Page 2
The Blue Banner
September 19,2002
Features
Tracking Trekkies where no man has gone before
PHOTOSCOURTESYGOOGLE.COM
The original crew of “Star Trek,” shown aboard the bridge of the Enterprise, still fascinates Trekkies today.
Karin Goodhue
Features Reporter
Fan groups are everywhere. But
when members hold meetings and
conventions and dress up like the
characters that they envy, these
groups just turn plain silly.
Children might wear little
“SpongeBob SquarePants” hats
when they watch the show, but that
doesn’t mean they try to he
SpongeBob. six-year-old “Barney”
groupies don’t have weekly meet
ings where they discuss how to make
a jungle-of-fiin out of a cardboard
box and mommy’s fur coat.
Trekkies on the other hand, do.
Well, they don’t make jungles of
fun, but you get the idea. Many of
these obsessed “Star Trek” fans dress
like characters, such as Captain
Kirk, patriarch of the original se
ries, or Captain Janeway of “Star
Trek: Voyager,” and attend con
ventions to see who makes the bet
ter representation.
Then, they get into the USS En
terprise simulators and play with all
the pretty buttons as the big screen
in front of them says: “This is the
final frontier,” and “Danger, Will
flobinson! Danger!” No, wait,
wrong show.
Actually, I am clueless about what
happens at “StarTrek” conventions.
But, I do know that they occur at
^ ..-ast every weekend of every year in
-.bout three different cities, accord-
ng to- www.trekdoc.'com, the
Trekkies official Web site.
Their Web site includes many in
teresting facts: Trekkies are the only
fans listed by name in the Oxford
English Dictionary; there are hun
dreds of thousands of registered
Trekkies in the world; and on aver
age, a Trekkie spends about $400 a
year on “Star Trek” merchandise.
Trekkies are very dedicated people,
and they come in different types.
There are the social Trekkies who
religiously attend conventions in
order to learn more about Spock’s
Vulcan language. These types also
normally host weekly meetings in
their living rooms, which look a
little too much like the command
post. They serve a questionable-
looking green liquid to their fellow
members along with finger food in
the shape of Spock’s ear.
There are also the more anti
social types of Trekkies who spend
most of the day watching “Star
Trek” reruns on television while
dressed up like Data (humanoid
crew member of “Star Trek: The
Next Generation”) saying, “I just
want to love.”
Anti-social Trekkies might not
be human-compatible, but I’m sure
they enjoy talking to others like
themselves on the Internet.
I think a Trekkie goal is to find as
many people as possible who are
similar to him or herself and con
gregate.
Probably the most interesting
group of “Star Trek” fans I found
online were “Gay Trekkies” at
www.gaire.com/trek. You could ac
cess most of the links on the home
page by clicking “Assimilate” with
the emphasis put on the first three
letters. “Queer as Vulcan” is a fasci
nating link, which lists all of the
homosexual experiences characters
have gone through.
I especially en
joyed reading about
the one of Data in
drag. This gay Irish
group meets once a
month at a place
called “Outhouse
Space Station” in
Dublin.
No matter what
group a Trekkie be
longs to. I’m pretty
sure they’re all aware of the new
“Star Trek” movie being released in
December. “Nemesis” is about Cap
tain Picard, of “The Next Genera
tion,” and his crew, who find them
selves stuck on a planet called
Romulus. Earth is in trouble (big
surprise), and it’s their duty to kick
butt and save it.
Of course, everyone knows they
will succeed.
However, just once. I’d like to see
Captain Picard die a horrible grue
some death. I’d also like to be in the
audience at the primary screening,
so I can hear all the Trekkies gasp
appallingly as I release my mali
cious cackle.
However, the crew of “Star Trek”
somehow seems to prosper.
“Nemesis” should be a hit with
the Trekkie crowd. Don’t be sur
prised if you go to a movie theater
in November and see a tent pitched
near the ticket window, and a
Klingon wannabe crawling out.
Klingons, of course, are an aggres
sive alien race that have given virtu
ally all of the “Star Trek” crews
trouble over the years.
By the time December arrives, his
plastic Klingon forehead will be
falling in his eyes and his satanic
eyebrows will be at
tached by a single
strand of glue. But,
he won’t care, be
cause all the money
he spent in fast food
for the last month
was completely
worth the $5 mati
nee ticket.
He’ll be excited
and extremely con
tent. That is, until his buddy walks
by and greets him with “Hi, Jimmy. ”
His cover will be destroyed, and
he’ll sadly be forced to attack his
friend screaming, “My name is
Worf!”
Nevertheless, the movie will be
gratifying. I’m sure.
“Star Trek” films are where all
Trekkies can come together: the
young, old, social and anti-social.
This is where they can all dress in
their costumes, watch the movie in
peace and not worry about being
judged;
Besides, it will be the non-Trekkies
who will be thinking, “what the
hell. .
“Just once, I’d like to see Captain
Picard die a horrible, gruesome
death... so I can hear all the Trekkies
gasp appallingly as I release my ma
licious cackle.”
Slowly drowning in a sea of sequels
Margaret Lauzon
Features Reporter
Another season of summer movie
smashes has ended. Don’t fret.
Will Smith and Mike Meyers shall
return. If not in next summer’s
sequel sludge, perhaps later.
Only now, new trends in movie-
sequel analysis emerge.
For one, not all sequels are se
quels. Some hail the titles of chap
ter or prequel. Also, Hollywood
releases “summer blockbusters” year
round. So why this lasting trend of
reworking versions of old favorites?
“If they find something that works,
they’ll keep using it until they have
cashed it out,” said Jeromy
Swaringen, freshman industrial and
engineering management major.
“A lot of sequels are alright, but a
lot of them are out there to make
money.”
“The Two Towers,” a chapter to
follow “The Lord ofthe Rings: The
Fellowship of the Rings,” awaits a
Dec. 25 release date. A month
before “Spiderman” hit theatres,
producers began negotiating a se
quel using the key players.
Will money or the urge to dis
cover archeological treasures drive
“Indiana Jones” out of retirement?
Whatever the reason,
American moviegoers
can’t get enough of se
quels.
Many people were
nauseated by the re
lease of “Men in Black
II,” but it has earned
over $ 190 million dol
lars to date.
“Austin Powers in
Goldmember” and
“Star Wars: Episode II-
Attack of the Clones” both bulleted
past the $200 million dollar mark.
The country recesses, yet sequels,
or episodes, thrive.
We all heard the groans in the
theatre as trailers hyped further in
stallments of the “Jurassic Park”
:. We also heard the cheers
the announcement of a “Star Wars”
prequel.
A simple answer exists for this
love-hate relationship-nostalgia.
As long as people can relive their
Jedi youths through Clones, the
world doesn’t seem so bad.
When “Spiderman” possesses the
heroic traits to which President Bush
aspires, we can believe that we will
easily beat terrorism.
“Jaws” may have kept everybody
out of the water, but it certainly
kept them in the theatre well into
the next decade.
“I’ve seen ‘Jaws’ I-V and I loved all
of them,” said Anna Tuttle, senior
biology and spanish major.
When films like “Monster’s Ball”
drive me to question the divergent
problems of the world and its seem
ing ugliness, I eventually drive back
to the theatre for a mindless thriller
and a happy ending movie.
A tub of buttered popcorn and a
trough of Coca-Cola iso work as
antidotes.
Money drives Hollywood, but cer
tainly not without our consent.
Swaringen saw all three Austin
Powers movies, including this
summer’s most recent, “Austin
Powers in Goldmember.”
He also said he would see a fourth
installment of the Austin Powers
series, should they
make one.
“I know it would be
fimny. Mike Meyers
is a really good and
funny actor, said
Swaringen.
“As long as the plot
changes and they
keep the same char
acters, sequels are all
right.
“With the ‘Rocky’
movies, there j ust got to be so many
of them it was just the same plot
over and over, I just lost interest.
Nothing changed, just diflFerent bad
guys,” said Swaringen.
The characters of “American Pie”
fill the generational void the cast of
COURTESY GOOGLE.COM
Sequels vnth twists prevail. The Austin Powers sequels featured
Mini-Me for extra laughs, and Darth Yader, in the latest Star Wars
film, appears a little less tough than in his eighties image below.
“Porky’s” left and a new tribe of
youth bears the torch.
“It [American Pie 2] had it all,”
said Ethan Ordway, sophomore
industrial and engineering manage-
“The same characters came back
and they continued the story. They
didn’t just replay the first one.”
Hollywood need not sugar coat
sequel releases.
Call them what they are.
Does it matter if you call it an
“episode” instead of what it is. Star
Wars V?
People pay for nostalgia and Hol
lywood starts with the children.
Both “Shrek” and the character of
Harry Potter await sequel release.
They can be the “Ghostbusters”
adventures that the children of the
1990s never had.
Viewers, too, should not hide their
fondness for sequels.
Some claim that movie adapta
tions of books do not really meet
the requirements of sequel-status,
due to their literature basis.
“They are part of a larger epic
work,” said T uttle of the forthcom
ing “The Two Towers.” “The en
tire story is already there.”
This may be true, however, I don’t
believe Tolkien planned the coinci
dence of Christ’s birthday with the
release of a second “chapter.”
Hollywood makes sequels, and de
spite attempts to term them other
wise, viewers pay for sequels.
There’s no embarrassment neces
sary.
People smiled when I asked them
about movies such as “Alien” and
“The Blues Brothers.”
If attempts to continue their
profitabi.. .1 mean legacy, continue
to bring smiles, then keep them
coming.
“Under the Influence”preview
Douglas Davidson
Features Reporter
UNCA’s Cultural and Special
Events Committee, in conjunction
with Black Mountain College, will
begin the “Under The Influence”
festival Sept. 19 a collaborative fes
tival celebrating the 50* anniver
sary of John Cage’s “Theatre Piece
No. 1.”
Considered an innovator in the
musical world, as well as an incred
ible influence at Black Mountain
College, Cage is being honored by
performers who have been influ
enced by him. John Cobb, Tony
Conrad, and Pauline Oliveros are
among the scheduled performers.
An Asheville resident, John Cobb,
performed in Lipinsky Auditorium
Sept. 18. Known for his broad in
terpretive range and technical
command, Cobb featured selections
from John Cage and other avant-
garde composers.
Tony Conrad will coubter Cobb’s
traditional style Sept. 19 in a work-
“Hearing Things in Pipes and
Strings” will begin on the Lipinsky
Auditorium stage at 1:30 p.m. In
his workshop, Conrad will utilize
the audience to create his music.
Using items ranging from wood
to metal, the audience will create
their own musical instruments to
use during the performance. At the
end, the audience will receive cop
ies of the music they help create.
Conrad will finish his portion of
the festival Sept. 20 at 8 p.m.. In
this performance, however, he will
perform alone with a violin, but his
style will be as far from the classical
genre as possible.
“He has requested a rock ‘n’ roll
PA [system],” said Bunny Halton-
Subkis, Assistant Director of Stu
dent Life/Cultural and Special
Events.
A panel discussion featuring mem
bers of the community, UN CA fac
ulty and members of the Black
Mountain College will discuss the
impact of Black Mountain College
on education and how it can be
used to benefit learning on Sept. 21
in the Owen Conference Center.
Pauline Oliveros, the last head
liner of the festival, will provide a
workshop, as well as perform in
Lipinsky on Sept. 21 at 3 p.m.
The workshop, called “Deep Lis
tening,” will feature meditative
music. Through this workshop, she
attempts to show people how to
listen.
Oliveros will also perform at 8
p.m. in Lipinsky, and will feature
improvisational and meditative mu
sic, while incorporating ritual as-
COURTESYOFUNCA
Pauline Oliveros performs Saturday Sept. 21 in Lipinsky Auditorium.
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