Here we go again...

[owl]

After disposing of msscribe, bad_penny now is doing Cassandra Claire and the plagiarism thing. This fandom was founded on teh crazy.

Comments

[aquarius-1977.livejournal.com]

I dunno. Star Trek has really had its moments over the years...

[leeflower.livejournal.com]

I suppose so. The impression I get is that Star Trek is just in a completely different league wank-wise though, because of their higher percentage of mentally unstable fen.

That's a generalization and perhaps an unkind one, but I'm honestly not trying to trash on the Trek fen. it's just that I've seen a lot of con wank with the trek fen, and it almost always seems to arise because one or more of the parties involved is suffering from social awkwardness brought on by any number of emotional or mental difficulties. All of fandom has a little bit of that going on, but Trek seems to get more of it (perhaps because they're one of the oldest media fandoms out there).

Their internet wank generally seems to be less, but maybe I'm just not paying attention to the right boards.

[aquarius-1977.livejournal.com]

While the media would have everyone believing that all Star Trek fans are socially inept and hygenically challenged, I'm sure most of us know differently. I don't know that Trek has a "higher percentage of mentally challenged fen," I think it's simply more visible because, as you said it's probably one of the oldest fandoms around, and because the media loves to zero in on the one spaz who likes to wear her Starfleet uniform to jury duty and perpetuate the stigma that they're *all* like that.

But that wasn't really what I was speaking of. I was referring to weirdassed drama that was generated by people who were supposed to be otherwise normal. Stalking, plagiarism, romance scandals, drunken diatribes...and that's just in the Detroit fan base.

[leeflower.livejournal.com]

well like I said, it's a generalization. Most of it that I know of isn't what I've seen on tv, but what I've seen at cons. And of course the vast majority of the fandom is perfectly normal and well-adjusted... it's just that one socially-awkward crazy person can generate two buttloads of wank. Maybe it's just that Trek fen are nicer to their crazies. Some fandoms just mock them until they go away, but Trek seems to at least make an effort to accomodate them. Which is laudable, if you ask me. It's far kinder and more compassionate to try to recognize the redeeming qualities in difficult people than to simply shun them.

But yeah, like I said... I'm not paying attention to the right lists to pick up the normal trek-wank. If it doesn't show up on Wil Wheaton's blog, I probably won't hear about it.

[aquarius-1977.livejournal.com]

Most Star Trek fans feel that their fandom is based on tolerance and acceptance, because of the way Roddenberry pushed social boundaries in the 60's. Looking back from our perch here in the new millennium, the original series still has its problems--objectification of women, cowboy diplomacy that seems to conflict with the show's message of peace and tolerance--but I think subsequent series and even the films do a good job of explaining how Kirk was in the middle of times that were changing in a big way and that there were a lot of adjustments being made.

That said, that message of equality and tolerance spills out into the fandom. Human nature dictates that it doesn't always work, but for the most part they try. They are probably the most united group of fans the world has ever seen since the first letter-writing campaign to NBC that saved the show in 1967. Fans, cast members, and production people alike all say that the one recurring thing in the fandom is the sense of belonging it creates. So maybe Trek does attract more of the "mentally unstable" element because heaven knows they probably haven't gotten much acceptance anywhere else, or perhaps it's as you said and there is a social consience of sorts within the fandom that won't allow them to be run off.

Either way, I've been going to Star Trek conventions since the late 80's, and yes, it does attract a colorful crowd, but I've also been to multifandom cons and I haven't really seen much evidence that the other fandoms have any more "normal" of a fan base. In any situation, most fans are mostly harmless, and if you don't bother them, they won't bother you.

[(Anonymous)]

There's a man confined to a wheelchair who comes to Balticon every year dressed as a klingon, and his costume is really awesome. A lot of work clearly went into its creation, and I can't help stare every time I see him. I'm a big costume nerd, so I'm always like "oh that is so awesome!" (Klingons are the best people to get make-up advice from... especially when prosthetics get involved).

This one time I saw him, I was going down the hall in the opposite direction from him, and some other guy going the same direction as me cracked some wiseass comment as soon as he thought he was out of hearing distance about how the guy would have to kill himself if he was a 'real' klingon, and that it was really pathetic blah blah blah. Fortunately, he was passing right by someone in a starfleet uniform when he said it, and they ripped him a new one before I had a chance. I shook their hand later and thanked them for looking after their fellow fen, and they were basically like "that's just the way Trek fen do things." I thought that was really sweet. I'd like to think that my fellow Star Wars and Firefly fen would defend their own that way, and probably a lot of them would, but just as many of them would tolerate that sort of asshatery without comment (and I can think of a few who might start it themselves).

[leeflower.livejournal.com]

oops... sorry, that was me. Forgot to log in >_<.