Those Dudebros Mad at ‘Starfleet Academy’ Aren’t Actually ‘Star Trek’ Fans
Time and time again we’re confronted with “fans” of something who continue to miss the lessons within the media they’re consuming. We’ve seen it with Star Wars, our superhero stories, and it has become an increasing problem with Star Trek “fans.”
More recently, men like The Critical Drinker and Nerdrotic, known for hating anything that seems to be left leaning, have been dogging on the Paramount+ slate of Trek shows. The issue with these Right Wing figure heads talking about Trek is that they miss one important detail about Star Trek: It was never for them.
From the start of Star Trek way back when (60 years ago, to be exact), the series set out to do one thing: Change the world. And that it did. It made history for its inclusivity, including being the first interracial kiss on television in “Plato’s Stepchildren.” The kiss was between William Shatner’s James T. Kirk and Nichelle Nichols’ Lt. Uhura.
But since, men like these X personalities think that they are the authority on all things “nerdy.” The reality is, they just speak loudly and incorrectly about these franchises. Look, you can use your money to buy every Star Trek toy out there. Doesn’t mean you understand what this series is saying to you. And now with the new series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, we’ve seen an uptick in their lack of understanding of what Gene Roddenberry sought out to do with Star Trek.
You’re a Republican/MAGA personality. Star Trek was never yours.
A lot of the conversation is about how Starfleet Academy isn’t “their” Star Trek. Well, seeing as Roddenberry held democratic and socialist ideals when he was alive, I’d be hard pressed to find a Star Trek episode that even vaguely fit your “ideas.”
What I have come to realize is that there are men in this world who want to pretend like they’re fans of this stuff when they don’t actually care. They’ll buy a Spock doll and pretend like they understand the show itself but the reality is that they just buy nerdy things and make that their personality. That’s fine! Be a collector, dude. But don’t act like you understand these franchises when they argue against everything you stand for.
It got so bad that Stephen Miller, yes that one, decided to mock the show. He also thinks William Shatner should take over as show runner for some reason? Shatner even mocked him. But what I think is hilarious is that accounts like “End Wokeness” are posting about Star Trek. Yes, you read that right. They want to put an end to the “wokeness” agenda on shows like Star Trek. I wish I was making this up.
Tell me you’ve never actually watched Star Trek without telling me
I come from a family of Trek lovers, myself included. To me, Christmas doesn’t start until I hear Leonard Nimoy say “Shuttle craft to Enterprise, shuttle craft to Enterprise. Spock here. Happy holidays. Live long and prosper” from my brother’s Star Trek Christmas tree. It has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Which is probably why the whales, Gracie and George, are my favorites.
But my point is that I know Trek. So whenever I see these talking heads berating the franchise, I know they don’t actually care about Roddenberry’s vision or what the show represents. Greg Gutfeld mocked the YouTube views of the first episode because Nerdrotic livestreamed a Spock figure sitting on a chair and it got more. Luckily, most Star Trek fans have Paramount+ and watched it there but I guess if you only have a few brain cells that work, you think this is a “gotcha” moment.
All of this to say that Starfleet Academy is what I have always loved about Star Trek. It feels like a warm hug and is fun, adventurous, and exactly the kind of world that Roddenberry dreamt of 60 years ago. So don’t let a bunch of nonsense on social media try to paint the show in any other way.
These people, despite all their parading around as experts on “nerdom” don’t actually know what they’re talking about. They’ll attack and lash out and demand you prove yourself but in reality, those of us who actually love and enjoy these franchises know we know a lot more than some grifters online.
(featured image: Paramount+)
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