Star Trek TnG

[Grasshopper]

90% of Star Trek costumes involve spandex, a material that nobody looks good in unless they are in really good physical condition.

Heh, I think you've hit the nail on the head there. However, I don't see why sportsmen* get a free pass. Even being in really good physical condition doesn't automatically make you immune from looking ridiculous in spandex.

I never cease to be amazed at the preposterous outfits that have become the norm in many sports. Take cyclists for example. They wear tight fitting spandex outfits in garish colours like fluorescent pink and yellow, and wear silly little helmets that look like they've stuck a  tortoise on their heads. It's the type of attire that would get you refused entry to many gay bars on the grounds that you look too flamboyant. Yet when professional sportsmen wear this type of stuff it's considered perfectly normal and mainstream, and nobody bats an eyelid.

* Sportswomen are an entirely different matter. They can wear as much spandex as they like. 

[patrickl]

Wait . . . I'm jumping the gun, I guess first I should say: Klingon, the language, EXISTS!

You are simply more aware of Star Trek fans. Ewok, the language, exists. Go look up the 501st.

As I posted above, there are actually several languages in Star Wars. Although they are probably less complete with less of it spoken on screen.

Apparently there was a whole song in Mandelorian (Boba Fett) in a game.

[Howard_Casto]

Wait . . . I'm jumping the gun, I guess first I should say: Klingon, the language, EXISTS!

You are simply more aware of Star Trek fans. Ewok, the language, exists. Go look up the 501st.

Man I'm going to have to throw all my dork cards on the table tonight. 

The Ewok language doesn't really exist, at least not officially.  It was created by fans and may or may not be considered cannon by lucas, who only made enough words for the ewok victory song.  Klingon, on the other hand DOES exist.  It was created by the writers of the movies (and later the tng show) to ensure that the characters wouldn't be shouting gibberish at the screen.  They did this because they felt that star trek fans were so smart and so obsessive that they would realize it was gibberish if they didn't.  The language has nouns and verbs and sentence structure just like any real language.  Que up some behind the scenes interviews about star trek 6 to hear an interesting blurb of how difficult it is to translate shakesphere into klingon.  All trek languages of any re-occuring alien race are actual languages btw.

With that being said it's really neither here nor there to the argument.  Which is nerdier, a universe in which the fans create a language themselves or one where the writers are so scared of fan reaction that they create a language for each alien race?  Personally I think it might be the later.  Afterall, there might be an ewok langauge but there is a real english to klingon dictionary I can pick up at most book stores, on my computer, as an audio book or dvd.  So that means that there are enough people out there that want to learn klingon so that paramont can actually turn a profit form such a silly product.

[Howard_Casto]

90% of Star Trek costumes involve spandex, a material that nobody looks good in unless they are in really good physical condition.

Heh, I think you've hit the nail on the head there. However, I don't see why sportsmen* get a free pass. Even being in really good physical condition doesn't automatically make you immune from looking ridiculous in spandex.

I never cease to be amazed at the preposterous outfits that have become the norm in many sports. Take cyclists for example. They wear tight fitting spandex outfits in garish colours like fluorescent pink and yellow, and wear silly little helmets that look like they've stuck a  tortoise on their heads. It's the type of attire that would get you refused entry to many gay bars on the grounds that you look too flamboyant. Yet when professional sportsmen wear this type of stuff it's considered perfectly normal and mainstream, and nobody bats an eyelid.

* Sportswomen are an entirely different matter. They can wear as much spandex as they like. 

I could agree with that except for the fact that with the example you are using (cycling) every one of those traits have a purpose.  The spandex is crucial to prevent chaffing. The helmet might look stupid, but it's computer designed to protect the head and reduce drag.  The garish colors with gay patterns are on there so spotters can easily identify the different racers.  Sure they look like fools, but at least there's a reason for them to look like fools.

Other sports don't get a free pass though.  Bowling and golf in-particular come to mind.  No excuse for dressing so stupid in either sport.

And yes, women need to wear tighter clothing in my opinion.  You know... to reduce drag...

[Howard_Casto]

All of that makes quite a bit of sense.

I thought of a couple of things that differentiates the sports face-painter from the sci-fi face-painter.  The sports guy intends to get blind drunk (if he isn't already).  Somehow this makes it slightly better in my head.  Like . . . he's not really serious about the whole thing.

Also . . . sports guy is painting himself as a gesture of support.  Sci-fi guy is playing make-believe.  Again . . . the former is just a little bit more respectable than the latter.  Not that it is respectable, lol.  Just a little bit more. 

Eh... you've swayed me the other way with your argument.

Getting blind drunk isn't something you should be doing intentionally or not.  If that isn't bad enough getting drunk with the intention of making a fool out of yourself (serious intentions or not) is probably the worst thing you could possibly do.  Nerds might be nerds, but as you've just described them, the average sprots fanatic is a loser in every sense of the word.

Also the whole "for support" thing... I've never really gotten that.  I think this is why I'm pretty indifferent in regards to sports.  Ok so a corporation hires an athlete from out of state, possibly from out of the country to come and work for your team, at which point he could leave at any time if he's offered more money or better options. How exactly is he "your" player again?  How is it "your team".  Even if it's a local team you don't know the guy, your aren't helping him win so why do you care how well he does?  I just don't get it.  I understand the reason an athlete plays but I never have understood the reason fans like to watch them play (with the exception of family and friends of course).

On the other hand the sci-fi fan is dressing up as a character they identify with.  Unlike athletes, the fan of the fictional character has all kinds of info about the characters personality and their history.  In short they have an actual reason to enjoy the character.  Well except for the people that make up their own character.  Creative definately, but it's a bit out there.

I guess what I'm saying is it seems more rational to me for a person to obsess over someone because of their ideals or heroics rather than to obsess over a man or group of men because they are hired by the same company or because of the men can throw a ball farther than the average man.  The fact that one of the two might be fictional doesn't really matter.

[shmokes]

it just seems that they are oblivious to how foolish they look, and I don't mean just their appearance but rather their behavior (being waaay to serious about their costume/persona or worse yet thinking that by doing a really poor imitation of the character they are being cool).

I think what I said about sports is not too far off from what you said here.  These sports guys are not being serious.  They are serioius fanatics, of course.  But they (most of them, anyway) are not remotely oblivious to how foolish they look.  And they don't take themselves seriously.  They are doing the opposite . . . they're being intentionally goofy.

But whatever . . . I'm honestly willing to concede the point rather than argue the distinctions.  I don't think I would ever paint my face for a sports team unless my kid wanted me to.  I'm willing to do all kinds of ridiculous things for my kid, so that probably doesn't count.  If you are insistent that doing it for sports is just as bad that's ok.

Butsuggesting that getting really drunk is something you should never do?  Meh . . . Loosen up.  Life is way too short to be lived so conservatively.

[JeepMonkey]

If I wasn't depressed before watching that video, I sure as hell am depressed now.

I must disagree.  Watcing this video makes me feel much better about myself.

[protokatie]

I think part of the reason why the star wars fans look at star trek fans as being "lesser" has to do with the basic mood of either franchise. To star wars fans (myself included, but only original trilogy) the star trek universe seems fake and unrealistic. This is possibly due to the mood of star trek being that of a future utopia, wear as star wars is of a dystopian struggle against oppression.

Negative feels more real, basically.

[Dartful Dodger]

These sports guys are not being serious.  They are serioius fanatics, of course.  But they (most of them, anyway) are not remotely oblivious to how foolish they look.  And they don't take themselves seriously.  They are doing the opposite . . . they're being intentionally goofy.

Really? Mention the Cubs to a Sox fan or the Sox to a Cubs fan.


A sports fanatic will know every stat for every player and every score for every game, but they don't know a second language.

A Star Trek/Star Wars fan will know every character on every world in a fictional universe, but they'll also know math and stuff.

[patrickl]

Another group of fans that seems to be going for "weirdest":