiddies a little temperance would be nice you know.

The subject of dealing with the stars fairly hasn't been discussed much lately. Many people are worrying about the fans getting ripped off because a few wise old souls are actually coming to the conclusion that they're getting cheated by people who sell pure cow dang, and might even admit it to you. The actors who starred on the original Star Trek are being abused too.

The number of cons that have been clamoring for the S*T*A*R*S waving their stacks of bills has been on the rise. Most of the stars have no current worries about poverty since they have all been making rounds to the cons regularly except for Gene and Majel.

These stars don't descend from heaven on silver gilded clouds of gossamer. They are flesh and blood people. They bleed when you cut them, they fall when you trip them, and as Harlan Ellison has said, they even have to stoop when they go to the john.

Since these people are members of homosapiens both on and off stage they deserve a few simple courtesies which many wide-eyed fans unthinkingly or uncaringly disreard. We have already type-cast these people beyond repair in our fannish activities. None of them will ever be able to get an acting job without at least some mention to their work in ST. If type casting doesn't do harm-ask yourself how many roles you have seen Adam West, or Buster Crabbe star in besides their most famous series? Sure, the ST stars (STafs for short) can get other jobs but their involvement with the fan phenomena and the show's popularity have placed a very durable albatross about their necks. So maybe the cons are the only sure-fire employment for good $$.

The first courtesy we can afford them is privacy. It is estimated by some that there are 10 mi11ion fans waiting for the ST movie. If only 3% of these people can even be considered fans (say they own a LE catalog or have been to a con) then you still have a third of a million people who might have some reason to want to see a star at a convention, a speech, an autograph session at a bookstore, or wherever. With this many fans interested in the stars there are bound to be fanatic fans, real ga-ga groupies. Some people might call these people the embodiment of the "trekkie."

Even a few hundred of these fanatics is enough to disrupt the privacy of the STars. What the rest of us can do is to try to educate these frantic fen. If you have the private address of any of the STars (and there are many people who do) then keep it

to yourself. These people who simply read their lines on stage and thought little more of it at the time are now bombarded with a posthumous deification. They have seen a part of American culture that is, at least, bizarre and I'm sure that they have seen some people who are undeniably crazed silly, even by fandom's standards. Is it too much to ask that we give them a little rest? It isn't surprising that many times the STars look tired at their appearances, when I don't even know that I could keep their schedules without collapsing.

This brings me back to Leonard Nimoy. Most people know that Leonard frequently packs the, majority of his speaking engagements into a few 3-4 week traveling sessions, during which he is constantly on the move. Many times he covers a city or MORE each day. Would you be your best on a few hours sleep and suffering from jet lag? Yet, because of a few minor circumstances a flurry of Nimoy rumors have sprung up. First was the one that he and his wife had split. That is nothing new. I've heard those for years, and the same with Shatner and his wife. Keep an ear open at any con and you'll hear those...you'll also hear a few women in the ladies john and elsewhere state proudly that they have bedded them all. If the ST actors had a life like Secretariat has right now, they wouldn't need to go to conventions.

Next I hear that Leonard is hitting the bottle, and immediately to follow that one I heard he was an alcoholic and that he dropped out of AA. Uh huh. Next we get word that Leonard Nimoy is snorting cocaine and has terminal leukemia. Good God people...what next...was Leonard Nimoy a drag queen or was he a member of the SLA? I know! The mafia hired Nimoy to knock off Jimmy Hoffa and disguise the body as a jello parfait! Sheee-it!

What are you people willing to believe?

With a dozen and a half major SF films coming up in the next year (including the ST movie) the neofen will come flooding in. We'll have enough problems keeping our image stable then. Don't let these rumors get out to the general press. What would the mundane world think is we can't even respect our self-made idols? If you hear a rumor, it can stop with you. The rumors of Nimoy are absolutely absurd...can you take it for granted that any others you hear can be valid as well? Even if you have personally seen, oh-Mickey House, shooting up from a needle marked "Heroin" in flashing neon letters, your common decency should keep you from heading to the nearest world wide wire service. Com'on folks, trek fen used to be know as a peaceable, and intelligent group. Let's not let it out that a few of us don't still prize that image.