Free Post…

A Star Trek dentist office?  Really?…c’mon.  Now I have seen everything.  To be completely honest, I don’t understand how anyone can become so obsessed with a show, or a movie, or anything and having it overtake their lives.  Now I understand that there will be extremes in both directions for everything, but regarding fans and fanfiction, is being obsessed with a show or movie, etc, a good thing?  When does a harmless obsession lead to a dangerous addiction?  Addiction in any form can be bad, but does an addiction to a specific instance in media cause harm?

In my opinion…yes.  Let me first set the record straight.  I love TV shows, movies, comics, almost everything.  I think fans are a neccessity in all those mediums and should contiune being fans for as long as they live.  Thriving on the next sequel or the next episode is a harmless rush of anticipation that is continuously reemerging week after week or year after year.  I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t watch the new episode of The Office, or House, or better yet LOST.  But what I wouldn’t do is devote my life to remembering and purchasing every thingamajig that has ever been made, dressing up as the characters on a daily basis, or learning every single fact of every single episode or every single sequel or every single chapter.  I believe these are characteristics of an addict, in Star Trek terms, a “Trekkie”.

Now when thinking about addicts, you usually think of a drug addict, or at least I do.  Now I do want to state that a drug addict and a “Trekkie” are very different.  One difference is that drugs are illegal, and Fandom is not.  But they are also similar.  Drugs addicts only think about drugs and getting high, while “Trekkies” only think about Star Trek, which in turn gives them a high.  I believe that this mindset can be very destructive to themselves and the people around them.  Now I don’t want to seem like I am intolerant to these “Trekkies”, it’s their lives and they can do whatever they want.  I am impressed on the level of dedication they have and would love to put the same dedication they have to my studies, but unfortuantly that is most likely unrealistic.