Tonight I watched Trekkies, a documentary about the Star Trek fan subculture. While it was made by Paramount, and thus put a positive spin on things (they would not risk alienating their audience by selling an exploitation video depicting them as an unmitigated freak show), it was nonetheless most amusing, where it depicted extreme and often absurd examples (the awkward-looking guy who changed his name to James T. Kirk, the guy who had his ears surgically sharpened, the small rural town that designated itself as the captain's future birthplace and hosts Star Trek tractor pulls and the Trekkie Elvis impersonator are some highlights, as well as various individuals in uniforms and costumes). Still, they could be doing worse things than wearing their Starfleet badges to the local Wal-mart; like dressing in black and shooting up high schools, for example.

One thing I noticed is the quirks of diction and non-verbal cues of some of the fans interviewed; could this be the same phenomenon as the "fannish accent" noted by speech therapist Karyn Ashburn?

In any case, Trekkies is recommended viewing for anyone interested in fringe subcultures or human oddity.

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