Star Trek Speech's

[Reveka 0]

in school we had to give a speech on something that we felt strongly about and had to give a good argument to convince people to believe us. i did mine on Star Trek. main title: Trekkies are NOT freaks.

 

below is a version of it i had typed up. i will type what i had on my note card up and put it up latter. enjoy.

 

 

“I always would say to people, Trekkies are kids who run down the aisle screaming “Spock”. I’m a Trekker. I walk down the aisle.” Joanie Winston

 

Trekkies are not freaks

Rachel Jones

 

I’m not a nerd I’m a Trekkie, which is of course worse. Or so that’s what most people believe. Often, when the word Trekkie or Trekker is uttered, most people conjure up the image of a short person in a homemade Star Trek uniform, with glasses and fake pointed ears running around screaming “Spock” or “Beam me up, Scotty!” This person is also thought to have no friends, lives with his or her parents, and is up late at nights on the computer. Granted, there are some who are like that, but not all Trekkies or Trekkers are like that. We, and yes I am admitting to be a Trekkie, cause I’m not a closet Trekkie, are not all nerds, or freaks. We are normal people and proud to be called Trekkies. I can prove to you that there are normal people that are just like you, that will dress up in a costume and go to conventions for fun and are all over the world.

For example, country number one: in Italy, there is a woman who works at a bank as a cashier who dresses up as a Klingon with the rubber latex and make up and clothes, the whole works and goes to conventions. Also, Father Bernie Carman, a Catholic priest who dresses up in a Star Trek uniform and goes to conventions. He once offered to do mass, and over 100 people came. In Brazil, there is a man named Denizar Franco who has collected over 200 items of Star Trek memorabilia. He has a wife and two children. Sergio Caffe is a Star Trek fan and a radio DJ. Here in the United States, Daryl Frazeti, who goes to goes to Northern Illinois University, who dresses his cats up it Star Trek outfits.

Gabriel Koener is 21 years old, married and whose job is a visual effects modeler. He builds space ships and set extensions on computers. He’s a Trekkie. Trekkies do know there are some extreme fans. In Trekkies 2, in which most of these people were interviewed, a German fan said, “ If you can’t separate fiction and reality, then it’s gone too far.” So if a Trekkie can say that, then they all haven’t gone too far and shouldn’t be stereotyped as freaks. I mean, do you call the people who paint themselves the color of their favorite football team and go to games that way and were the hats with the string things that come down that look like dread locks freaks?

Trekkies are pretty nice people. Donna Fleming had a son who was diagnosed with a terminal genetic disease and they had lost their health insurance. She lived next door to a Star Trek fan club member. When they heard about it, they raised funds to help pay the bills and when he died they helped pay for his funeral.

“At a Star Trek convention you will never have trouble, or some drunken people. They are all nice people. But on a football stadium you always have police, paramedics, and this is normal.” says Robbie Amper. And that’s true. Look at the riots that happen at soccer games. Actually, that guy was British, so he may have actually meant soccer, cause they call it that over there.

I agree with Ralfo Furtado of Brazil, who owns a Star Trek shop. He said: “I’m proud of being a Trekker. I’ve never harmed anyone.” And I hope that the next time you hear Trekkie or Trekker, you don’t see a little dude with fake pointed ears on and big glasses, but think of Denizar Franco, with his wife and kids. He is just a normal guy who enjoys Star Trek.

[Takara_Soong 4]

Well done Reveka. If your classmates still don't believe after that then point them in our direction...on second thought, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. (j/k of course)

 

We Trekkies are definitely a picked on group. Other than Conan O'Brien's show poking fun at Star Wars fans who were dressed up while they waited to get tickets to Phantom Menace, SW fans have gotten off so easily compared to us. The same can be said about LOTR and Harry Potter fans as well. In music, DeadHeads weren't considered certifiably insane for following the Grateful Dead from concert to concert. Your comparison to sports fans certainly hit the nail on the head. Fans taunting players, players going after fans, etc. doesn't seem to raise much of an eyebrow but say you're a Trekkie/Trekker and *wham* you're a crazy person.

 

How did your speech go over with your classmates?

[sea trooper 0]

Great going Reveka, you make me proud to be a Trekker!

 

And as to what Takara said about the Conan O'Brien skit, they had Spock there flipping everyone in the line off :) It's all fun and games, Conan loves Star Wars.

Edited December 15, 2004 by sea trooper

[ARMS 0]

That was brave :)

[ussacclaim 0]

That was brave :)

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Agreed, you have far more courage than I Reveka. I too ask how your classmates responded to your speech.

 

A little off topic, I saw the thing they did with Conan and Star Wars, if that's the one where they had Triumph busting their chops. He would have had a field day at a Star Trek convention, if they would let him in, but then he would do a bit about not being allowed in, like that time in Hawaii. If you haven't seen it, man it is hilarious!

[krysis 2]

Someone once said this to me, "I am not a Trekkie. I'm KLINGON!"

[ARMS 0]

Someone once said this to me, "I am not a Trekkie. I'm KLINGON!"

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I would have laughed in your position

 

 

Personally i think Reveka is very brave for her speech, i myself hide my trekkie side from everyone, its somethin that people around me don't tolerate..

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

I'll never forget how proud my dad was of me when I told him I made Chief Engineer of a Klingon ship even though I was Vulcan in my sim group.

 

Of course after that he did ask me to not call him dad in public, but that's a separate issue.

[Christiantrekfan 0]

Way to go Reveka! How did everyone react to that? I try to convince my friends that Trekkies aren't freaks all the time, but it doesn't work;they ignore me. I hope you had better luck.

[Spockstellaiter 0]

Lol, me and my friends are freaks, it's fun!

[Takara_Soong 4]

Way to go Reveka! How did everyone react to that? I try to convince my friends that Trekkies aren't freaks all the time, but it doesn't work;they ignore me. I hope you had better luck.

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If your friends think you're a freak then tell them you have good company and start listing them:

 

Colin Powell, Dr. Mae Jamieson, the Dahlai Lama, Dr. Stephen Hawking, Tom Hanks, Al Gore, Bill Gates, Eddie Murphy, Whoopie Goldberg, Academy Award winning actress Jean Simmons, Paul Sorvino and, I believe, his daughter Mira Sorvino (she presented a pop icon award to William Shatner and Trek and they usually get a famous fan for that type of thing), a large percentage of the scientific community*, and on and on and on.

 

*I remember reading an article about Trek fans in the sciences and it quoted the then president of American cybernetics association. When asked what would be the ultimate achievement in cybernetics, his response was Lt. Cmdr. Data.

[Zengo 0]

To Me I Don't See Any Difference Between A Trek Freak And A Football Freak.[Full Rant Comming Later].

[A l t e r E g o 9]

Well stated Reveka!

[3 of 7 0]

Personally i think Reveka is very brave for her speech, i myself hide my trekkie side from everyone, its somethin that people around me don't tolerate..

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Yes, I do also think that Reveka is brave.

 

i myself hide my trekkie side from everyone, its somethin that people around me don't tolerate..

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I don't hide my trekkie side. Though I doesn't much show that I'm a trekkie, but whenever I get the chance, I both say it and show it.

 

By the way, I'm sitting here at work in my Starfleet uniform! :borgqueen:

 

[WEAREBORG4102 0]

Very well stated. We all porbably have met someone who said Star Trek is stupid and yet have not seen one episode.

[Valeris 2]

I know I certainly have, WAB. I wish I had the opportunity to do a speech about Trek at my school, but I show that I am a Trekkie in other ways. I posted a Trek collage on the front of my assignment notebook and on the back I wrote, "I am in love with a figment of Gene Roddenberry's imagination." The people at my old school hated me for it, the people at my new school do not care and sort of tune out when I start talking about Star Trek. Way to go, Reveka!

[Odie 0]

Reveka, that was very brave of you! <_< :biggrin: