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This isn't really a review, just a mention of the movie in a newspaper out of
Little Rock, AR, but I thought it might be of interest, anyway. Little Rock
is apparently the only city in Arkansas to be considered a "major market" that's
"major" enough to get this movie released to it. From the ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-
GAZETTE, June 3rd:
BEAM HER UP, SCOTTY
It would be easy for TREKKIES documentarian Roger Nygard to make fun of obssessed STAR TREK fans, including Arkansas' most famous Trekkie, Barbara Adams.
Who doesn't laugh at the thought of people greeting each other with Vulcan handshakes [sic] or in indecipherable Klingon, or adults driving around with "Starfleet Academy" window stickers on their cars? But Nygard's new and often comedic look at the 33-years-and- counting STAR TREK phenomenon, and its fans in particular, never feels like an 88-minute put-down. Nygard isn't so much interested in making fun of Trekkies as he is taking a light-hearted look at their particular world, and just how far some have gone to honor their favorite television show. Adams, who earned her 15 minutes of fame when she wore her Starfleet commander's uniform every day while in the jury pool at the Whitewater trial, is included in the movie because her garb wasn't a gag. As lieutenant commander of her Trekkies club, Adams wears her uniform, with badges and phaser, everywhere. Perhaps only Elvis fans rival Trekkies in devotion. But whereas Presley fanatics usually make annual sojourns to Graceland, there's a STAR TREK convention held somewhere in the world every weekend of the year. And Trekkies have been such a part of the cultural lexicon, they are the only fans listed by name in the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY. If Arkansans think Adams is unique among Trekkies, they should check out the documentary. There's Dr. Dennis Bourguignon, a Florida dentist who not only calls his office "Starbase Dental", and decorates it with all kinds of memorabilia, but wears his STAR TREK uniform while he works. His entire staff--it's a requirement for the job--and family also wear the colors of the Federation. There's also GABRIEL KOERNER [pluggola! My caps], a 14-year-old in Bakersfield, Calif., who has attended 28 conventions in the last eight years [where do you find the time and money?], and is planning his own STAR TREK movie [did I miss your mention of this?], complete with re-designed, hand-sewn uniforms. STAR TREK cast members like Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhuru [sic], at first thought Trekkies were a little loony and that the whole thing would fade away. Many of the fans are tech-heads [sic], but others are attracted to the show because it promotes diversity. Nichols, one of the first black actresses featured on television in a non-stereotypic role, recalls a story told by a black woman who said that when, as a youth, she first saw Lt. Uhuru {sic again], she screamed through her house, "There's a black lady on TV, and she ain't no maid." That girl grew up to be Whoopi Goldberg, who would herself appear in the TV series STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and the movie STAR TREK: GENERATIONS. It's hard not to laugh at TREKKIES, which introduces people translating the Bible into Klingon, a fabricated language that sounds a bit like German, and a man who wishes he could afford to have his ears surgically altered to resemble Mr. Spock's. It may fall short of common definitions of normalcy, but as a film, devotes say, TREKKIES sure beats sleeping outside for days to see a mediocre movie about some galaxy far, far away.
END
This was written by a staff writer on the newspaper, not something off AP or some other wire service, and I think certain statements s/he has made about fans (not the movie itself, since I haven't seen it) require a response--which I plan to send. I can post that, too, if you like--if it gets printed. Gamin