Out of This World
Star Trek fans are pretty weird. So tell us something we don't know.

Trekkies
Narrated by Denise Crosby
Directed by Roger Nygard

JUST HOW BIZARRE AND DEVOTED are fans of Star Trek, the 33-year-old TV and movie empire about the history of the future?

Take the case of "Bones" Frazetti, a Star Trekfan whose closely cropped copper hair nicely complements his teal blue Federation uniform, which he wears to the Star Trek conventions he attends on the arm of his somewhat younger companion. He isn't a big talker, but you can tell from his wide green eyes that he loves to dress up and play spaceman.

Frazetti didn't live to see himself appear on screen in Trekkies, a documentary about the Star Trek phenomenon and its multitude of fanatical followers. So director Roger Nygard dedicated the film to Frazetti, whom we see, in his final days, kneeling beside the cement star placed on a Los Angeles sidewalk to honor DeForest Kelley, the actor who plays Dr. "Bones" McCoy on Star Trek.

"Bones" Frazetti is a tabby cat, one of two animals in Trekkies who - whether they know it or not - are Star Trek fans. The other is Tammi, an impassive black poodle whose raven-haired owner dresses her dog in a full Federation body suit, right down to the tips of his toes.

To tell you the truth, I rather enjoyed Trekkies, although it will take a miracle for this 90-minute documentary to live long and prosper. After all we've seen over the years about Star Trek, there's nothing new here, just more of it all in one place, and not with any noticeable acumen.

The "star" of Trekkies is Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar for about half a season on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and then left the series, reportedly because she had grew bored with how little she had to do. I can't imagine she's having much more fun here. Aside from exhibiting a few of the myriad items sent to her by fans over the years - everything from a needlepoint of Tasha to some erotic drawings of Tasha in a teddie seducing a topless Data - all Crosby does in Trekkies is hold a microphone up to people's faces so they can talk to the camera.

The other Star Trek stars have more to say: Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Majel Barrett, John de Lancie, LeVar Burton, Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley and even (briefly, thank God) William Shatner give interviews in which they talk about the cultural significance of Star Trek, as well as its importance in their own lives.

Kate Mulgrew (Capt. Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager) visits dying children in the hospital. James Doohan (Scottie on the original series), sounding quite frail, once saved a woman from suicide. Nimoy got a thrill when he learned John Wayne was a fan. Nichols recalls how her TV role in the 1960s inspired young black women to believe in themselves.

This is all very nice, and you have to give Star Trek credit for its effect on popular culture and the individuals who watch it. But why in heaven's name would an Orlando, Fla., dentist want to turn his practice into "Starbase Dental," wherein he over-decorates his office with all manner of Star Trek trinkets and asks his employees (himself included) to dress in Star Trek uniforms?

There's probably no stranger Trekkie than Barbara Adams, a Kentucky woman who's captain of a Star Trek club - all of these clubs do charitable work to enact the show's philosophy - and who wears her uniform everywhere. That would include the federal courthouse, where she sat on the Whitewater jury. Naturally she attracted press attention, and one reporter said she seemed to leave the building after testimony each day with a "Vulcan-like stoicism."

Did I say Barbara was the strangest? I take that back: Doug, a fan from Portland, formerly dressed up like a minor Star Trek character, but now he dresses like the character's wife, complete with wig and lipstick. And there's also a small Trek fanzine where Spock and Kirk have sex with each other, although the authors claim they write it for women who crave erotic stories about these two sexy men but who don't want to imagine their paramours with other women.

From time to time in Trekkies, people blather on about a future without hunger and hatred. So one way to read the Star Trek phenomenon is in terms of this dreamy, pop-cult wish fulfillment in a hectic, horrifying, unjust world. Here's another way: Most people live insufferably dull lives, and dressing to obsess carves out a quirky new personality to replace your humdrum self.

Are some of these fans remarkably well-educated about science and technology? Of course. Are they decent, harmless, genial folks? No doubt. And are most of them pretty damned weird? On that subject, the ever-droll Brent Spiner sums it up best when he says, "I don't think I've ever met anyone, Star Trek fan or not, who isn't a little peculiar." If "Bones" Frazetti were alive today, he'd certainly agree.