This morning, one of my friends tweeted "WHERE IS THE LOVE?". He tagged a few people and asked to retweet for solidarity. I gave it a retweet, but it also got me thinking. Where IS the love? My love? The love I had for this franchise? The love I had for Star Trek?
I remember that about five years ago, I was an ardent Trek fan. An episode of TNG or DS9 would be my comfort food. No matter how bad I felt, I could always count on Star Trek to make me feel better...
...and then, Star Trek Discovery happened.
While season one was terrible, I didn't say much about it online at the time. I was just disappointed at how bad it was. However, when season two premiered, I got heavily spammed with season two ads on both Facebook and Twitter. I knew algorithms try to show you stuff that you'll like, so I figured writing a few negative responses about the first season would give the algorithm the hint that I don't want to see this (turns out I know nothing about algorithms). Nothing too harsh, just stuff like "first season doesn't follow Trek lore" or "The new Klingon design is terrible". What I didn't realize is that I would receive a lot of pushback on these comments.
As a person who likes a good debate, I responded. Suddenly I was getting bombarded with hate. I got everything from name calls to accusations from people who really liked the show, and didn't really care about it not following canon or not being well written. I specifically remember a point where someone I was debating on Facebook checked my profile, saw that I had kids and then started using their names to try and upset me. I responded with Avengers Endgame spoilers and he blocked me. It was at that point where I said to myself, "I don't need to take this shit".
So I got louder. I got proactive and I became the Jack Beers that people know me as: A stark defender of Classic Star Trek - The Star Trek that I fell in love with. Could I be aggressive? At times, yes. I sometimes tried to match the aggressiveness of who I debated with and eventually learned that it wasn't very helpful in getting my message across and so I learned to try and channel my inner Picard: The diplomat. I also tried to follow a few simple rules: Don't name call, and stick to the message. These people are still human after all. Still, I'd like to think of myself as no push over.
There were times I would debate someone and they would tell me to "stop listening to Doomcock", and at first I chuckled and would ask, "what's a doomcock?". Eventually I looked him up and listening to him rant about how terrible Star Trek Discovery was felt like a breath of fresh air. He was able to put into words things that I couldn't. He earned my subscription that night. I had already discovered Nerdrotic during season one, back when he had only about 300 subscribers. Soon I discovered Midnights Edge, Mecharandom and others.
Suddenly, I wasn't alone. I was one of many people who were dissatisfied with the writing and aesthetics of the show and spoke up about it. People read my articles and followed me on Twitter. Gary and Doomcock began referencing me in their videos and live streams. My goal was simple. Call out what was bad about the show in hopes that the creators would take the criticism and make a better product.
When Picard came out, I had high hopes for it, but it was just as disappointing. I tweeted about it. I started taking screenshots of moments when the lens flare would completely cover up the screen and post it with a comment like "god damn lens flares" or "check out this fine cinematography here". All you saw was a bright flash. I was trying to have fun with my criticisms.
One of the largest offenses was when they used an obvious 3D printer as a replicator. They didn't even try to dress it up. It felt lazy.
Season two wasn't any better. Most of it took place in modern day Los Angeles. They eventually announced that season three would be the last season of Picard. They then announced that the cast of TNG would reprise their roles. Back in February of this year, I saw a tweet from Terry Matalas, who was the show runner for seasons two and the upcoming third season of Picard. It featured a picture of a replicator used for season three and to my pleasant surprise, it actually looked like a traditional replicator.
I took it as a minor victory. I retweeted it, and gave what I like to call a "rare complement". I was beginning to believe that maybe - just maybe - they could actually produce something somewhat decent for season three. Maybe these creators WERE finally listening to the fans.
Minor typo, I meant to say season 3, not 2, but Twitter doesn't let you edit.
About fifteen minutes later, I had checked my notifications again to learn that Terry had blocked me. I was a little confused, since I didn't attack him or talk negatively about the replicator he tweeted. I figured maybe the 3D printer was his idea? I didn't know. I chocked it up to a misunderstanding and a knee-jerk response on his part. Eventually I learned that he had blocked many people who follow me on Twitter as well.
Fast forward to October, I began noticing Robert Meyer Burnett tweeting positive reactions to an early viewing of season three. Of course he's free to feel how he wants, but at one point he talked about how Terry seemed to be "listening to fans" and I responded by asking how is he listening to them when he blocks them. It didn't take long for Terry to respond to my tweets. Mind you, he still had me blocked and proceeded to call me a dick behind this block, presumably thinking I wouldn't see it and if I did, I couldn't respond.
I thought, now would be the time to manifest my inner Picard and so first I asked a follower of mine to let Terry know that he may have misinterpreted that earlier tweet about the replicators, to which he responded to him by asking, "are you sure that's why I blocked him?" I eventually went on an alternate account, told him who I was and tried to just talk to him. He responded flippantly and pretended he didn't know what I was talking about and told me that I wasn't blocked (on that alternate account).
My fiancé also tried to talk to him. He was nice to her at first, congratulating her on the wedding. However in a later thread, when I was debating someone about how much influence Trek has lost, Terry decided to interject.
She wasn't even on the thread - he tagged her in - so I found it a bit creepy and totally disrespectful. After she responded to him, saying that I was free to do as I pleased, he blocked her too. I wasn't very shocked that the guy show running Picard would be absolutely inept when it came to issues of diplomacy, just disappointed that my fiancé had been dragged into this mess.
Then in November, my fiancé and I got a DM from a YouTuber that we know. In it they told us that they were having trouble getting Trek creators on their channel to interview because of the channel's association with me. I asked if one of those creators was Terry Matalas and they responded affirmatively. It was at this point where I started to feel like Terry was taking this to a personal level. I mean, I've had plenty of trolls before, but never a famous one.
It actually hurt. It hurt that my friends and my fiancé were being affected by this. It hurt that I couldn't fix it. I didn't know what else to do, so in the interest of protecting my friends, I decided to back off of Trek and try to focus on other things. I was just going to walk away.
It's now December 2022. Late on the 9th, I got tagged into a thread about Terry. Turns out Terry had decided to call one of my followers "stupid" and an "incel" after she criticized Worf's new look. Just like that, I got dragged back in. It was childish and unprofessional and I said as much. He called this follower of mine stupid three times and I was wondering if he was drunk or something. It angered Doomcock and he tweeted about it. Much discussion was had.
I remember when I first started talking about Trek, I was accused of being a "toxic fan". So what the heck do we call this?
The rumor is that if season three is successful, Terry could possibly take over for Alex Kurtzman(the term "TerryTrek" comes from this idea). Some of my friends want to give Terry a chance because they think this third season will be different and if he takes over, he could improve the quality of NuTrek. That's fine, however some of them hoped that Terry and I would make up and I would end up supporting him. After what he's done, I have too much self-respect to do that. I don't hate the man - he's not my enemy - I just can't support him. I don't even care about whether season three will be good anymore. It could be the blockbuster that reignites the franchise, but after this I just don't care anymore. I just wanted peace.
The next morning, after Terry's seemingly drunk tweets to my friend, I found myself unblocked by him. No explanation, just quietly unblocked. I asked my fiancé if he had unblocked her too and it turns out he did. Still, I'm doubtful if he's actually learned anything. I could take it as an olive branch, but I simply don't trust him after this.
When my friend posted that "where is the love" tweet this morning, he tagged Terry and I among others. I retweeted it. Terry did not. After retweeting it, I thought about my favorite episodes and about the time I got to see Kevin Smith host a panel with William Shatner, Scott Backula, and Avery Brooks about being Star Trek captains. They used to make me smile when I thought of them. I used to love talking about Trek, whether good or bad.
Now, I just don't know anymore. All I feel now is indifference to both NuTrek and even Classic Trek. I hope that love for the classics returns. I just never thought I'd get into some weird internet feud with a creator or how it would change the way I feel I felt about the entirety of Star Trek.
Because if he gets his way and takes Alex Kurtzman's place, that's what he and his behavior will represent: The entirety of Star Trek.
P.S. Shout out to Dave Blass, production designer for Picard, who has always been respectful to me.
Update: As of 01/04/2023, I was looking at a thread between RMB and Doomcock that had Terry tagged in it, when I noticed that Terry blocked me again. I assume it's for this exchange of me telling someone that Doomcock doesn't complain about black women. It wasn't even directed at Terry. He must have seen that as "rude". *eye roll* *shrug*
He also re-blocked my fiancé, even though she said nothing to him since he unblocked her. Dude needs to grow a thicker skin.
He also re-blocked my fiancé, even though she said nothing to him since he unblocked her. Dude needs to grow a thicker skin.
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