I was always more of a Star Wars fan.....
That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy Star Trek, I did but lightsabers and blasters and highly maneuverable space craft usually won out over the cheesiness of exploration and boldly going where no man has gone before. But then again I was like six when I had my first encounter with both the Dark Lord of the Sith and the Klingon empire.
Over the years however I was slowly assimilated, resistance is after all futile!
I think the turning point for me came when I first saw Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan - this was what I wanted from a movie, lots of explosions combined with a really compelling story, and that death scene at the end, Spock couldn't be dead could he??? We collectively received our answer to that question two years later with the release of Star Trek: The Search for Spock, he was alive after all and I was hooked!
With the release of Return Of The Jedi in 1983 and then nothing until The Phantom Menace in 1999 there was a nineteen year gap that needed to be filled so I devoured Trek.
From the release of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1993 this franchise was going places and I was happy to be along for the ride. That ride ultimately took me to the delta quadrant in 1995 as the crew of Voyager struggled to make their way home without abandoning the principles of Star Fleet in the process.
But that was where my voyage came to an end, I just couldn't get into Enterprise for some reason. That however did not stop me from watching the many movies that would continue to follow
Star Trek was boldly moving forward by going backwards as was obvious by the J.J Abrams reboot in 2009, and with that reboot came both returning and new fans, Star Trek seems to be destined to live long and prosper.
And why shouldn't it? Over the past fifty years Star Trek has been a catalyst inspiring new technologies to further serve and improve mankind, this is the point where I point our that Picards data pad looks like an IPad:
And that the original communicators look like first generation cell phones:
The fine folks over at N.A.S.A also realized how influential Star Trek had become to our society so they gave us the Starship Enterprise, sorta:
Star Trek has truly left a massive footprint in mankind's history and will forever hold a special place within my heart.
As much as I was a Star Wars fan my father was a trekkie, he just related to the narrative more. One of my fondest Star Trek memories is of a family trip to a local theater to see The Search For Spock for the very first time, it was the best of times.
Sadly earlier this year we lost my Dad to cancer, unfortunately our medical capabilities have not reached those of the twenty-forth century..... YET!
. Should there be any one lesson that I've learned from Star Trek its this: There is always hope for the future. So on September 8th as we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Gene Roddenbery's creation and eagerly wait for the premier of Star Trek: Discovery in 2017, I say both thank you to the multiple cast and crew who have brought us these wonderful tales over the years and also look forward to the next fifty years of Trek boldly going on..... I'm a Star Wars fan, but I'm a Trekkie too.
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