SPACE OPERA SHOWDOWN; FANS SPLIT ON WHETHER TO BOLDLY GO, OR USE THE FORCE.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services ``No one in `Star Trek' ever open-mouth kissed his sister,'' chides one Trekkie on the Internet. ``Luke Skywalker is not obsessed ob·sess v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es v.tr. To preoccupy the mind of excessively. v.intr. with sleeping with every alien he encounters,'' a ``Star Wars'' fan counters. Another ``Star Wars'' fan goes further: ``I am glad I am no Trekkie, and I am sorry for you if you are. See, `Star Wars' kicks ass, while `Star Trek' bores the hell out of me. That's why I think that every Trekkie is a damn nerd.'' Followers followers see dairy herd. of the Force are taught acceptance and understanding. Members of the Federation boldly go where prejudice and hatred aren't tolerated. So why is there is so much discord Discord See also Confusion. Andras demon of discord. [Occultism: Jobes, 93] discord, apple of caused conflict among goddesses; Trojan War ultimate result. [Gk. Myth. on the final frontier? Why isn't cyberspace Coined by William Gibson in his 1984 novel "Neuromancer," it is a futuristic computer network that people use by plugging their minds into it! The term now refers to the Internet or to the online or digital world in general. See Internet and virtual reality. Contrast with meatspace. big enough to accommodate these two heavyweight science-fiction franchises? In print, but mainly on the Internet, some ``Star Wars'' fans have declared war on ``Star Trek  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. ,'' while some ``Star
Trek'' fans are aiming verbal phaser blasts at the ``Star
Wars'' films.
``This has been going on for a long time,'' says Steve Hockensmith, editor of Cinescape, one of the country's leading science-fiction magazines. ``It's not all fans, not by any means. In fact, there's a significant overlap between fans of `Star Trek' and fans of `Star Wars.' ``But at the fringes of both groups, there are a significant number of fans whipping up this long-standing antagonism antagonism /an·tag·o·nism/ (an-tag´o-nizm) opposition or contrariety between similar things, as between muscles, medicines, or organisms; cf. antibiosis. an·tag·o·nism n. between `Star Wars' and `Star Trek.' And in many areas, these extremists have not only been very successful, they seem to be gaining ground.'' The most noticeable of these areas is the Internet, which has become the main battleground for this pop-culture ``Star'' war. A random cruise through chat rooms devoted to ``Star Wars'' finds such anti-Enterprise phrases as `` `Trek' should die'' and `` `Star Wars' rules'' (and those are the cleaner versions of these sentiments). ``Everything gets shaped by the Internet, unfortunately,'' Hockensmith said. ``That certainly has been the case in this instance. `Star Trek' vs. `Star Wars' is all over the Internet, and there is some very raw stuff out there. Chris Smith Chris Smith is the name of: In politics:
``Personally, I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. anyone who is a `Star Trek' fan who doesn't also love `Star Wars,' '' he said. ``There is a huge crossover. But you're always going to get the fan who likes either `Star Trek' or `Star Wars' to the exclusion of everything else.'' At one Internet site, nearly 1,000 online users took part in some good-natured sniping over who would win a battle between ``Star Trek's'' red-shirted ensigns and ``Star Wars' '' Stormtroopers. The battle was to take place in the industrial section of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . ``The Stormtroopers'll have a field day; hell, even the Ghostbusters could whup whup v. Chiefly Southern U.S. Variant of whip. [Scots, variant of whip.] the ensigns,'' wrote Owen Hsia, who identified himself as being from Cornell University Cornell University, mainly at Ithaca, N.Y.; with land-grant, state, and private support; coeducational; chartered 1865, opened 1868. It was named for Ezra Cornell, who donated $500,000 and a tract of land. With the help of state senator Andrew D. . The debate then went off on an absurdist tangent tangent, in mathematics. 1 In geometry, the tangent to a circle or sphere is a straight line that intersects the circle or sphere in one and only one point. , bringing in everyone from O.J. Simpson to original ``People's Court'' arbiter Judge Wapner, with the Stormtroopers easily getting the most votes. The ``Star'' war isn't the only sci-fi squabble squab·ble intr.v. squab·bled, squab·bling, squab·bles To engage in a disagreeable argument, usually over a trivial matter; wrangle. See Synonyms at argue. n. A noisy quarrel, usually about a trivial matter. going on. Some national magazines have recently reported on sniping between fans of ``Star Trek'' and devotees of ``The X-Files.'' ``This is the history of science fiction,'' Smith said. ``It's your typical fan-rivalry type of thing. From the beginning, science-fiction fans have been very passionate about debating and discussing just about everything in the galaxy. While Hockensmith concedes that there are ``X-Files'' extremists out there, the Cinescape editor believecus that the ``Star Trek'' vs. ``The X-Files'' controversy is a minor flap. ``I believe that the skirmishes between `Star Trek' and `X-Files' fans are largely anecdotal incidents,'' he said. ``Sure, you can go on the Internet and find instances of `X-Files' fans dissing `Star Trek' fans, but to call it warfare is way overstating the case. ``I think the antagonism that does exist is based on the notion that `X-Files' fans see themselves as being more with it, hip and cool. Being a `Star Trek' fan carries a certain amount of baggage. Let's face it, it's absolutely true that `Star Trek' fans are the biggest geeks in the universe. ``On a geek A technically oriented person. It has typically implied a "nerdy" or "weird" personality, someone with limited social skills who likes to tinker with scientific or high-tech projects. The origin of the term dates back to the late 1800s. scale of one to 10, they are a 10, and I don't say that lightly. I am as big a `Star Trek' fan as there is.'' ``The X-Files'' also is a very '90s show, with it's ``trust-no-one'' mantra mantra (măn`trə, mŭn–), in Hinduism and Buddhism, mystic words used in ritual and meditation. A mantra is believed to be the sound form of reality, having the power to bring into being the reality it represents. of paranoia. ``That brand of cynicism and distrust is more reflective of the times than the optimism of `Star Trek,' '' Hockensmith said. ``You can be a rock star and love `The X-Files.' So it's natural to expect some `X-Files' fans to set themselves over the `Star Trek' fans.'' There may be some question about how deep the enmity runs between fans of ``Star Trek'' and ``The X-Files,'' but there's no question it exists, says Mark Altman, the former editor of Sci-Fi Universe magazine and the co-author of ``Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages.'' ``But you can find this kind of division in any corner of science fiction,'' Altman said. ``You have `Star Trek' fans who don't like `Babylon 5.' You have `Star Trek' fans who resent the mainstream success of `Star Wars' and `The X-Files.' You even have divisions within the ``Star Trek'' universe. ``You have fans of the original series who don't like `The Next Generation.' You have `Next Generation' fans who don't like `Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.' You have `Deep Space Nine' fans who don't like `Star Trek: Voyager.' ``It's ironic. Science fiction is supposed to be about tolerance, but sciecunce-fiction fans historically are the most intolerant in·tol·er·ant adj. Not tolerant, especially: a. Unwilling to tolerate differences in opinions, practices, or beliefs, especially religious beliefs. b. on the planet.'' So some territorial skirmishes should be expected among fans of ``Star Wars,'' ``Star Trek'' and ``The X-Files.'' These are, after all, the three pop-culture franchises fueling science-fiction and fantasy fandom. Nothing can touch this triumvirate Triumvirate (trīŭm`vĭrĭt, –vĭrāt'), in ancient Rome, ruling board or commission of three men. Triumvirates were common in the Roman republic. in terms of profile and profit. Yet it's the ``Star Trek'' vs. ``Star Wars'' confrontations that seem to draw the most blood. Adding fuel to the fiery Internet exchanges See IXP and NAP. is the perception that ``Star Trek'' is fading just as ``Star Wars'' is again poised to take over the show-business universe. ``There's an up-and-down history to this,'' said Altman, who is now writing and producing films in Hollywood. `` `Star Trek' got things rolling in the '60s, then `Star Wars' came along in the '70s. When the last of the three `Star Wars' came out, the `Star Trek' movies got rolling. Then `The Next Generation' kept the `Trek' boom going in the '80s. ``Now, just when it seems we've had too much `Star Trek,' and the franchise is running out of gas, here comes `Star Wars.' It almost seems that the two can't exist side by side, and that fuels this rivalry, too.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Drawings Drawing: (1--Cover--Color) STAR TREK vs. STAR WARS Vote for your favorite space opera (2--Color) no caption (Star Trek vs. Star Wars) Jon Gerung/Daily News |
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