Mulgrew On Smart Trek Fans
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Star Trek Voyager‘s Kate Mulgrew is appreciative of her Star Trek fanbase and unlike some Trek actors, is grateful for it.
Mulgrew has had nothing but good experiences with her Trek fans. “For me, [the Star Trek fans have] been systematically and categorically respectful, pleasurable, and a privilege,” she said. “I would say the fans have treated me nothing short of beautifully. I have never had a problem; I have never been insulted; I have never been assaulted. I’ve always felt like it was a dialogue and an important dialogue.”
Mulgrew wishes to encourage her fandom, especially the female fans. “And I’ve continued that [dialogue] and I want to continue it,” she said. “The women in particular. The women in science. The young girls who went through M.I.T. and who then became big fans. It’s very, very important that that is developed and encouraged, from my point of view, and I don’t think I’m ever going to change my mind about that.”
Whatever she does professionally, Mulgrew can always count on some Star Trek fans being around to support her. “They follow me with great fidelity,” she said. “They all come. They all stand outside. And they have done it for years. They come many, many, many times. That encourages in me a great fondness. I’m nothing if not loyal to begin with.”
Mulgrew has found that Trek fans are smarter than most. “I’ve also learned, through experience, that the level of real intelligence is perhaps considerably higher than average,” she said. “So, that what we refer to now culturally as a geek is really an incredibly smart person who is used to thinking on a much higher level.
“So once you adjust yourself to that reality, those conversations are fantastic. The average human being can’t really think on that level. They don’t understand about the string theory. They haven’t studied space. They certainly don’t know what’s going on at NASA. And all of these people have. So you know, I can have that to a point, they’re much smarter than I am. But that’s what’s going on. The idea of the nerd is the common man’s way of saying, ‘I can’t get to where you’re getting, so I think I’m just going to call you a nerd. Bring you down to my level.’ It doesn’t work like that.”
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I read a blog about a week ago by one of the people that attended the Trek London convention and, in their opinion, the two most entertaining speakers of the five “captains” were Mulgrew and Bakula. It’s funny how the two lead actors from the shows that are often ranked the lowest seem the most appreciative and welcoming to fans. Mulgrew has always come across in interviews as humble, positive, and even occasionally frank. I’m not what one would call a star-watcher, but it always makes me feel better about spending money on a product when the spokespeople are, at least in public, polite.
The worst speaker, apparently, was Avery Brooks, who spent most of his time joking with Cirroc Lofton and talking about side issues, but that is in keeping with the bizarre behavior Brooks seems to evince at every opportunity.
Just love Mulgrew, I’ve heard her speak at Star Trek conventions online and she is very entertaining and charismatic. It would be a total joy and pleasure to actually meet her in person as I’m sure many out there would agree. 🙂
I saw her and the other 4 captains in Philly this year and I have to agree. Mulgrew & Bakula were very entertaining and outgoing to everyone. Shatner was the usual Shatner, hocking his documentary at every turn. Patrick Stewart was entertaining as well, but can be somewhat short with people (or so I’ve noticed) and Avery Brooks was….. Kinda out there. Like on a different plane or something. He was very kind and gracious to me when I got his autograph, but during th Q&A, he mostly answered with one or two words and his behavior seemed like he didn’t want to be there. I guess everyone has their own agenda.