Where no one has gone before

Right now, I am proud to be a Trekkie, thanks to the new Star Trek movie. I remember in middle school, high school, college, I'd be so hesitant to admit that I loved Star Trek, that it really was the only show I watched in my youth. People would look at me with eyebrows raised, thinking, Really? That has to be the geekiest show ever invented! Who wants to hear about warp drive, the starboard necel, star clusters, Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans? Who wants to be lectured about the bigger issues in life? Why on EARTH would you watch that? So, I stopped admitting I watched it, until I found an equally dorky sorority sister at the University of Oregon. We confided that we both loved Star Trek: The Next Generation. Deborah is the same woman I went to see the movie with on Sunday.

I've been struggling to write a review, or even put into words what this movie meant to me. It made me both very happy, and very sad. Even thinking about it now makes me feel a little choked up. The actors chosen to represent the original crew were spot on, but I missed William Shatner, DeForest Kelly, James Doohan, George Takai. Nobody can ever replace them. Two of these actors are dead, and I can't tell you how awesome it was to have Leonard Nimoy in the movie. Especially when he told Kirk, "I am and always will be....your friend." That line brought tears to my eyes, and there were several other lines or innuendos that only true Trekkies got. I could hear pockets of laughter throughout Cinerama. I thought the man who played McCoy was absolutely incredible.

Star Trek means so much to so many people, but this movie is truly the "Next Generation." Friends of mine who never dreamed of watching Star Trek are telling me things like this:

"That looks so good! I really want to see it."

"Wow, those are great looking actors, and the special effects look amazing. I'm seeing it this week."

This has caught me totally by surprise, and I'm so thrilled and proud that something I've loved for so long is reaching new groups of people. Sure, the movie to me looked like "Star Trek on Crack." I've never seen such stunning special effects in a Star Trek movie, and it's truly out of this world. I'm going back to the theater very soon to see this with David, who is a HUGE fan of the Original Series. I want to know how many innuendos he picks up on, what he thinks of the new actors.

I feel a little bit nostalgic that I will never see the Original Crew, or the Next Generation Crew, share the stage again in a Star Trek movie. I will never see Data, or Warf, or Captain Picard. I hope that William Shatner is invited to be in the next movie; I'll always have a special place in my heart for the very first Kirk. But I am glad to have this new crew, this new group of actors, to bring Star Trek alive again. I can't wait for the next movie.....after I see this one 5 more times in the theater.