Terilynn's Trek: 4-10-09; Abrams & Paramount Relegate Trekkies to the Kids' Table

So it's been a few days since the surprise screening of Star Trek XI in Austin and the "World Premiere" in Sydney.

Certain conversations here and on other forums have only seemed to have cemented the feeling I was having a few months ago – that Abrams' comment about "talky geekfests" had a deeper and more insidious meaning…

…he really meant it folks!

Abrams really does think that Trekkies are seriously uncool. Trekkies are the worst geeks imaginable and he will do anything to keep his new Apple-shiny movie from being associated with them.

What evidence do I have to come to such a conclusion?

Exhibit A: The Quote

"I think that what this movie's bringing is a remarkable new and energetic young cast and a treatment of the world of Star Trek that I think is as intimate as the story is massive in scope. This is a treatment of Star Trek with action and comedy and romance and adventure, as opposed to a rather talky geekfest."

Emphasis added.

Mr. Abrams wanted to make sure that any non-Trekkie who may have read that article understood that the movie wasn't being made for "those talky geeks."


Exhibit B: The Sydney "World Premiere"

While technically Sydney was beaten to the "world premiere" punch by a theatre full of sci-fi fans in Austin, there were certain things about the Sydney function that smacks of elitism.

Mr. Abrams and most of his cast (Saldana was conspicuously missing and we all know that Nimoy was in Austin) were all in tuxes – bright, shiny and young – standing on a massive red carpet waving to people.

Here's what's weird though. If you watch the videos closely – they prepared for a huge crowd…which never seemed to materialize. Look carefully – camera angles which show the length of the railing make it appear as though the crowds are thick…but when you look behind the actors who are still marching along the red carpet – there might be 40-50 people behind them. There's a VERY conspicuous Trekkie with ears cut into the vdieo, but no real screaming fans. (Seriously - listen, it's rather quiet for a movie premier...)

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/stor...5001026,00.html

http://media.smh.com.au/national/breaking-...ere-466416.html

I understand that there may have been as many as over a hundred or more tickets for the actual VIEWING of this film in Sydney that remained unsold.

Trekkies in Australia seemed a bit more than perturbed that the fact that tickets were being sold to begin with was never advertised nor was the event pushed in the local media. The links provided above were described as having to have been "dug" up. (And thank you for digging Kirok!)

What bothered me more was how Abrams and cast seemed almost annoyed by the questions they were getting. Cho and Quinto were obviously going to be asked about the predecessors in their roles – it's TREK for Pete's sake! The roles they're portraying were created – molded and raised to levels of mythdom by those other actors! Deal with it Quinto! Also – Quinto seemed awfully sure to distance himself from those evil "conventions" didn't he?

Exhibit C – The "Quiet" World Premiere or "Let's throw the Trekkies a bone!"

Several hours before the reels started to turn in Sydney, a group of fans gathered in a theatre in Austin, Texas for a showing of the famous (and according to Abrams "talky geekfest") Trek film – The Wrath of Khan – to be followed by ten minutes of never-before-seen footage of Star Trek XI.

Instead of Wrath of Khan – what they got was the writers of the new movie and Leonard Nimoy making a surprise appearance and showing the entire new movie!

Now this made news…to the Trekkies of course, because we're a pretty tight-knit community and tend to talk to each other using modern technology. But the screening didn't make the mainstream news.

And that's just the way Paramount and Abrams wanted it. Toss the bone to the Trekkies and let the rest of the world look at the shiny new movie in all of its sterilized-for-your protection-non-Trekkie-infested-goodness in Sydney.

Now wait – there's more rant coming.

Take a step back from this and look at it again.

Nimoy wasn't at the premiere in Sydney! The man who Abrams once said the movie could never have been made without wasn't at the premier. Nimoy - the man who the world recognizes as one of THE faces of Star Trek - and he wasn't at the premier in Sydney with the rest of the cast.

Why not?

I dare say it's because Abrams and Paramount didn't want him there. His presence would have taken away the limelight from the newcomers they're desperately trying to push.

Suddenly it all became clear…Abrams really does loathe Trekkies. I think he fears we will infect his movie and make it a talky geekfest!

It feels like the Trekkies have been relegated to the kids table for the dinner party because we're not classy enough to hang with the "cool people."

Doesn't it?