Get A Life!

Great Debates
1

It happened again today.

I’m a Trekkie, and this morning I was discussing the upcoming series “Enterprise” with a fellow Trekkie co-worker (could T’Pol ultimately become T’Pau?) when another co-worker broke in with, "I don’t understand what you see in “that Star Wars(sic) stuff. Why do you waste time with that nonsense?”

Yeah, Yeah.

I got it from my parents.

I got it from girls I dated.

I got it from friends, acquaintences, and relatives.

Why is it that one can be a fanatic about anything else, (Sports, trading cards, auto racing) but if it involves any aspect of fantasy or Science Fiction people believe that you think this stuff is real and you are living in a dream world?

Shatner’s SNL skit involves stereotypes that people really attach to me and fellow fans (living in mother’s basement, no love life, etc.) Where the hell did this come from?

On a related note, who invented the phrase, “Get a life”? I never heard of it before the SNL skit.

2

Well, you’re about to get it from the teaming millions… but I fear not before you are beamed out of GD to IMHO or MPSIMS!

…live long and prosper.

3

This almost seems like a General Question (what is the origin of stereotype “[insert variable here]”?).

But since it deals with matters of religion, it would probably get shifted to Great Debates, eventually, anyway. :smiley:

I have no answers to either question (I’m pretty sure “Get a life” did not originate in a SNL skit), but I don’t think it’s likely that the Trekkie = conventioneer = geek sterotype developed in a vacuum.

BTW, allow me to applaud your willingness to accept the term “Trekkie,” and not insist on “Trekker,” as some crybabies have done.

Sorry. Just yanking your chain.

4

It’s my observation that people who derisively use the term “get a life!” often are obsessive/interested in something else, and use the term only when the hobby in question is something they don’t participate in. And the reason they do this is because they’re too small-minded to realize that their own hobbies are just as trivial and frivolous as whatever their target is into.

Essentially, it’s nothing more than a variation of “My god is the one true path to enlightenment, while your god is nothing but a false pagan idol” or whatever. I’ve got nothing but pity for these people, who can’t see beyond the end of their own noses.

5

I think the phrase ‘get a life’ originated from Valley Girl speak in the 80s. “uh, like…get a life!”

People think hard core Trekies are dorks because its just not that cool to know that much minutia about anything that isn’t real.

Liking ‘Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan’ is cool because it was a great movie. Knowing the crew complement of the Enterprise is a bit much.

Dressing up like a Borg (or anything else) on any day other than Halloween is not cool.

Star Trek is not real. Using it as a reference for political, sociological, or even scientific discussion lends no credability to your argument.

‘Starfleet Acadamy’ car window stickers are not clever.

With the exception of Shatner, most of the characters in the Trek shows come across as overly stiff and intellectual.

6

Die-hard Trek geek here (and msmith, I’ve done everything you listed as “uncool,” so nyeh. :stuck_out_tongue: )

I figure it’s whatever blows your skirt up. For me, it’s things Trek; for my fag hag, it’s NASCAR; for my friend Daniel, it’s Japanese anime; for some it’s guns, video games, rice rockets, cars, Martha Stewart, whatever.

If anybody comes up to you and gives you the “get a life” speech, ask them what their hobbies are and treat them derisively every time they bring it up. (If they have no hobbies, they are too boring to bother with, so don’t even bother assimilating them. :smiley: )

Esprix

7

I think the thing with Trekkies is simply that they got an unfortunate steroetype early-on that stuck.

You’re right in the sense that other people are just as and often more fanatical about other hobbies/interests but aren’t seen in as bad a light… because… I don’t know - it doesn’t make any sense.

Trying to give reasons as to why something is or isn’t “cool” and expecting them to be taken seriously is simply a joke; anyone remember highschool? What was cool changed more often than the seasons, still does, and in it’s self is based almost entirely on opinion rather than anything realistic.

Saying that Star Trek is ficional and therefore is unworthy interest in some sense is just as short-sighted as rjung pointed out. There are several CARTOONS that are hugely popular among many age and social groups - you can’t get much more fictional than a cartoon. Yet I see people posting quotes from “The Simpsons” here all the time, and we love it. The X-Files is not real, pro-wrestling is not real, and even some televised sporting events are rigged… all of these shows are popular.

I don’t see the sense in saying a concept portrayed on a particular TV show has no bearing on realtiy because the plot of the show is fictional. That’s like saying that the issues brought up on shows like “Law and Order” are meaningless and irrelevent to real-life because the actual cases are made-up by writers. A concept such as racism can be presented in a fictional episode in space just as accuratly as on a news update from L.A.; and you certainly can draw on sources that present real issues in the script written by real people and remain credible.
For more on “get a life”, see rjung’s post… that about covers it.
(Yikes, all this from a guy who doesn’t watch Star Trek himself)

8

Well, I used to date a guy (in the early 90s, well after the Shatner skit) who belonged to a Trek club, knew Trek lore, was slightly overweight, very intelligent, in his 30s, and … LIVED IN HIS MOTHER’S BASEMENT. (Why didn’t I run screaming then??? I’ll never know).

And then there was the couple (friends of a friend) who, after their Star Trek wedding, honeymooned at Worldcon and moved back into …HIS MOM’S BASEMENT.

It may be a stereotype, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t occationally true. I was involved in SF Fandom for a while, and knew others who more or less fit the stereotype. I’ve also known well employed, independent, well adjusted people who get laid who happened to be “Fen” or Trekkers.

Anyone read “Bimbo’s of the Death Sun?”

9

Hypocritical? Yes.

But it makes a sort of sense, though. Star Trek is a show written by geeks, for geeks. The heroes are often engineers or scientists, and plots often center around esoteric scientific theories. No other piece of popular culture embraces “geek culture” so willingly (with the arguable exception of the X-Files), so it’s not a terrible surprise that those who become fanatics of it get stereotyped.

I would also venture that just about anyone who is a fan of Science Fiction or Fantasy genres of fiction faces similar stereotypes. Trekkies are just easily recognizable, comparatively speaking.

10

What msmith537 said, pretty much.

One thing you have to keep in mind is not so much whether the thing you’re interested in is truth or fiction, but to what extent the people you’re with share that interest. If you don’t care much about baseball your eyes probably glaze over if someone tries to talk at length about stats, or their favorite team’s prospects for winning the pennant. So with Star Trek, most people just don’t have an interest in its trivial details.

Myself, I’ve always loved Star Trek, and am very familiar with the original series, and to a lesser extent, the movies. But I’ve come by this knowledge passively as it were, just by repetetive watching. I’ve seen every episode numerous times, and each move at least a couple of times. I’m not at all ashamed about enjoying the show, or watching
The Undiscovered Country for the umpteenth time. But it’s something in which I know the average person isn’t as interested, so I pretty much leave Star Trek at home. If the person I’m with expresses an interest in ST, then they get to learn about my video library.

The broader problem of the OP is one that has bedeviled SF
fandom since before ST existed, and probably always will. David Gerrold, who wrote the Tribble episode, wrote about this at length in his autobiography, which was not surprisingly entitled The Trouble With Tribbles. The book is out of print, but you can probably find a copy somewhere if you’re interested.

Oh, and “Trekkies” is what other people call ST fans. We call ourselves Trekkers.

11

Yes, I’m a “Trekker,” thank you!

Yeah, at the next convention, for sure. :slight_smile:

My wife and I are similarly obsessed with things medieval (not Goth, thank you), and we frequent the medieval faires, which are big in FL, and dress up in full regalia. We have a collection of period swords, daggers, heraldry, trinkets and outfits. We talk the fake olde english-speak and really get into the genre. We even had a medieval wedding. We not into SCA or other re-enactments, nor are we sticklers for historical accuracy; we just have fun.

And quite frankly, we’re “normal”, have 4 kids, and many friends, some of whom enjoy medieval things and others who don’t. We have jobs, social lives, and other interests like sci-fi/fantasy, books, cooking, camping, fishing, travel, and kinky sex. Then we have separate hobbies - I go crosseyed when she goes off on the old mustangs and muscle cars and their respective engines, as I’m trying to paint my latest acrylic masterpiece of the Mediterranean.

To anyone who sneers or snickers at our hobbies and interests, we politely tell them to kiss our asses. Variety and indulgence are things to which we are all privileged, and just because some schmuck doesn’t undertand one of them doesn’t give them the right to judge my “life,” or the supposed lack-there-of.

Those intolerant jerks are to be avoided.

12

Well, the thing to remember is that Trekkies are all big nerds. Star Wars is the way to go, baby! :smiley:

By the way… a Star Destroyer could beat the pants off the Enterprise any day of the week… and some of the days that aren’t in the week!

(Just tryin’ to keep the geekiness alive, ladies and gentlement…)

13

Except that plenty of people who are fans of Star Trek call themselves “Trekkies.” Like me, and AtomicDog, and a bunch of my friends, and my mom (who claims that since the begining of TOS it’s been “Trekkie,” and “Trekker” is nothing but a NextGen-era pretension), and these people a this lady and these guys and plenty of the others.

This is another stupid fans-big-F shibboleth, isn’t it? I don’t go to cons, so I don’t have any say as to what constitutes fandom, right? [Podkayne struggles to repress residual hostitily.]

14

javaman sez:

Except for Atomic Dog, evidently. What, is he so geeky that even other Trekkies won’t let him in on the shared knowledge? C’mon, show him the secret handshake! :smiley:

Seriously, though, the stereotype appears to have at least some basis in the behavior of some of the more … flamboyant devotees. I mean, what fan of L.A. Law goes to L.A. Law conventions at all, much less creates and maintains a Harry Hamlin costume for the purpose?

Disclaimer: while I may inwardly roll my eyes at an individual’s choice to use his or her time, energy, creativity, and resources in the pursuit of a Star Trek hobby, I don’t regard such people as geeks/nerds/(insert current term for social misfit), and I don’t admonish anyone, anywhere, to “get a life,” unless they provoke me by giving me evidence that they feel theirs will only be complete if they can get up in my face and proselytize me into sharing their passion. Oddly enough, this hardly ever happens.

And I never understood how the term “Trekkie,” which, unless I’m mistaken, was coined by Star Trek fans, came to be seen as a pejorative, such that it required replacement. That strikes me as over the top.

BTW, FTR, I never forgave Roddenberry for abandoning the noble quest to return the One True Enterprise (with Kirk) to the small screen. Of course, I preferred Adam West’s Batman to Keaton, Kilmer, and Clooney, too.

15

Well, to be fair, there may be practical reasons for this. My parents, for instance, are old-school Chinese, and their view is that the only times when it is acceptable for a child to move out of the parent’s home is when s/he (a) gets married, or (b) gets a must-take-or-starve job outside of town. My brother once brought up the idea of moving out of mom’s place and getting an apartment – which resulted in a horrendous family brawl, complete with gnashing of teeth, nonstop wailing, and a threat of being denounced if he did so. Needless to say, he didn’t move out. And it’s not that uncommon in my family, either – all of my cousins did the same thing, as did my uncles, aunts, and other known relatives.

“Living in mom’s basement” might seem silly from a Western, American-centric perspective, but in many cultures it’s the norm.

And yes, when I got married, my wife and I went on a two-week honeymoon, then went back home … to mom’s place. But that was only because it was pragmatic – we finally saved up enough money for a downpayment on a house, and will be moving into it (and away from mom) in a few weeks.

Bottom line – don’t be too quick to denounce those who stay at home as stereotypical maladjusted social losers without knowing the full circumstances of their situation.

16

I’ve probably seen just about every episode of “Star Trek,” and I’ve seen all 8 of the movies (I agree fully with the popular consensus: the odd numbered ones all stink to high heaven, and the even numbered ones are all fairly enjoyable). So, I guess that makes me a fan. Why then, do so many Star Trek fans make me CRINGE?

I guess that the minority of Trek fans (at least, I HOPE they’re the minority) who go overboard makes it embarrassing for those of us who enjoy the show and the movies, but don’t take them very seriously. I mean, I’ve never heard of “Star Wars” fans translating the Bible into Corellian or Wookie, but “Star Trek” freaks HAVE translated the Bible into Klingon. (The words, “God, why???” come to mind.)

Ask yourself this: is there ANY other TV show that inspires such mass silliness? Are there any annual conventions, where grown men dress up like Jed Clampett, Perry Mason or Starsky & Hutch?

Honestly, NONE of this would bother me if I thought it were all just silly, campy fun (like dressing up as Frank N. Furter for midnight screenings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”). But I KNOW how seriously many folks take the whole Star Trek experience.

In short, if you regard “Star Trek” as entertainment, then there’s no reason anyone should look down on you, and you don’t need to be told “Get a life” any more than “Mannix” or “Mod Squad” or “Barney Miller” fans. On the other hand, if you regard Gene Roddenberry as a prophet and visionary, you need to get out more often.

17

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by rjung *
**

rjung, I didn’t mean to sound like I was being so judgemental (ok, past boyfriend yes, Trekker newlyweds no). My point was the stereotype holds because it is true often enough to hold.

BTW the newlyweds in question were Western, and living in Mom’s basement for finacial reasons. Times were tough back before the web boom for geeks with few social skills but a mastery of C and Klingon :wink:

One of my friends lives with his Mom because Mom is divorced, he is single, they get along well, and its nicer to live with someone than by yourself. Don’t know how much Star Trek he watches though.

Congrats on the house.

Oh, and astorian a good rule of thumb for geeks, “odd numbers DOSs, even numbered Star Trek movies.” (Does anyone use DOS anymore?)

18

**

So far as auto racings goes have you not heard all those jokes about NASCAR fans? They’re all a bunch of slack jawed, redneck, idiots last I heard. The word fanatic is often thrown around so much that it has changed meaning. A fanatic is someone who takes their love of something to the extreme. Wearing your Star Trek or Dallas Cowboy t-shirt to the mall is fine. Wearing your Star Fleet Uniform or Dallas Cowboy football helmet to the mall is just plain weird.

**

Have you ever been to a Star Trek convention? If so then I am unsure how you could fail to understand where the stereotype came from. In many ways I fall into the geek category since I enjoy science fiction, I play role playing games, and I even go to conventions from time to time.

But even for me there’s a point where the fans take things a bit to far. There are Star Trek fans who take the show way to seriously. Watch that documentary Trekkies and you’ll see what I mean. Of course at a convention you can’t always tell the most obsessive people from those who just happen to enjoy the show. Wearing a costume is ok but anyone who takes time to learn how to speak Klingon has some serious problems.

I don’t know who invented it but I remember hearing it long before the skit.

Marc

19

I dunno, kinda reminds me of some gay guys I know - “I’m gay and all, but those drag queens/leather queens/effeminate guys make me sick.” Eh, who cares?

Yes - they’re called gay pride parades (or, alternately, Halloween in West Hollywood). :wink:

And this bothers you… why? I mean, really, how is your life impacted? You’d think you’d be grateful at the conventions that a few folks took the time to create a more festive environment by dressing up and enjoying the community. I’m actually saddened by the fact that costuming at the cons I regularly attend seems to be on a downturn, and I’m hoping to help to bring it back. (For the record, I own two Starfleet uniforms, one I made myself, a Psi Cop outfit from Babylon 5, a wardrobe full of Medieval and Renaissance garb (I’m SCAdian myself), and so on.)

Again, why? Fact of the matter is, he was a visionary in 60’s television - there was nothing like Star Trek on television at the time that showed racial diversity and harmony and a future full of the hope of peace. And lest we forget, he got the first interracial kiss onscreen - that’s an achievement, IMHO. And if he wasn’t, then please explain how his core idea has spawned the most successful television franchise in history? The man had to have something…

Esprix

20

Now that you mention it, there are other fictional phenoms besides ST that garner fanatic devotion, at least in terms of how far their devotees are willing to go, both literally and figuratively. I have a co-worker who used to be totally into Highlander, travelled thousands of miles to conventions, and maintained a worldwide network of e-mail acquantances on the subject. She used to talk my unwilling ears off about it, until she found out that the star was something of a jerk.

Then she moved on to Russell Crowe, and talked my ears off about Gladiator, but DAMN!! that was one hell of a good movie. And this is a middle aged, married, professional woman.