To the Stars
To say that Star Trek is an important part of my life is to make a gross understatement. I can't say that Star Trek IS my life, but it has inspired a great deal of it. In this, I am not alone. Star Trek means a great deal to a great many people all across the planet. It has touched lives in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, and has influenced everything from social behaviors to technology. For every Star Trek fan under the vast, unending final frontier, there is a story. This one is mine.
The first real memory I have of Star Trek is a scene from the feature film: Spock, on Vulcan. I was perhaps six at the time, and I distinctly recall that seeing Spock stirred within me a sense of familiarity... it called to mind, not specific details, but elements. A ship. Pointy ears. Aliens. I suspect that I had actually seen Star Trek in those years still darkened beyond my memory, and seeing Spock triggered something. For years, I remained vaguely aware of Star Trek. My aunt and grandmother liked it, and often spoke of it. I saw a movie once or twice on television, and I remember going to see The Final Frontier in a drive-in when it came out.
It wasn't until my dad took me to see Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country that I really began to understand and get into Star Trek. Though much of the political subtext and intricate plot passed right by me, I knew that I was entertained, and that I was watching something special. A story with the power to captivate me and move me.
I told my grandmother (who lived with us at the time) how much I enjoyed it and together we rented the entire collection of feature films - from number one through number six. We watched them together, and through me it was as though she had seen them for the first time. Through the sorrow of Spock's death to the humor of the 20th century to the touching moments of Captain Kirk's final log entry, I became immersed in classic Trek. And, it brought my grandmother and I closer than I could have imagined. The time we spent together was quality.
Not long after, my aunt suggested we watch an episode of The Next Generation. I knew nothing of TNG at the time and thought it was a cheap knock-off of my beloved classic series. Still, when we were told Spock would be guest starring, we made it a point to watch. It was that episode - Unification - that truly cemented me as a Star Trek fan. I fell in love with the TNG characters, the new Enterprise, and the more complex and interesting storytelling. Suddenly my grandmother and I had almost nightly appointments to watch TNG reruns during the week and new episodes on Saturday. I became best friends with another Trek fan at school, and he taught me all there was to know about the Trek universe. We explored the technical manual together, went to see Generations together, and we even developed our own starship: the USS Brahms, named in honor of Leah Brahms. To this day I still have tech specs for it. But more than that, I began to understand the ideals of Star Trek. I heard them spoken of in news articles and on television, and I saw it for myself in the episodes. These men and women were not the men and women of today. They had conquered their petty problems and were aspiring to be better human beings simply because they wanted to. They were fair and just and friendly to everyone. They met their enemies with honor and aided those who needed it. These were noble people whose pursuit of higher ideals had raised their entire civilzation out of the darkness and into an age of enlightenment. I saw this. I wanted this.
As time went on, and TNG became DS9, became Voyager, became Enterprise, I continued to watch. Star Trek's culture and philosophy became a part of my life. It left an indelible mark more profound than even religion had at that point in my life. I was grounded enough to understand that the utopian future the Great Bird imagined would probably never happen. I was intelligent enough to realize that its improbability shouldn't stop us from trying. I was passionate enough to want to pass the message on through my own lifestyle and, eventually, through story.
But perhaps even more profound than Star Trek's influence on my worldview was its influence on my personal life. Because of the time we spent together watching Star Trek, I became closer to my grandmother than to anyone else. (Indeed, only my wife is closer to me now.) We became best friends, compasions of the heart. We would talk about episodes and characters we liked, speculate on where things would go... we shed tears at the touching finale of DS9 and shrugged impassively at the finale of Voyager. We watched Enterprise with great anticipation. And through it all, we bonded in a way I just cannot express through words. Even when I married and moved out, I came home every week to watch Star Trek with my grandmother. It was our thing, our special night. And since her passing in 2001, I continue to watch... and I know she's right there watching it with me.
Yes, Star Trek's legacy is beyond anything we've ever experienced. Its philosophy of the future, its inspiration for modern technology, its exciting adventure stories that challenge our minds. But perhaps its most profound contribution is not found in the technology of tomorrow or the philosophy of a better world... but in its ability to bring two people together to sit for an hour, forget their troubles, and simply be. Perhaps that is the real wonder of the final frontier. Two people, together, bonding and united, putting aside their differences and becoming better people for it. Perhaps that is where this trek to the stars truly begins.
Thank you, Gene Rodenberry, for bringing Star Trek into my life and into my grandmothers, and for every ounce of inspiration and hope it has given us. May forty years be just the beginning.
The first real memory I have of Star Trek is a scene from the feature film: Spock, on Vulcan. I was perhaps six at the time, and I distinctly recall that seeing Spock stirred within me a sense of familiarity... it called to mind, not specific details, but elements. A ship. Pointy ears. Aliens. I suspect that I had actually seen Star Trek in those years still darkened beyond my memory, and seeing Spock triggered something. For years, I remained vaguely aware of Star Trek. My aunt and grandmother liked it, and often spoke of it. I saw a movie once or twice on television, and I remember going to see The Final Frontier in a drive-in when it came out.
It wasn't until my dad took me to see Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country that I really began to understand and get into Star Trek. Though much of the political subtext and intricate plot passed right by me, I knew that I was entertained, and that I was watching something special. A story with the power to captivate me and move me.
I told my grandmother (who lived with us at the time) how much I enjoyed it and together we rented the entire collection of feature films - from number one through number six. We watched them together, and through me it was as though she had seen them for the first time. Through the sorrow of Spock's death to the humor of the 20th century to the touching moments of Captain Kirk's final log entry, I became immersed in classic Trek. And, it brought my grandmother and I closer than I could have imagined. The time we spent together was quality.
Not long after, my aunt suggested we watch an episode of The Next Generation. I knew nothing of TNG at the time and thought it was a cheap knock-off of my beloved classic series. Still, when we were told Spock would be guest starring, we made it a point to watch. It was that episode - Unification - that truly cemented me as a Star Trek fan. I fell in love with the TNG characters, the new Enterprise, and the more complex and interesting storytelling. Suddenly my grandmother and I had almost nightly appointments to watch TNG reruns during the week and new episodes on Saturday. I became best friends with another Trek fan at school, and he taught me all there was to know about the Trek universe. We explored the technical manual together, went to see Generations together, and we even developed our own starship: the USS Brahms, named in honor of Leah Brahms. To this day I still have tech specs for it. But more than that, I began to understand the ideals of Star Trek. I heard them spoken of in news articles and on television, and I saw it for myself in the episodes. These men and women were not the men and women of today. They had conquered their petty problems and were aspiring to be better human beings simply because they wanted to. They were fair and just and friendly to everyone. They met their enemies with honor and aided those who needed it. These were noble people whose pursuit of higher ideals had raised their entire civilzation out of the darkness and into an age of enlightenment. I saw this. I wanted this.
As time went on, and TNG became DS9, became Voyager, became Enterprise, I continued to watch. Star Trek's culture and philosophy became a part of my life. It left an indelible mark more profound than even religion had at that point in my life. I was grounded enough to understand that the utopian future the Great Bird imagined would probably never happen. I was intelligent enough to realize that its improbability shouldn't stop us from trying. I was passionate enough to want to pass the message on through my own lifestyle and, eventually, through story.
But perhaps even more profound than Star Trek's influence on my worldview was its influence on my personal life. Because of the time we spent together watching Star Trek, I became closer to my grandmother than to anyone else. (Indeed, only my wife is closer to me now.) We became best friends, compasions of the heart. We would talk about episodes and characters we liked, speculate on where things would go... we shed tears at the touching finale of DS9 and shrugged impassively at the finale of Voyager. We watched Enterprise with great anticipation. And through it all, we bonded in a way I just cannot express through words. Even when I married and moved out, I came home every week to watch Star Trek with my grandmother. It was our thing, our special night. And since her passing in 2001, I continue to watch... and I know she's right there watching it with me.
Yes, Star Trek's legacy is beyond anything we've ever experienced. Its philosophy of the future, its inspiration for modern technology, its exciting adventure stories that challenge our minds. But perhaps its most profound contribution is not found in the technology of tomorrow or the philosophy of a better world... but in its ability to bring two people together to sit for an hour, forget their troubles, and simply be. Perhaps that is the real wonder of the final frontier. Two people, together, bonding and united, putting aside their differences and becoming better people for it. Perhaps that is where this trek to the stars truly begins.
Thank you, Gene Rodenberry, for bringing Star Trek into my life and into my grandmothers, and for every ounce of inspiration and hope it has given us. May forty years be just the beginning.
posted by The Grimm Sleeper at 8:14 PM
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