Trekkies (1997)

(On TV, June 2002) As a reformed trekkie, it was both sad and embarrassing to watch a full-length documentary (developed and hosted by Trek actress Denise Crosby herself) about the length to which some Trek fans will go in order to express their admiration for everything related to the show. Some of the trekkies featured in the program exhibit real talent (like the teenage computer-graphic whiz, which whom I identified rather strongly) but others… well… need something. Obsessing over Brent Spiner like that can’t be good. There is a circus-like atmosphere in Trekkies that never quite goes away, sort of a freak parade one step short of showing a car accident in progress. What is it about a Star Trek fascination that makes it so compelling for civilians? Five years after the film’s initial release, though, the question pops up; where are these people now? Are they still so inspired by a fictional mythology? Would a sequel be ninety, or fifteen minutes long? And how lucky am I not to have been consumed by full-blown Trek fetishism once I got out of my own teenage years?