Being Judged for Liking "Star Trek"

I have been trying to drum up interest in my blog and am finding ways to promote it.  I am talking with friends, acquaintances and co-workers and I get one of two reactions - either "Cool, I"ll check it out" or "Star Trek?  Are you a nerd?  Are you kidding me?"  To the first, I give out the blog address, and to the second, I question them a bit more.  Why the negative reaction to a Star Trek reference?  Usually the answer is that Trek is for geeks and nerds and they aren't interested in being called either.  Rarely do I find that the person has actually WATCHED Star Trek to reach this conclusion.  I love William Shatner, I really do, but I think his whole "Get a life!" joke has tainted Trek's reputation.  That makes me kind of sad, because the detractors don't know what they are missing.  I also find that the younger generations, the 20's and teens, are completely oblivious to any Trek but the reboot universe.  That adds a whole different viewpoint to the conversation!  I think this is part of the frustration of older Trek fans, those who are annoyed or angered at the reboot universe for leaving classic Trek behind.  Well, with all things, it will play out as it will.


This summer I have been getting involved in more social media.  I had a LOT of time to do nothing.  Therefore I started this blog AND I jumped into Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest.  I like each for different reasons.  Twitter I like because I get a small dose of dozens of people I find interesting or amusing. I love Pinterest, however, and think it may be my favorite  As a scrapbooker, I find the two very similar.  I like grabbing interesting ideas and projects and organizing them for easy reference.  For instance, I find photos I might use on my blog or recipes I would like to try.  As my blog is all about words, my Pinterest account is all about visuals.  Sometimes I feel guilty for having my Pinterest bulletin boards on Trek actors since I don't like to objectify people - but it's soooo tempting when those gorgeous pictures pop up :)  Tumblr I like because it's more interactive and creative.  However, it is also sometimes frustrating because you never quite know what is going to end up on your dashboard.  I follow several dozen posters who post all kinds of stuff.


I found this quote on a Tumbler site.  I am not sure who wrote it (and if you know please tell me so I can credit them, I found it at the Tumbler account "pineism" on one of my searches for material).  I find it appropriate to this post - being judged for liking Star Trek.  I am posting the paragraph (if you can call it that) in it's entirety, as I have no idea how I would link to it.  

"it’s funny when people judge you for loving star trek because it’s seriously like “oh haha you like that one space show that’s been around for almost 60 years with all these spinoffs and is all about science and exploration and the best parts of humanity beating the worst parts. oh and it promotes tolerance and acceptance and deals with social issues that everything else avoids or before they even exist. and it’s all about how being smart and brave and kind is amazing and we should strive for that over brute strength and war is something to be avoided. hahaha nerd you’re so lame for loving that show that (has) become a worldwide cultural phenomena and inspired millions of people to strive to live better and go further in life.”

So call me crazy for liking Star Trek, but for the most part, I see a positive vision of the future being portrayed.  With the plethora of shows and movies about zombies and apocalyptic futures, I find it encouraging.  Even if those ARE in our future, surely there are pockets of us who will strive to maintain and keep those values and ethics that will pertain to the betterment of humanity.  

I will be writing on the ethics of Star Trek more in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned. Thanks for reading!