How could you not have known that?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was in a comic book store today. Like many stores it sells all kinds of nerdrobilia - SF books, posters, collectible action figures, RPG games, models, etc. The guy who runs the store is also the owner and he’s a typical owner for this type of store.

The reason I mention this is because I was looking at the models and I decided to buy a model of the Galaxy Quest Protector that I hadn’t seen before. As he was checking it out, the guy said “I decided to pick this up a while back. It looked good even though I don’t know what it’s from.”

I nodded to the large logo on the box and said “Well, it’s from Galaxy Quest.”

“Oh, is that the name of the series? I never heard of it.”
“No, it was a movie… You never heard of it?”
“Nope.”
“It had Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver…”
“So it was like an adventure movie?”
“No, it was a comedy…”

It was clear it hadn’t just slipped his mind or that he hadn’t seen it - he really had never heard of the movie Galaxy Quest. Now there’s probably plenty of people who have never heard of that movie. But this was a guy surrounded by racks of SF movie stuff - the stuff that he has devoted his life to. How could he have a gap like that?

2

Well, the reason camp and cult flicks are called that is because they tend to have a fairly narrow subset of people who really like or get them; I am pretty sure I’ve only seen parts of Galaxy Quest myself, definitely couldn’t quote from it or anything.

Anyway, he’s probably got the store going to support HIS camp/cult fetish, and it likely includes things you’ve never heard of, either. Hell, I cannot keep track of all the KINDS of anime there are now, much the less what they are.

He’s probably genuinely never had anyone ask him about it, and he’s probably genuinely never run into it, or it didn’t catch his attention if it did.

Also, we have the internet now; it seems we learn less from what’s around us and concentrate more on what we already know we like outside the net, 'cause we can always look UP something if we want to know about it. And having that kind of easy info also makes it kind of easy to forget, if it isn’t your gig.

Them’s my thoughts, anyhoo.

3

I’m a big sci fi nerd, including (almost) all things Star Trek, and I haven’t watched the Deep Space Nine series. It just didn’t catch my attention when it was on originally (I’d watch it now, though). We all have gaps in our geekitude.

4

But you know OF it, Cat Whisperer. That’s the point it seems the OP was making. It kind of boggles my mind too.

I can understand not having seen the movie, or only having seen snippets of it. But to be a geekstore operator and to have no clue whatsoever that it even existed? That’s a bit odd.

5

But you’re aware of Deep Space Nine.

6

I do know OF DS9, but if you started talking to me about the characters, I’d probably glaze over. Nobody can have perfect knowledge of any genre.

7

But that’s the whole point Little Nemo is making. He wasn’t gobsmacked the guy wasn’t familiar with an obscure quote or couldn’t name all the characters off by heart. He didn’t even know the title of the film, or that it was a film. And it’s not exactly an obscure film as Sci-Fi films go. Had the guy gone “Yeah, I’ve heard of it but never seen it” this wouldn’t even be a thread.

8

I think you might entertain the possibility that he never got past Tim Allen back in '99, put it out of his head altogether, and hadn’t had the occasion to speak of it since then, despite being surrounded by sci fi geeks. Probably his eyes wandered over the cover many, many times in video stores since then and just… slipped over. This is a natural and understandable phenomenon. He may have just tucked it entirely into the oubliett, title and all. Not deliberately, but perhaps reflexively.

For many sufferers, this sort of defensive aversion is a necessary coping mechanism for life in the brutal and senseless sort of universe in which Tim Allen occasionally appears in films.

9

I’m not a hardcore sci-fi fan but I do like sci-fi and I’ve never heard of that movie either.

10

Really? It’s like the perfect movie to watch if you are with a group of people who enjoy things like Star Trek TOS.

11

I don’t think that I’ve ever heard of it either…but I’m not much into screened SF. I tend to regard much of what passes as SF/fantasy on the big and little screens to be so much drek. Earlier tonight, my husband was watching and enjoying a movie about Giant Tarantulas Terrorizing the Town. I glanced at it, and thought “low budget nonsense with extreme ignorance” and went back to playing Fallout.

I wouldn’t say that I’m hard-core, exactly, but I’m a lot more familiar with print SF/fantasy than most people.

12

“I know! You’ll need to make a weapon. Look around you – can you construct some sort of rudimentary lathe?”

It was a pretty big comedy in 1999… but perhaps overshadowed by The Matrix.

13

Then you might enjoy a movie that makes fun of all that, right?

14

I’ve never heard of it but I did watch Lost in Space. (Danger Will Robinson!)

This thread has taught me to look sideways at a few posters here. :slight_smile:

15

Exactly. I’m not big into SF at all. But I know of Galaxy Quest. I’ve never watched a ST:TOS movie, but I’ve watched Galaxy Quest several times.

Maybe cmyk is on to something. Perhaps true SF geeks were to entranced by The Matrix to notice any other movie in 1999.

16

By Grabthar’s Hammer, what a savings.

17

It was an historical document. Like Gilligan’s Island (those poor people).

18

Well, I hope the OP encouraged the guy to watch it at the earliest opportunity. It’s quite a funny movie, especially considering the presence of Tim Allen.

The bit where they first leave the spacedock absolutely kills me. ssssskkrrrrrreeeEEEEEEEEEEE…

19

To be fair - Tim Allen’s portrayal of a washed up, self absorbed actor appeared spot on to me.

20

I might. It depends on how well it’s done. Given that I now know that Tim Allen is in it, though, I’d probably stop watching when he appeared.