I was reluctant at first, but became a fully fledged Trekkie when I watched the movie in which Captain Kirk and Spock land in 1980s San Francisco
‘You’re talking about the end of every life on Earth! You’re half-human, haven’t you got any goddamn feelings about that?,” says James T Kirk to Spock, in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. A seemingly unstoppable natural disaster looks set to consume the planet, and the only chance of salvation is the ultimate long shot. No, not convincing American teenagers to stop going to the beach during a pandemic, but travelling back in time to fetch a pair of humpback whales in the hopes that they will tell an environmentally destructive interstellar probe to buzz off. It may sound absurd, but Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home teases the story out so it all clicks into place. It’s a film beloved by hardcore fans and mainstream audiences who otherwise thumbed their nose at the oft-stigmatised franchise.
When I saw it at age 12, I was only vaguely aware of Star Trek. I knew that Captain Kirk was a tough guy, Spock was logical and Leonard “Bones” McCoy was goofy. I also knew that some losers were so into this stuff that they could have conversations in Klingon. But about 10 minutes into this adventure (which is the conclusion to an arc that begins with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continues with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) I knew I had no choice but to become one of the devoted – and frequently mocked – Trekkies. Like a Klingon Bird-of-Prey on a slingshot warp around the sun’s gravitational pull, my life had been sent on a new trajectory.
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