As some of you may know, I’m currently filming a YouTube series (possibly soon to become a Podcast!) with my friend Dr. Erin Macdonald, about watching Star Trek for the very first time.
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I wanted to expand a bit on why this means so much to me.
I mean, why not just watch Star Trek for the first time quietly on my couch? Why broadcast it to the world?
It’s NOT just because I am of the generation that shares everything.
It’s something that goes much deeper, and that story is what I’d like to share today.
I think I was in Middle School when I first saw Star Wars (not a typo – read on), maybe earlier. I received a box set of three VHS tapes – the full trilogy.
It was a Christmas present, and because my parents were neeeever sci-fi people, even to this day, I’m sure this was the sort of thing where they thought “well, it’s a cultural icon, yeah, the kids should see Star Wars, even though I don’t really know why…”
Little did they know how much I would take to it.
And in case you’re wondering where Star Trek figures into the story – well, give it a minute…there’s a lot to unpack here.
A few years prior to seeing Star Wars, I had the unfortunate experience of being in the wrong place at the wrong time – if that phrase can even be applied to seeing a tv show 🤔
As a young kid I HATED anything scary. To the extent that the preview for “Hocus Pocus” gave me nightmares, and I hid under a table when the movie happened to be shown at a slumber party.
And claymation gave me the willies so I never watched “The Nightmare Before Christmas” until I was 27. Also because “nightmare” was in the title I figured I should just avoid it anyway. (Watch: what I thought after seeing it for the first time!)
(Side note: claymation actually still freaks me out. If anyone wants to try and make me watch Wallace and Gromit…don’t).
I was about 8 years old when I watched my first Star Trek episode – and my last Star Trek episode until my early 30s.
I can still feel the sheer terror of seeing the events of that episode unfold. I couldn’t comprehend how or why anyone in their right mind would want to watch this show. I swore I’d never ever watch Star Trek ever again.
Preparing to watch Star Wars, a few years after the fateful Star Trek incident, armed with stuffed animals and blankets because I thought it was the same thing – I was fully ready to have this just be another movie.
Boy was I unprepared for the effect Star Wars would have on my life.
Part 2 – coming soon! : How Star Wars Changed My Life, and what the heck this all has to do with Star Trek
~ Keep Exploring, Historians ♡
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