What is the stereotype of adult Star Trek fans? Is it different for male and female fans, different for those from the originals, my generation, versus younger fans?
I never took to it when it came out, but loved Star Wars instantly. It looks like there is some different appeal here. Star Wars came in for a lot of criticism from fundamentalist Christians, but I don't recall that happening for Star Trek. I have theory why the earlier space series might be religiously worse, but I think my prejudices and personal taste might interfere too much. I would like to hear what all of you have to say.
Also Doctor Who fans. Do they overlap with either group? Both? I know even less about that.
3 comments:
It has a lot to do with availability. Dr. Who fans tend to come from areas where PBS was the only thing going, so it was the only thing available. Star Trek was in syndication throughout the 80s. Star Wars you had to see in the theater in the old days. It was simpler and thus more accessible, but you couldn't view it over and over like you could with the TV episodes.
Boomer men are original Star Trek fans. Gen X and Millennials who were science or math nerds (boys and girls) are Star Trek: Next Gen fans. OG and Next Gen fans branched out to watch other Star Treks. Other Star Trek series and movies sustained those two groups.
Star Wars fans are Boomers who saw A New Hope in the theater, and younger people who watched A New Hope prior to watching The Phantom Menace. The biggest fans were sustained by the dozens of Star Wars books.
I didn't know anyone who was a Classic Who fan. Turning on PBS, Tom Baker, with his long scarf, looked like a British weirdo. New Who, after 2005, pulled in inquisitive people who could navigate the internet and hear about the show.
There is plenty of overlap since everybody can watch everything. Back in the day, you could only watch what was on. If it was 1977, there were no new episodes of Star Trek, so you watched Star Wars. In 2005, Star Trek Enterprise TV show and the Star Wars prequel movies had both finished, so a person might try the Dr. Who reboot and get hooked.
I was a fan of all three franchises, and watched them all deteriorate at different times. Between 1983 and The Mandalorean, Star Wars was a disappointment. I drifted away from Dr. Who when Matt Smith came in. Star Trek movies are okay, but the TV shows are a mixed bag.
The original Star Trek series had some superb, famous writers. https://writtenby.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series_writers
Theodore Sturgeon. Robert Bloch. Harlan Ellison. Norman Spinrad. Jerome Bixby.
Many of the episodes read as allegories; that's likely why the original three season show is still available.
I enjoyed the first three Star Wars movies, but the rest is nonsense.
Doctor Who is a British thing. It's silly fun, but there are so many episodes now, it's intimidating to think of starting to watch the whole thing. Also, there are other shows which are more interesting (to me.)
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