Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 09:08:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Bev Shapiro <trekkin5@yahoo.com> Subject: Trekkies To: info@trekkies2.com

I saw the movie "Trekkies" over the weekend and thought it was way off the mark in representing Star Trek fans. As always, the media seeks out the strangest, costume-clad weirdoes they can find and those are the people who are interviewed and serve to represent all of us. I have been a fan since the 1970's and have attended conventions since 1976. I never dress up in costume and I consider myself a normal human being with a life, a job and a clear understanding that this is my interest, my hobby, and I know the difference between reality and a TV show. It appears that those interviewed in the movie do not know the difference.

The woman who went to court in her Starfleet uniform needs help in understanding that she is not a Starfleet officer outside the fan club she belongs to. When she works at the printing company, she should not be wearing her com badge and carrying her tricorder. I can assure her that no one will be calling from the ship to beam her anywhere and there will not be an alien planet to check out with her tricorder when she is at work. It is obvious to me that this woman cannot tell the difference between her fantasies and her reality and she is someone who needs counseling. Everyone in the film that she works with kept saying how intelligent she was. If she is so intelligent, why is she cutting and counting paper in a print shop?

I need to let you know that when I went to see "Trekkies" over the weekend, I was the only person in the theater. But what gave me great joy when the movie ended, besides that is was in fact over, was that no one else saw the movie. If my friends, family and colleagues had seen the movie, it would only have perpetuated the myth that Trekkies are weird, strange people who need psychological help to cope with life. Obviously from your movie, a small majority do but the vast majority do not.

I have been a fan for over 25 years and have been attending conventions for almost that long. A majority of the people who attend DO NOT WEAR STARFLEET UNIFORMS and ARE NOT DRESSED AS KLINGONS. They are in jeans and T-shirts and tennis shoes like everyone else in America on a weekend. There are children and young adults, adults and older people. They enjoy seeing the stars from their favorite TV show and they enjoy collecting the memorabilia and being in a place where others share their interest. However, they have normal lives, go to work every day in regular work attire and do everything that normal people do. They don't dress their pets in Starfleet uniforms, or decorate their offices/homes as if they were on a starship and they would never think of changing their name to James T. Kirk. It is only a TV show and the majority of Star Trek fans know that. They have gotten a life and have always had one. However, and I think this is the most important point of my letter - NORMAL PEOPLE DON'T MAKE THE NEWS. Isn't that the bottom line?

A movie called "Trekkies" about normal people interested in an innocuous hobby does not make news and does not make a movie interesting. That is a fact. And because of this fact, the news media and now your movie, twists reality so that everyone who is not a Star Trek fan believes that the people you featured are indicative of what Star Trek fans are all about. This is not only unfortunate but it perpetuates a lie.

I was extremely disappointed with your movie and hope that it plays to empty theaters all around the country.

Thank you for your time.

Trekkin5 San Francisco Bay Area