The Name and The Destiny
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| Title: | The Name and The Destiny |
| Creator: | Shelden Ranz |
| Date(s): | 1978 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Wars |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Name and The Destiny is a 1978 Star Trek: TOS essay by Sheldon Ranz.
It was printed in Tetrumbriant #14.
The essay is about Star Trek's visibility in popular culture, specifically the term "Trekkie."
Some Topics Discussed
- a stupid, racist definition of a made-up word: "trekkienosis"
- Trekkie as a term that is lazy and not dignified
- the geek hierarchy
- includes an early use of fans/fandom and social justice
From the Essay
STAR TREK fans have been putting up with lots of garbage — we're becoming junkyard connoisseurs! Every year brings glad tidings and new troubles, yet such matters can come and go with relative ease.
There is one matter that has come and stayed. It has refused to dislodge itself, like a stubborn, parasitic leech. In a real sense, it is sucking us dry. It is an issue that is only resurfacing in various fanzines, perhaps indirectly as a result of ROOTS. It is called "Trekkienosis".
On a certain page (that shall remain numberless) in the 23rd century Terran edition of the LEXICON INTERGALACTICA,one may come across this definition:
- trekkienosis (trek-e-no'-sis) noun: 1). (medical-obsolete), a disease peculiar to fans
of an acclaimed 20th-century science fiction video classic, esp. those of the Israelite persuation, [sic] usually as a result of consuming uncooked pork sometimes manefesting [sic] a belief that Vulcans are descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, see: a david-gerrold, 2) (psycho-historical), an attitude, peculiar to close-minded skeptics, toward people enflamed [sic] by certain ideals in an age of cynicism, resulting in equating with and subsequent labeling of such idealists as extremist idol-worshippers. }}
It is the secondary definition of trekkienosis that is really important. Trekkienosis has been a problem with us STAR TREK fans, that has been imposed on us by a misunderstanding media and self-appointed "intelligentsia". How many times have we been stamped as "trekkies"? Ah, but let me count the ways.
When a Chauncey Howell or Marvin Scott tell their respective Channel 4 and 5 audiences that "...Trekkies invaded the Statler Hilton this fine January weekend," their words, every one of them, and their every label are taken as gospel truth by the unknowing public. Hence, fans seem to be stuck with the title "trekkies" and are referred to as such by every John Doe in the country.
"Trekkie", being in the diminutive form, is like "kiddie" or"groupie". Yet, is Issac Asimov a "trekkie", is Theodore Sturgeon? Was Rod Serling a "guru" in a "Trekkie cult"? When the question is worded thus, the answer is obviously no.
"Trekkie" implies something along the lines of "moonie", a religious fanatic who is brainwashed into seeing that a "money-hungry" entrepreneur is Christ Incarnate! While it is obviously not well that there are minor numbers of fans who have no thing better to do than to drool at Spock's every nuance, the majority of us do adore the show but can maintain at least the semblence [sic] of an objective perspective. Hence, the media insults the majority by equating them with the off-the-wall minority.
"Trekkie", in short, is an outrageous, deragatory [sic] insult (would that a 65 year old lady, also a STAR TREK fan, hit a TV re porter with her purse for calling her a "Trekkie"). It's a word that Archie Bunker would use, not unlike other words in that man's amazing vocabulary of ethnic insults like "polack", "hebe", "mick", "darkie", ad nauseum.
In these times of ROOTS, perhaps all STAR TREK fans should examine themselves and think about why they like the show, what specific elements in the show are attractive to them, and why, and, why they go to such lengths to show their love for a "mere" TV show. Regardless of the results of such a self evaluations, we should all be more proud of STAR TREK and ourselves than ever before. Perhaps we might want to become more socially active and try to change the ills of society from within towards a badly-needed goal of social justice... who knows our destiny (as a group)?
In any event, as we emerge prouder, we must also be proud of our name. "Trekkie" is, logically intolerable. Trekker is far more dignified for the over twenty-five million STAR TREK fans in the United States [1] and it rhymes with such words as mover, shaker, builder.
References
- ^ The editor of the zine this essay appears in adds "We cannot vouch for the accuracy of this number."