Art Fusco
  • Home
  • Scribe's Journal
    • NCPD History
    • Before First Contact
    • Frank Kimball
    • Local Newspaper Clippings
    • Kevin Smith

Strange New Fans: The hostility of nu-Trek fans

5/23/2020

11 Comments

 
Picture

Adopting a philosophy

​When I first watched Star Trek as a child, I watched it alone in my living room. My father didn't watch a lot of TV and my mother was more into Spanish novellas and horror. I'd flip between Nickelodeon and Fox Channel 6, enjoying the shows but never realizing how long I would follow some of these shows.
​When I first watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, I was a little confused at where Kirk and Spock were, as I had seen the movies first. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching these characters interact with each other. As I got older, my favorite character shifted from Worf to Data to Picard. I also found a couple of friends who also enjoyed Star Trek. They introduced me to DS9 and Voyager. 
As I became a young adult, I began to take Trek more seriously. I started looking up words I didn't understand, like "sophistry" or resting on one's "laurels". I started analyzing some of the science around the technobabble. I would ask myself "what's a neutrino?" and by then I was able to look it up online. I also began analyzing Picard himself. I liked his philosophy, which was perfectly encapsulated at the end of The Neutral Zone where Ralph Offenhouse asks Picard what the challenge of life is, if all of his money and friends are gone: 
​"The challenge, Mr. Offenhouse, is to improve yourself - to enrich yourself. Enjoy it."
​He talks about it again when he tries to convince his clone, Shinzon, to change his ways:
​"Very deep within you, beneath all the years of pain and anger there is something that has never been nurtured. The potential to make yourself a better man and that is what it is to be human - to make yourself more than you are."
​It took me a while to figure out, but I adopted this philosophy. The idea that one can learn to become a better person through reflection and constant self improvement. Self improvement has been apart of Trek since the original series and it often goes hand in hand with open-mindedness and doing what is right. 

The rejection of Picard's philosophy 

​Unfortunately, that philosophy was scrapped in 2009 in preference of more action and even when they brought Jean-Luc Picard back in 2020, he had ceased to self improve and had spent the last x amount of years wallowing in his own self pity, like Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi. It was so disappointing. The writing for Star Trek Picard, as well as Star Trek Discovery take on a different philosophy. What that philosophy is, I don't exactly know, except to say it's a lot more negative and hostile to the older generation of fans who have noticed the change in Trek. 
​I've already documented my initial experience with fans of Star Trek Discovery on another blog, where the son of a former Trek cast-member threatened a YouTuber and her viewers with physical violence for criticizing the show. Instead of telling the man giving out threats to chill, Discovery fans justified the threats with lies about what this YouTuber has said in the past, which they couldn't back up when asked to.
​Since I started writing these blogs and openly talking about new Trek on Twitter, I've encountered people who simply do not understand the concepts of self improvement, open-mindedness, or doing what is right. They think rewriting Trek history is self improvement, when it's not. They think open-mindedness is accepting inferior writing and dialogue, and if you look at some of these comments I've documented over the last two years, I think we can conclude that new Trek fans certainly don't know how to do what is right. I've covered up the names because some of them didn't like me using their tweets as examples: 
Picture
Picture
Picture

I mean, would Picard ever tell someone to "stop being a nitpicky little bitch", or threaten to clone the profiles of minors if someone disagreed with him? Of course not. He would attempt to open dialogue with them. He would try to understand their point of view, while attempting to convey his. He would be the diplomat he was trained to be. So when I encounter these type of people, I try and channel my inner Picard and make an attempt to open dialogue. I will explain what I don't like about the shows and refrain from making personal attacks. Unfortunately, the courtesy is normally not returned:
Picture
Picture
"Shaka, when the walls fell" Note: I barely know Mecharandom42 other than I watch her YT channel and we occasionally agree about Trek on Twitter.

So he basically accused me, Mecharandom42, and the Midnight Edge guys of attacking people for promoting equality and diversity. He didn't look me up obviously, because he would have been embarrassed to learn that I'm politically a liberal. Before I could respond by asking for examples of these accusations, he blocked me. He continues to send this type of stuff to others. People like this don't actually want to know why you don't like these shows, they just want to attack others and name-call. It's very immature and anti-intellectual for what used to be such and intelligent fan-base. 
I am often asked why I even bother talking to these people. It's because I feel like there is always something to learn from a different point of view. However, when I get messages like this, even I ask myself that same question. 
​Not all new Trek fans are like this - just the majority that I've encountered. I've had wonderful adult conversations with about two or three YouTubers who are fans of the new shows, and we seem to get along, but even some of them will slip up and make videos making fun of or trying to discredit other YouTubers who dislike the show. It's so un-Star Trek like. All of this hostility is unStar Trek like. 

The projection of hate

So how do these guys get away with acting like this and pretending people like me are the hostile ones? For one thing, I've noticed they like to use buzzwords. For instance, even though we otherwise love the Star Trek franchise, because we do not like the Discovery or Picard shows, we're often referred to as "haters". Because I love the franchise, but don't care for the recent shows, I don't see myself as a hater, but as a critic who is generally heart-broken over the way CBS and Secret Hideout have abandoned the original spirit of Trek. 
Picture
Picture
Picture

"Gatekeeper" is another buzzword I often get called. ​According to one of the people who called me that, it's "When someone takes it upon themselves to decide who does or does not have access or rights to a community or identity". If Star Trek was a gate, CBS holds the keys and so if you want to be technical, they would actually be the gatekeepers. I'm simply a fan of Trek expressing my opinions. 
The more I tried to talk to people, the more I began to see the same patterns repeat over and over, especially when it came to repeating things they had no proof of. I was accused of everything from being a racist to attacking the actors and many today still believe those things about me. 
Picture

It doesn't help that even the actors act unnecessarily hostile to us, which normally opens a floodgate of hate: 
Picture
Blocked me.
Picture
Blocked me.
Picture
Will probably block me now.

Ultimately, I feel as though a lot of this hostility is projection. They have a bucket of paint in their head labeled "hater" or "gatekeeper" that they slather all over your image the moment they feel like they have to defend the shows. In reality, I think they see the same problems we do but ignore them, yet can't defend them in a discussion. So they shift from the subject matter, to our personal motivations. They call us haters because they hate our opinions. They call us gatekeepers because they hate our opinions so much, they're willing to ostracize life-long fans of the franchise from their feeds or pages over it.
Allow me to provide a most recent example of this. April 1st is April Fools and for April Fools, this one Star Trek group  on facebook changed their name to "Pee-Wee's Playhouse sh1tposting". They couldn't change their name for a month and because I like both Star Trek and Pee-wee's Playhouse, I joined the group. One day I got booted from the group. Don't know why because I was never notified of the reason. I figured I must have upset someone. I did decide to rejoin the group in case it was a mistake and they accepted me back. About a week later or so, the following exchange occurred: 
"Shaka, when the walls fell​"

I did want to say to the person who posted last that, yes: I screenshot the entire conversation, but not to brag, but because this is how I cover my own ass. I didn't violate any rules, they just pitchforked and torched me out of the group for simply having a point of view and then rested on their laurels. They made the same baseless accusations as others have and refused to even discuss the issue because in their minds, they were already right. I felt like I kinda got through to the first admin who called me a hater, and then the second admin came in and proved I wasn't just speaking sophistry. 
Here are some other examples of new Trek fans acting unTrek like:
Picture
He took my tweet to mean that I myself was not progressive, then went on some rant about how Star Trek wasn't for me, lol!
Picture
He called her a racist because she used the word "cuck". Seeing as that's an actual word, that's a pretty big jump to make.
Picture
She tells people not to bully others while a month before, she was spreading false rumors about Mecharandom42. That's also a form of bullying.
I wont even get into the hate Anas Abdin got over his Tardigrades lawsuit. It was disgusting. 
I'm often asked why I even bother trying to talk to these people - There is another reason. Going back to Picard's philosophy: Besides self improvement, open-mindedness and doing what is right, Picard also held a lot of hope and optimism in his intentions. I may no longer consider myself a "trekkie" anymore, but the same hope that Star Trek once gave me still lives and even though human nature rarely changes, I can tell you that individual people do change. 

P.S. 
To the person whose comments I keep deleting on my other blogs, if you wish to have an actual discussion with me, you might want to start by staying on topic of the post and by not posing as my minor children. Just some friendly advice. :) 
Picture

11 Comments
C_Marb
5/25/2020 04:41:39 am

What I find truly ironic are those who resort to personal attacks, profanity and juvenile name-calling towards people who simply have a different opinion than they do about a TV series, while their profiles claim they are against those very behaviors. Isn't that the truest definition of hypocrisy?

Reply
Justin
5/25/2020 09:18:52 am

What I find ironic is your side labels us drekies sends death threats to actors and star trek group admins on Facebook when you get put in your place. But we call your bullshit and WE Are the problem nice.

Reply
Morgan Freeman
5/25/2020 09:38:40 am

Narrating: "Little did Justin realize that he was raging over misinformation that he continued to spread, and had absolutely no idea about what he was talking about..."

DarthTimon link
5/25/2020 10:19:32 am

Much of what you describe is unfortunate behaviour, abhorrent behaviour from any Trekkie - though we are all only human and and we're certainly not at the level of enlightenment that Trek shows offer us. I would however point out that it's not a one-way street - far from it. There have been acts of a similar nature from the gatekeepers, arrogance, name-calling, threats, even overt misogyny. There is no 'high ground' here.

Could fans of the new shows (many of whom are lifelong fans of previous Trek, despite what others may claim) do with developing a thicker skin in respect of criticism? Certainly. That doesn't mean they should have to tolerate insults, nor should they have to accept having their fandom questioned, simply for enjoying something someone else doesn't like, yet this happens frequently.

Equally, the gatekeepers need to accept that spreading false information (aka lying) about cancellations and problems makes them look churlish. They've contributed to this 'us versus them' mentality with an elitist stance.

Reply
Darth Fusco
5/28/2020 07:02:00 am

This pud art pretends to be above the internet rabble, but he was actively posting Avengers Endgame spoilers whenever his fee-fees were hurt/ just being disagreed with by new Trek fans, completely disregarding who else might see the posts. He's garbage and I will never stop letting him know. Maybe CPS should be called on his treatment of those minor children he claims to care about. He's probably a shitty dad who abuses them whenever they talk back to him. Get your house in order, then worry about fictional characters.

Reply
DarthTimon link
5/28/2020 07:07:08 am

If your comment is aimed at persuading the original poster he is wrong in his attitude towards fans of DSC and PIC, it is going to fall very short. I have little tolerance for gatekeepers, but this does not mean that I would go after their parenting skills, and accusing him of abusing his kids is a very low act.

Slartibartfaster
5/25/2020 10:24:37 am

A shit show is a shitshow and by any other name would smell as sour. I don't like Discovery, though the first season showed promise. I found shoehorning Burnham into the life of Spock distasteful, but by the second season I was overwhelmed by how stupid, and egregiously lazy it was to make her Spock's sister. A sister never mentioned in previous Trek of course. So I bailed at the start of the second season. I had no desire to watch a character I loved dragged through the mud in order to enhance a character I had no feelings about what so ever. I began to hate Michael and what the writers did to beardy Spock, who I now call Speck. Discovery is not Star Trek, it's Space Journey.

Reply
DarthTimon link
5/25/2020 10:39:27 am

You are obviously entitled to your opinion. The problem is that there are corners of the fandom, on both sides of this equation, who believe their opinion carries more value than other peoples. It's a dangerous mindset, a snobbish one.

Reply
Anon
5/26/2020 05:50:43 pm

Hey maybe actors are blocking you because they’re not interested in unsolicited opinions about a protect they probably care about. And maybe you’re not entitled to their attention. Just a thought.

Reply
Fart Usco link
5/28/2020 06:44:35 am

Picard would not suffer fools such as yourself. Enjoy your hate watching and angry click youtube channels

Reply
The Jack of Beers
6/7/2020 03:55:07 pm

Lol! Still mad at Endgame spoilers. Get over it.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

      Do you see this?

    Submit

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    September 2013

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.