Where Has All The Magic Gone?

by Simon Plumbe

I've been a big science fiction fan for as long as I can remember, and a Star Trek fan pretty much since it's early days in the UK from when I was about four or five. Since then, I've been an avid viewer, eager convention goer, and active in fandom in running one club or fanzine or another since 1989.

In that time, Star Trek, and my perception of it has changed greatly, and to an extent, my passion for the series has been lessened. Not because of the quality of the series and the movies, but more because of the level of my invovlement in fandom and the sheer amount of information readily available to fans today.

Whether it is through the internet, magazines, through fan club meetings, or even just talking to other Star Trek fans, there is very little that goes on within the Star Trek universe that fans don't get to know about well in advance. While this can be great to keep up to date and know just what is going on, it takes away something special that science fiction has always held for me and many fans...

I can remember when I was first involved in science fiction fandom in an active role. There wasn't a great deal of information circulating to fans, and the magazines that were on the market had to cover a wide range of shows and films so couldn't devote a great amount of space to Star Trek. During that time, I can remember sitting down in front of the TV each week (or in a crowded room at a convention) to watch an episode that, not only had I not seen before, but one that I knew relatively nothing about. There was a sense of wonder and excitement about what was going to be on screen. Everything was new, everything was going to be a surprise, and we never knew until the end credits whether our heroes would live to fight another day.

Things didn't change suddenly over night, but as more fan clubs emerged and as more fans were in contact with other fans across the globe, news and information started to spread more rapidly amongst fans. If an actor was due to make a guest appearance in Star Trek, the chances were that most fans all over the world knew within a couple of days. Nothing was kept secret from the fans anymore, and the magic had already started to fade...

News quickly circulated amongst fans about the plotlines for upcoming episodes, and every detail about each movie was known before the films hit the big screen. More and more, fans started to seek information out and the studio responded to this desire for knowledge. Plots and news was revealed online on the official Star Trek website, and every time an actor or one of the production team attended a convention, you would be guaranteed that new information would slip out.

It was the same with new Star Trek shows. As soon as word got out that a new series was in the pipeline, stories circulated around fandom of who the cast were likely to be, details on all of the characters, the settings, and endless speculations about the series themselves. Looking back, some of these seemed positively ridiculous and it left a lot of fans expecting things to happen in shows based on what they had heard in advance. In many cases, fans were prejudiced against particular shows, films, and even episodes just based on hearsay and the rumours that had been going around.

When Voyager was announced and news of the characters started to emerge, fans took an immediate dislike to the Doctor, many making unfair comparisons to Rimmer from Red Dwarf. Tuvok also came under fire for a number of reasons. First, to many it seemed illogical (sorry!) for a Vulcan to take a security-related post on board a ship, but what was worse was that many fans seemed to have trouble accepting the idea of a black Vulcan. We had seen black actors playing Vulcans before, but only in a minor role, and there was a minority of fans that wanted to turn this into a major issue. There were some Star Trek fans that were unable to see past the initial controversies that surrounded the series, and even to this day have never warmed to the show.

Possibly the worst case of spoilers was the release of Star Trek Generations in 1994. For the first time with a Star Trek film, the complete shooting script was leaked from someone at the studio and fans worldwide were able to get the script and read the entire movie some six months before it was actually released. What made things worse for Generations was that it was a particularly bad film and there were a number of fans who had read the script and decided not to go to the cinema to see it - for them, the magic had been ruined completely.

Like so many other fans, I saw the script long before the film's release and I gave in to temptation and read the script. Part of me wished I hadn't done so, but at the same time, at least when I went to the cinema to see it I was prepared for the travesty that I was going to see on screen. I was so disappointed with the film, but even more so at the sloppy editing that had seen 30 minutes cut out of the film just to increase box office revenue, much of which was actually relevant to the plot of the film.

It left a very sour taste in the mouth and I still haven't been able to bring myself to own the film on video - the only Star Trek movie I have not purchased. I was sent a promotional copy from CIC video at the time of it's release, but I only watched that once just to write the review. Other than that, I've had no interest in the movie at all. Perhaps I would have been more forgiving if I hadn't known the entire plot word for word some six months before seeing it?

As a fan, I've noticed this change in myself as well. For a long time, I tried to kid myself that I was keeping up-to-date with all the latest news so I could pass it on through magazines and fan clubs, but I was always satisfying an inner quest for knowledge that ran deeper than I could possibly imagine. Every time a new episode was planned or a new show was announced, I rushed around and tried to find everything out about it that I could. While it seemed fun at the time gathering all of this information, when it came to actually sitting down and watching the show, I knew so much that there was little left to really excite me.

I've tried to do something very unusual for the release of Star Trek: Nemesis. I've deliberately avoided reading anything about the film, I haven't looking at preview features in magazines, and I've only seen the trailers a couple of times. In fact, apart from hearing the very basic plot elements from the trailers, I know relatively nothing about the film and I couldn't be happier. For the first time since the 80s, I am going to see a Star Trek film which will surprise me at every step of the journey. I will be sitting in the cinema for two hours, not knowing what's coming next and I'll be gladly absorbing everything that's thrown at me.

It's a refereshing thought to be going to see a film that will be so new to me, especially considering my position being involved in running a Star Trek club (taking a break from it's meetings for a while) and this website, and maybe for once, the real magic of Star Trek might be returning once again...