Star Wars Fans - the new nerdy Trekkies?

I was three years old when the original Star Wars film hit theatres and I was lucky enough to be at the very first showing of it in my town. When I climb back into my mind, that night is as far back as my memory can reach, making Star Wars my first conscious memory. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

My father became an instant Star Wars fan and took me to see the film 7 more times in the theatre and 4 more times at our local drive-in (remember those?). He bought me toys and games, using me as an excuse to play with them and took me to the opening show of ESB and ROTJ. I have been fortunate enough to see the opening show of every single Star Wars film.

In the years that followed the release of ROTJ, I saw Star Wars fandom rise and fall with peaks and valleys, but for the most part, it died down, only to see a tremendous upsurge with the release of TPM and AOTC. Now, at least in my experience, Star Wars fandom is at an all-time high with Fan Force meetings, RPG groups and communities online, such as this one.

My question to you all is: How have Star Wars fans changed over the years?

Those in the late seventies were a new kind of Science Fiction fan: Those who loved the FX and the hints of mythology ? this grew more profound as the movies did: With more mythological and literary references in each installment, the fans of Star Wars set themselves apart from the Trekkies of yesteryear. Star Wars fans seemed to be a breed apart: Somewhat more savvy, more aware of classic literature and myth; less obsessed and less ?nerdy?.

As fandom died down after years without films, Star Wars fans became somewhat rare. I found myself hard-pressed to meet anyone who cared for the trilogy as much as I did and expected that the fans would show their faces again with the new trilogy that was promised.

I managed to get in to see TPM for the opening show through a fluke of knowing a theatre owner and didn?t really meet any ?fans?, there. But I signed up for the NYLine for AOTC. While waiting for days in line, I was surrounded by fans. Day in and day out, I listened to their diatribes about the saga and was pleased, at first to be surrounded with fellow fans.

This, however, got old quite fast. I began to view many of them as being like the Trekkies. So many seemed to let their lives revolve around Star Wars and I felt that they days of Star Wars fans being more savvy and socially adept may be at an end. Don?t get me wrong, I met some wonderful people in that line, many of whom I would love to see in the future. Still, if you saw Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and his interview with the fans on Conan O?Brien, you get an idea of the levels to which some of these fans will sink. The pooch had a point: Fandom is one thing, obsession is another.

Do you think that some of us take it too far? If so, how? If not, how would you defend fans who gripe that AOTC does not support the EU, etc?

I would love to hear some debate and further thoughts on this!

 

Alls I know is I don't wear a Starfleet uniform around and my TV remote doesn't look like a phaser.

 

Obviously there are those who definitely take fandom to extremes, but on the other side of the coin there are those (like myself and many others) who love SW but still lead normal, healthy lives. Again, even though I love SW, it is definitely last on my last of priorities in my life after my girlfriend, family, work, friends, etc.

 

whatever...

 

Would you own a lightsaber remote? *chuckles*

 

No.

 

I think you're kidding yourself if you think Star Wars fans have ever been anything but nerds. And I fail to see how looking for references to classic mythology in a popcorn flick isn't "nerdy".

 

My nerdiness only goes so far...I have a girlfriend and I go out on weekends....but as I get older and lazier..I'd rather stay at home and watch TV with my lady or be in the internet talking SW.... instead of going out every weekend...

 

I suppose that I'm talking about the typical perception of Star Wars fans vs. Star Trek fans. Historically, Star Wars fans were seen to be a little less nerdy than Trekkies. Lately it seems that the media is looking at them (us) in more of a diminutive light. Do you think this is justified or have Star Wars fans, in general become more obsessed?

 

It might have something to do with all the stormtroopers and fat Jedis showing up at the movie theaters on opening night.

 

Indeed. That's what I'm talking about.

 

It really depends on the fan. I have a lot of Star Wars stuff. Toys, books, RPG books, posters, shirts, games... all kinds of stuff, but you won't see me running around acting like I'm a Jedi.

You also won't see me spending my last dime on Star Wars. I've got to worry more about bills, food, and let's not forget the all important pet food before I worry about spending money on Star Wars. I'll usually hold off, even after bills are paid. For all I know, I may just want to take my Sweetie Pie out to dinner. It would be hard to take her to dinner if I blew the extra on Star Wars.

 

I know what you mean. In the late 80's/early 90's Star Wars was cool. Everyone liked it, but no one really obsessed over it. It was more of a nostalgic rememberance.

When the special editions came out, and the Zahn books that kicked off the new EU, people really started getting into it, and the rabid fanboy was born. It hasn't been the same since.

 

I agree. It definitely depends on the fan and there are varying degrees of fandom on both the ST and SW sides. Still, while waiting in line for Episode II, I couldn't help but feel out of place amongst a lot of the fans. I love Star Wars, but I felt that some of them went overboard. In a lot of ways, I miss "the good old days" when being a Star Wars fan was somewhat of a rarety...

 

Maybe it comes down to the differences between a "fan" and a "fanboy". I would call myself a Star Wars fan, not a fanboy.

And let's be fair - there are plenty of "fangirls" as well.

B'Omarr has a point that the SEs and the EU contributed quite a lot to the development of obsessive, mom's-basement-dwelling fanboys.

Recently, a friend of mine began dating a new guy and she said that her only problem with him was that he bashed Star Wars. She brought him over to my apartment, knowing that I read a lot of Joseph Campbell and general mythology, hoping that I could bring him around.

The problem is that he had seen the media coverage of all the fanboys waiting in line with their nerdiness running rampant and here I am trying to convince him of the merits of Star Wars with all my ships and posters adorning the walls. This made it difficult to justify my credibility beyond being a "fanboy"

 

Excellent topic. I definitely see what you're talking about. I have been with Star Wars since the begining as well, and have stuck with it pretty faithfully over the years, even when there was little to no Star Wars activity. Like someone before mentioned, in the late 80s, early 90s, Star Wars was very cool. Anyone with Star Wars posters or Star Wars costume for Halloween or what not, was considered to be cool. Now, it is a different story...

Example: I have bought one thing from AotC, The Visual Dictionary and had it on the coffee table of my apartment. Well, my apartment has a lot of traffic. Anyway, you wouldn't believe the number of negative commnets I have received about it, some of them very demeaning. And it is only one book. No posters on the wall, no action figures on display, nothing of the sort. Then again, maybe my friends are just messing with me.

But in some ways I can see what they're talking about. I stood in line for TPM for hours (not days), and saw what many of the Star Wars fans have become. It was scary. And midnight madness this year!? I brought a friend who is more casual SW fan than I, and once he saw all of the Comic Book Guy-looking dudes crowding the aisle and shoving each other to get at the figures, he was laughing so hard that he had to walk away.

Anyway, I definiely think the perception people have of SWs has changed, mostly because many hardcore fans have embraced certain "nerdy" or "trekkie" stereotypes, which makes everyone who is a SW fan look like a nerd.

 

Kam-Shaft,
Agreed. I'm not the kind of person who generally cares what others think of me, but I must admit that I do not like being lumped into a category with a lot of the "fanboys".

Like you, I have been at the receiving end of a lot of derogatory and demeaning comments in regards to liking Star Wars. The general populace sees us now in much the same way that they see Trekkies. It's difficult to convince non-fans of Star Wars's merits while others prance around making twits of themselves: A stigma that is then easily applied to ALL Star Wars fans.

*sigh*

 

I was an infant when ROTJ came out, so unfortunately the fanboy stereotype is all I've ever known. I saw the OT when I was 10, a good 5 years or so before TPM. I've been a fan ever since, but my friends always seem to cringe when I mention Star Wars. I dont think its very fair that I wasnt able to be around when being a fan was cool.

 

I don't see Star Wars fans taking the place or even reaching the same level of fanaticism as Trekkers. Just look at the threads here, you don't have discussions about why the reverse tachyon transcdusance beam could create a Negative Universe Han but not negate the positive bipolar warp field flux generated by the non-adjacent perimeter of the warp core generators.


We are safe until that day...

 

I think I read about something like that in "Timeline", lol...

In a word- no.

Why? Because of this: I didn't know who the Star Wars fans at my school were until I got a club started. I know every Trekkie in the school because they are constantly talking about some stupid Trek technology.

And yeah, I know lots of trivia from the films and I can quote the whole OT, but that stems from my love of movies. I can do that for many many other films as well.

I like to parade myself as a geek, but in reality I don't look/appear to be a geek. Not that I have a problem with being a geek. I'm just not one... much

-sj

 

I dunno - there was quite a heated debate about exactly how Watto can fly. That's pretty trekkish...

 

Well, ask me, I think there's bound to be some of use like trekkies but you'd be surprised at the amount of people on this board who aren't loosers, they're just here to chill and talk to others.

 

Darth_Tyrannous, I agree: In any community, you're bound to find some people who take it too far.

I think the main problem is the media. When you have segments such as Conan O'Brien's Insult Dog making us look like obsessed nitwits (admittedly, it was funny), it gets to a point where telling someone that you are a Star Wars fan is almost akin to coming out of the closet.

 

Hey, being a big Star Trek fan, I can tell you that the average Trek fan, and even most huge Trek fans, are not geeks. Very few people actually wear Spock Ears in public.

Tyler Volz

Colonel Worf
TrekBBS.com
(If your daring enough to come look at all the non-geekiness)

 

I think that I would distinguish between the average Star Trek fan and a "trekkie" or "trekker". Come on, when you start getting politically correct about what a group of fans is to be called, that's taking it TOO far.

I think that it is fair to say that a lot of Star Trek fans allow Trek to be the focus of their lives and my point is that a lot of Star Wars fans are now coming around to the same kind of focus...