ArpitGarg's Weblog

Even after 50 odd years, the charm and fan following of Star Trek is ever growing. Apart from the general attraction of sci-fi and the lure of the unknown, what is it about the Star Trek in particular that attract the fans?

The answer is not so simple. It comes from the 60’s, the race to the moon, improved film technology etc. The characters that Star Trek created and the format of space travel with a new adventure every week, was something that made Star Trek unique.

If you go back to The Original Series (TOS) from 60’s, even today you won’t find it too dated. And the credit goes to the issue based stories that Star Trek told. With the sci-fi genre, the series explored concepts of gender equality, racial discrimination, existence of God. It also gave cool new gadgets in phasers, technology such as transporters and the chance to meet the other intelligent organisms in the vast cosmos.

And the charm is still strong due to the fact that however advanced we have become, we still are bound by the speed of light and haven’t been contacted by any alien race. Thus, the attraction of meeting a new alien race in each new episode still sounds fresh.

The characters that were created are still fresh, be it Kirk, Spock or McCoy. Specially Spock, the pointy eared logical being was nerd of the nerds. No surprise that he is adored by nerds all over. An outcast and intelligent being, not able to understand that emotional people around him.

The flirty leader Kirk, the nagging McCoy, the loyal Scotty, all characters were rooted in stereotypes and hence easy to follow.

The era of race to the moon made common people informed about space. Star Trek came at the right moment. It monetized that curiosity and created a generation of space enthusiasts, many of them went on to become great scientists.

My advice to all developing nations is to have such shows on public broadcast regularly. It might be just the thing their nation needs to generate scientific curiosity amongst the children who will eventually help in nation building.