The positives of Trek - why do you like Trek

[Joelist]

This has nothing to do with JJ Trek versus classic Trek or anything related.

What started you watching Trek and what attracts you to it?

For me I started with TOS and have watched every series and film.

What attracts me? The underlying optimism for one thing. Trek always had an underlying optimistic view of life regardless of the specific events going on. Problems are overcome, people come together and the Federation in spite of occasional warts has clear values and stands for them.

In the same vein the camaraderie of the characters is appealing. In TOS, TNG, VOY and ENT you got a real feeling that they are not just a crew that happens to serve together - they really are there for each other when it counts. That is uplifting which may be my biggest "gain" from Trek.

How about you?

 

[Joelist]

I confess to not liking DS9 as to me it was too dark and also was the Trek series that went soapy and brought a lot of shipping into the shows.

 

[Lord Ba'al]

When I was a teenager (and living with my parents) I didn't get to see a lot of trek. Sometimes, when I was able to have control of the TV and I was zapping, I would happen upon Star Trek. I would probably have been TNG or DS9, later Voyager. I would always stop zapping for some reason as it captivated me. It was so different from all the other boring drek which would be on TV all the time. Of course, my parents weren't at all interested in it, and neither was my brother. So often they would force me to change the channel to something else. Sometimes though I was like "no, I want to see this" and I might get lucky and they'd let me continue watching. Unless there was something coming on another channel that they "had to watch". It wasn't until I got my own DVD player and I started collecting that I really got to WATCH the series. We're probably talking late teens early twenties here. I collected all the Star Trek series on DVD, TNG, DS9, Voyager, TOS and then later Enterprise. Aside from TOS, which I've watched in it's entirety once and then almost got through season one a second time, I watched all those series at least 5 times. It's not real life bullshit. Yet it's not far from real life either. It's about the unknown, the exploration, the adventure. It's about humanity and society and progress. There's simply nothing else like it.

 

[Lord Ba'al]

Gee, it's hard to say. I don't think I could point out any specific episode or moment which "impacted" me per se. It's more like the whole thing in general being different from everything else and having solid moral values which I think would be something which may have "influenced" me. But unlike you, I don't have a particular moment in my life where something happened which was clearly impacted by Star Trek. Now you asked the question, I tried to think about it, and the first episode which sprung to mind is the one about the trial of Data's humanity. I think that was pretty deep and memorable.

 

[Overmind One]

When I was a kid, I was a prolific reader of reference books and short story anthologies. My comic book collection started with Jules Verne books. My dad recognized my interest in the scientific leaning comics vs Batman, Superman, etc, although I had some of those too. TV consisted of almost entirely dramas and the action was in westerns. Twilight Zone was there, but it was neither science fiction or horror or drama but a mix of all of that, switching from one to the other each week. But then came Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea in 1964, and I was hooked with the military/scifi/underwater aspect of it. I loved the flying submarine and was a HUGE (but little) fan. Star Trek came out two years after I started VTTBOTS in 1966, and I watched both shows. It was Star Trek that stole my heart, in space with the military aspect and different aliens. I mention military because my dad's military photos were all over our den and I admired him in his uniforms.

I say all that to give the segue into Star Trek which became such an obsession for me that I would literally ditch street football games to watch it. I would say that it wasn't a specific episode that hooked me, but the whole "thing" that was Star Trek. There was nothing else like it on the air or in theaters. I became a very involved fan, went to the first Star Trek convention, met Gene Roddenberry and all of the cast of TOS and some of the extras too. Lots more fan involvement after that, lots more cast meets and fan group events.

How did it impact my life? It got me interested in computers and their capabilities, in spaceflight, in astronomy and physics and NASA. My life would not be the same today without Star Trek, which is why I am so passionate about it.

 

[Overmind One]

Thanks Lord Ba'al. The Measure Of A Man was a great episode but something that resonated with me occurred in a not so great episode:


I have a humanist belief system while also not being a materialist and having a belief in God. That scene illustrates how I reconciled these contradictions in my mind.

Its not a version of Religious Humanism either. Its about man taking responsibility for his actions and his life in an Earthbound morality play to reach the apprehension of God.

I won't go into the details because I'm not sure how open others are to spiritual/humanist discussion but its enough to say that IMO mans illusion that God is not present in his life creates the need for faith, whether that be in humanism, religion or whatever and the material world is simply a morality play in which ignorance brings learning and draws man closer to the divine.

Dunno if that makes sense but it means I can have both humanist beliefs and faith in God.

I was replying to the thread, not to you specifically (hence the lack of a quote).

The positives of Trek - why do you like Trek

 

[Joelist]

Things that resonated:

A) TNG Episode The Drumhead.

B) TOS episode Patterns of Force

C) TNG I, Borg

D) VOY Episode Scorpion

E) Don’t laugh - TOS Catspaw

 

[YJ02]

i started watching reruns in the mid 70's as a 10-12 yr old kid. the only sci fi that was on that was any good -per my specific 10 yr old self and those opinions- was Star trek, ultra man and UFO

what i didn't like about it? that in nearly every episode, things always worked out fort he positive. Kirk always won. was there ever a loss for the Enterprise? i think at worst they left a situation still unsettled. (?)

in this regard it didn't match reality although the story lines did. but i guess in the time it was made, it was the way things were done on TV-- Kirk always fixed things and the boys on ADAM 12 always got their man