Star Trek Fans?

[litlady]

Okay, I so wanted to ask this here in case there were any casual Star Trek fans in addition to Trekkies/Trekkers. Noticed the other day on a Star Trek forum that there were a LOT of conservative/Republican Star Trek fans. I guess this suprised me. While I get that the shows/movies have fantasy appeal and have war and bureaucracy, there are so many other things you wouldn't normally associate with the right such as: intelligence(!), science and exploration, other religions that are not fundamental Christianity, other cultures, open-mindedness towards sexuality, the protagonists generally preferring peace and diplomacy over war, etc. So any fans here of Trek shows or movies? It would be nice to know if some progressives enjoyed Star Trek as well!

For those who like Trek - here is Spock talking about Barack!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JYLXVEiyFI

[Orsino]

1. Dreaming of not just a world, but many worlds, without poverty?

You bet there are progressive fans.

A forty-year-old franchise born of the Cold War, full of powerful weapons, stereotypical villains and devoid of Teh Gay? You bet there are freeper fans.

[lazyriver]

2. Not a Trekkie, but certainly a fan. I also notice how many

conservatives tend to be really into Star Trek. I think it's a release for them. They can entertain their suppressed liberal thoughts in the safety of fantasy where their friends won't call them commies for entertaining the thought of a world where everyone works not for money but for the betterment of humanity as a whole.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Major "Nexter" Here

I think, by and large, the fans break into two fundamental parts. The militarists who like the things blowing up, and the dreamers who see the value in wishing for a greater vision.

There is a spectrum of those, to be sure, but the ends of that spectrum fit that, i think.

Like any other sci-fi fan, i like the special effects and things blowing up too. But, it is the overall vision of a better future that floats my boat.

So, you can count me in as a progressive Trek fan.
The Professor

[Frank Cannon]

4. I've noticed a lot of RW sci-fi fans

It baffles me. I've even seen a lot of "Firefly" fans who view the Serenity crew as representing their oppressed Republican selves and the Alliance as the wicked liberals that control everything. Go figure that one out.

[DarkTirade]

7. There's also a disproportionate amount of asshole Libertarian types among geeks

but I think that's more because they grew up having trouble relating to people and thinking about all kinds of things that the kids they grew up with didn't give a shit about, then one day they discovered an Ayn Rand book and decided that they were better than everyone else and the rest of the world can go to hell. :P

[Chovexani]

12. GMTA, as usual.

:)

[DarkTirade]

13. Were I capable of being that much of an asshole, I'd probably be one of 'em.

I know I'm 'above average' when it comes to intelligence. And I do have trouble communicating with most people. And I'm pretty damn conceited most of the time. :) However, I'm not a selfish asshole, so I can't quite fall into that.

[Nevernose]

36. Plus, weed's cheap in a Libertarian country

Among younger Libertarians, that's the main attraction. They like to pretend it's other, more philosophical stuff, but the general appeals of Libertarianism are guns and grass.

[jpgray]

16. Hey, some people take Heinlein too seriously.

[DarkTirade]

18. Hell, Heinlein himself didn't take Heinlein too seriously.

:P He just liked throwing ideas out there and running with them, even if they didn't make sense in the long run.

[cemaphonic]

35. Plenty of RW sci-fi writers for that matter.

David Weber for one, can't go for more than about a dozen pages without some ridiculous strawman argument, usually about how a European-style Social Democratic welfare state is just a hair's breadth from the worst of Stalin and Mao's reign.

[Nevernose]

37. And his new buddy, John Ringo

Who is a fairly decent scifi author, but occasionally puts in whatever the current RW talking points are, especially about the Iraq war. Talking points which are disproven within months of the novel's release.

[Chovexani]

41. JOHN RINGO NOOOOO!

[elshiva]

39. Joss Whedon is an atheist and so is Captain Malcolm Reynolds.

How do they deal with that?

[Frank Cannon]

44. Like I said...

it baffles me.

[ikojo]

5. I have been a Trek TOS fan since I

was 10. I got my liberal politics from the show. Here was a crew from different backgrounds working for one common goal. At the time I was really into Star Trek, I didn't really pay attention to the militaristic aspects of the show. I have noticed that many science fiction fans tend to be libertarian, though.

[hamsterjill]

6. Roddenberry was a genius!

Big time fan here!!!

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

20. Roddenberry was also an atheist, socialist and secular humanist

"I condemn false prophets, I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of their free will--and a hell of a lot of money in the bargain. Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all. For most people, religion is nothing more than a substitute for a malfunctioning brain."

"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."

[hamsterjill]

23. Interesting quote...profound statement.

Thanks for teaching me something today!!!

I still think he's a genius.

I'm a Christian myself, but that doesn't mean that everyone has to be. In my opinion (contrary to James Dobson, et al), that is a personal decision.

[hunter]

8. Lots of anti-war live-and-let-live Libertarian types among them.

Not exactly the group we call "conservatives" these days.

It's a pity they identify with Republicans so often, but I suspect the Bush Administration has broken that bond with a lot of them.

[SteppingRazor]

9. Also, the Federation is a utopian socialist economy...

hardly the preferred situation for your typical right-winger, I would think.

[litlady]

30. I forgot that one, was going to include "no money" as something UFP had that Repubs didn't! nt

[Swede]

10. Live long,and prosper.

nt

[Chovexani]

11. There is a sizable number of maladjusted Libertarian assholes among fannish folk.

In fandom, there are many white hetero males for whom fantasy-sci-fi fandom/geek culture is the last place their Randian delusions are allowed to roam free, without any social ramifications or feminazis/queers/uppity colored folk/dirty hippies to call them on their bullshit and make them act right. Think Eric Cartman in an ill-fitting Green Lantern shirt.

They would be the braintrust behind things like the http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/83256">Open Source Boob Project. They love Orson Scott Card and Terry Goodkind, and hate Ursula K. LeGuin and Octavia Butler. They think White Wolf RPGs are for chicks and homos, and tend to play Warhammer and actively participate in Gor LARPs.

[DarkTirade]

14. Ironically, most of those guys look at porn on the internet...

... and Orson Scott Card is a religious fundie who thinks that porn destroys families. :)

[Chovexani]

15. lollerskates.

Logic is not strong with them, for all they claim to enshrine it.

(Also, have you noticed the way they tend to latch onto Vulcans? Ironic, considering they act like Romulans.)

[DarkTirade]

17. There are two libertarians involved in the sci-fi club on campus here

one is a nice guy who is just plain misinformed, and the other is the typical assholish type. And who honestly believes some right-wing bullshit that would set off the cognitive dissidence detectors in anyone who wasn't obsessed with justifying their selfishness. He said something that actually caused two of us to laugh at him the day I first met him, something about how the only reason Clinton did well with the budget when he was in office was because of holdover stuff from the previous administration. When I realized that he was actually serious, two of us just couldn't help it... we laughed right at him. I almost felt bad for him.

... almost. :P

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

19. Ding, ding, ding, we have a wiener.

Managed an SF/comic shop for a few years in the early 1990s. "Eric Cartman in an ill-fitting Green Lantern shirt." That's the type, exactly.

[Chovexani]

25. hehe, I used to work at one

I've also been on con staff for a few events. I know the type all too well. Thankfully they seem to be an endangered species as time goes on, though there's been a bit of a resurgence...lately they tend to be Ron Paul fanboys.

[hunter]

21. I very much enjoyed Misia's reply to them

http://misia.livejournal.com/1055120.html

"As we all know, many women long to give a swift kick in the balls to some male person or other. Yet all too often women are prohibited from doing so..."

As a side note, I'm not sure Orson Scott Card or Terry Goodkind have any balls to kick, having surrendered them quite some time ago to their demented ideologies.

[Chovexani]

24. lol

I was right in the thick of that drama and loved that suggestion too. Lord knows I've wanted to kick a few socially maladjusted boys in the nuts at cons (being a female cosplayer really sucks sometimes). As maddening as that situation was though I was really heartened by the number of people who stepped up to call bullshit. It reminded me just how many good people are left in fandom.

[rcrush]

22. I was a trekkie in the 90's

But now I'm a bitter disheartened fan thats been shit on by those two assholes that took over Berman and Braga. After Deep Space Nine (Which was the best show IMO) they pissed all over the franchise.

I can only hope that JJ Abrams brings back the former glory that was Star Trek.

All my favorite Sci Fi from the past has been raped. Lucas raped Star Wars and Indi. Star Trek has been raped.


At least they havent touch Babylon 5!

[Chovexani]

26. I'll drink to that.

:)

(And Ivanova is God. Ivanova is always right.)

[Oeditpus Rex]

27. The difference is

RWers think the Prime Directive is part of the Communist Manifesto.

[harmonicon]

28. I'm a fan

I'm not a super fan, but I like the first two shows and most of the movies. It also surprises me that fans would be Republicans... all of the people that I know who like it certainly aren't. Maybe it's just unavoidable with something so hugely popular.

[onlyadream]

29. Count me in...

I loved loved loved the Star Trek series, The Next Generation, with John Luke Picard - he was so hot, and Data (he was my favorite)! I watched the series after that one too (Voyager), which was okay, but the last series (Enterprise) was boring...

Live Long and Prosper!

[litlady]

31. What about DS9?

I agree that TNG with Picard and Data were awesome!

[onlyadream]

43. DS9 never did it for me...

I did like the Ferangae (however you spell)though, I think his name was Quark...

[buzzycrumbhunger]

32. Always loved TOS

. . . and especially Spock. Not sure if it was the ears or the brainiac stuff, 'cuz elves always did it for me, too, since that first time I read The Hobbit in about 5th grade. . . :9

[GreenPartyVoter]

33. My BIL is a RW conservative evangelical and loves trek and stargate, but he doesn't

believe in the possibility that there is more life out there than us. He says the shows are just entertaining.

[Chovexani]

42. I can understand RWers being into Stargate

After all, on the surface it's just an orgy of soldiers playing with shiny military toys.

But I don't get how an evangelical could love it, considering one of the big messages of SG-1 at least is that Gods and religion in general are a dangerous lie used to enslave the masses. In the Gateverse, Jehovah would be just another power hungry System Lord.

[petronius]

34. The radical right wing agenda of Star Trek is both overt and omni-present

All ST movies and all ST series are nothing more than far right propaganda.


:popcorn:

[Downtown Hound]

38. I've seen all the movies

And all the episodes of TOS, TNG, and DS9. I've never read the novels and I've never been to a convention. I got bored with Voyager sometime in season 4, and never even gave Enterprise a try after hearing how bad it was.

So yes, I enjoy Star Trek and would consider myself a fan, but I don't think I'm that hard core of a fan.

[InvisibleTouch]

40. I've been a Trekkie for years.

Maybe not as hard-core as I used to be, able to name every episode and novel and action figure, but still definitely with a huge fondness for the Star Trek universe and its inhabitants. I do associate Star Trek and sci-fi in general more with liberals and Dems, but I'm always a bit puzzled over the numbers of rethug sci-fi fans. It just doesn't seem to fit. But, that doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the genre.