Home is where the Nexus is
As sometimes happen on lazy holiday weekends, my parents and I found ourselves with nothing to do this evening and began flipping through the channels, where we settled on watching “Star Trek: Generations”.
A few important things to note before I go further with this story - My parents, specifically my Mom, introduced me to and raised me on Star Trek. Next Generation was maybe the only show we all watched together. My parents themselves haven’t watched much since I left home, but I still carry it with me and, indeed, sometimes question the amount of time and emotional energy I continue to devote to it.
Anyways, while we were watching this particular installment (maybe not the finest, but the technically the most Christmasy!), my Mom said something that I found surprisingly touching. As the scene opened on the seafaring Enterprise of yore, and we first see shots of all the crew, my Mom said quietly to herself “It’s really nice to see these guys again. It’s like seeing old friends.”
Whoo boy, did that get me. On top of suddenly realizing just how evocative the three of us watching the movie together was of all those past viewings, I was, er, transported to a host of other memories. Like getting balcony seats with our church friends at Edmond Town Hall theater to see “The Undiscovered Country” and going out for Little Caesars afterwards. Or the time my best friend in 5th grade told me one day, out of the blue, that she was going to try to watch Star Trek so I could talk to her about it. Or the family trip we took to Las Vegas mostly just to go to the Star Trek Experience. Or continuing to watch even “Voyager” because I think my Mom felt like maybe I was being instilled with some sort of Janeway-as-women’s empowerment message. (My Dad, who slept through most of the series, to this day will say “Hey, isn’t that 7-of-9!” whenever he sees Jerri Ryan on TV.) Or that recent experiment in human endurance, To Boldly Drink, through which childhood innocence was lost and new bonds of hardship were forged.
Anyway, the point is, yes, it was like seeing old friends, and yes, it was really nice to see them again. They brought with them that shared moment of nostalgia and fondness that all good old friends do. But, more importantly for me, they solidified the understanding that it’s not really about the show itself (which is indeed sometimes truly awesome and is sometimes, well, Generations), but about the experiences we build around it, which have been, and continue to be, truly great.
So I guess I’m OK continuing to spend questionable amounts of time and energy building that experience. Thanks for the memories so far, crew. And Bones, buckle up!
Erin, I really liked reading this, because that’s basically how I feel these days when I watch Deep Space 9.
2 years ago