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.