One of the biggest causes of nerd quarrels is the debate about which franchise is better; Star Wars or Star Trek. While from a fictional perspective these two are vastly different, they do have at least one thing in common. You can not deny that both have extremely loyal fans (some probably border on creepy). Personally, I’m probably a Star Wars nerd and a Star Trek fan.
I’ve loved the Star Wars movies (all of them) since the first time that I saw them. I’ve seen the movies enough times that I can probably recite just about every line. I’ve purchased a years wages worth of collectibles. I’m probably borderline obsessive. The amount of useless minutia I know about the Star Wars movies and universe would paint me in a pretty pathetic light, whereas what I know about the Star Trek movies probably isn’t any more then what I might know about any other movie.
There is no doubt that I do love Star Wars far more than Star Trek and while I will defend the former as the better franchise I admit there is something the Star Trek universe is far better at. The stars from the popular movies and TV series are probably some of the most sociable celebrities on the Internet. You can expect a joke or witty post from George Takei on a fairly regular basis on Facebook. You will see tweets from William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan, and more quite frequently. These folks are often the highlight of my day.
I have to admit, these folks really give the Star Trek name a sense of community. I really wish the Star Wars fans had the same kind of extraordinary ambassadors. Most of the time Star Wars fans are bashing George Lucas (who, despite his faults, is responsible for creating the films and they wouldn’t exist without him) or criticizing one another because they did, or did not, like the prequels.
We definitely need more Shatner’s, Takei’s, Ryan’s, Nimoy’s, Wheatons, etc who are not afraid to connect with their fans. These folks were already icons but by sharing their nerdy enthusiasm I think it further enriches the community. My only ask of these wonderful people is that they never stop what they are doing both socially and professionally. All of you, even those I failed to mention, enrich our culture and our lives.
If Mr. Nimoy would allow me a small liberty I bestow the appropriate blessing, with all sincerity, to “Live Long and Prosper”.