‘Star Trek saved my life’

STAR Trek saved my life. It seems silly but I wouldn’t be here to write this if it wasn’t for both the support of my parents and the journey of the starship Enterprise.

“As a nine-year-old, I should have felt carefree and enjoying the time of my life on the playground. Instead, I was in a dark place, not wanting to get out of bed in the morning and desperately pleading with my parents not to send me to school, because I was simply unable to face another day of fear, pain and humiliation.”

STAR Trek saved my life. It seems silly but I wouldn’t be here to write this if it wasn’t for both the support of my parents and the journey of the starship Enterprise.

Flashback 20 years to early 1996 — John Howard has just become prime minister, Happy Gilmore is in cinemas, Celine Dion’s Because You Loved Me was at the top of the charts and on the Gold Coast there was a young boy in distress.

The original cast of Star Trek.

As a nine-year-old, I should have felt carefree and enjoying the time of my life on the playground.

Instead, I was in a dark place, not wanting to get out of bed in the morning and desperately pleading with my parents not to send me to school, because I was simply unable to face another day of fear, pain and humiliation.

I became the target of school bullies who preyed on the weak and let their fists, and cricket bats, do the talking.

Too embarrassed to tell my parents what was going on, I took the beatings and abuse, keeping the aching sadness to myself.

The USS Enterprise.

The pain of those incidents lasted far longer than the bruises, which faded with time as the memories stayed strong.

Those who say that school was the best years of their lives clearly were never tied to a tree with skipping rope, beaten with a cricket bat and thrown into a urine-filled trough in the boys toilets.

Teachers and classmates asked what I wanted to do in the future and I couldn’t answer, because I didn’t think I would have one.

So what does Star Trek have to do with any of this?

I had been a fan of the much-venerated science fiction franchise, which this week marked its 50th anniversary, for years and some of my earliest memories included the brightly coloured adventures of the Enterprise’s crew.

Looking to distract me from the existential black hole I found myself in, my parents did everything they could to raise my spirits including the fateful hiring of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home from the local video shop.

The crew of Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home Leonard Nimoy as Spock, William Shatner as Admiral James T Kirk, DeForest Kelley as Dr Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy, and James Doohan as Scotty

Seeing it for the first time was nothing short of an epiphany.

The Leonard Nimoy-directed film featured a mixture of humour, time travel and science fiction, depicting both the present day and the bright future of the 23rd century.

It, and the other Trek episodes and films I immediately began devouring, hit me like a sledgehammer, showing an almost utopian world where humanity had put aside its petty problems and come together in peace.

The USS Enterprise.

There were battles with Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians and plenty of other aliens in outlandish costumes and make-up but most of all, there was the ever-present idea that life would get better.

By day I ran the gauntlet of the playground thugs but at night I dreamt of a future again.

Star Trek, and the journey of the USS Enterprise across the universe gave me hope when I had none and inspired that young boy to look beyond those small people toward the stars.

I soon changed schools, thanks in no small part to my parents moving Heaven and Earth to get me out of a toxic situation and putting me on the path to where I am today.

The bullies were left behind, but my love of Star Trek carried me through those dark days and into a future I could not have conceived.

William Shatner as Captain Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock in Star Trek.

In the following years I got my very own Starfleet uniform, watched all 729 episodes and films and even met my heroes, William Shatner and Sir Patrick Stewart.

Even today, during difficult times I can still turn to the 23rd and 24th centuries to regain that feeling that life will go on and get better eventually.

Gold Coast Bulletin journalist Andrew Potts with his Star Trek uniform. Photo: Jerad Williams

Few things can generate as big a smile, or such warm feelings of nostalgia, as the opening bars of Alexander Courage’s fanfare from the Star Trek Theme.

This week, five decades after television audiences first met Captain Kirk, Mr Spock and the rest of the Enterprise’s crew, their adventures continue to inspire fans both old and new.

The dream that is Star Trek has thrilled audiences, broke box office records, inspired real-life technology and changed the world we live in.

It has boldly gone where no one has gone before, and long may it continue.

Patrick Stewart stars as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: First Contact.

DUMMIES GUIDE TO STAR TREK

What is Star Trek:

It’s six television series and 13 films for a total of 729 adventures. The shows include — The Original Series (1966-1969), The Animated Series (1973-1974), The Next Generation (1987-1994), Deep Space Nine (1993-1999), Voyager (1995-2001) and Enterprise (2001-2005).

Basic plot:

All the individual series have a slightly different cast and story but all take place in the future, between the 22nd and 24th centuries. Each follows a crew from Starfleet, an Earth-based organisation which is the military and scientific wing of the United Federation of Planets. Some of these series following the original Enterprise (NCC-1701) and its crew, one of its successors (The NCC-1701-D), a mission based on a remote space station (Deep Space Nine), a ship lost on the other side of the galaxy (Voyager) and one of the Earth’s early ships (Enterprise).

Who are the main characters?

It depends on which adventures you are watching but most famously Captain (later Admiral) James T Kirk (William Shatner) and his first officer, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) led the original cast while Sir Patrick Stewart was the Next Generation’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard. From the other series, Avery Brooks is DS9’s Captain Ben Sisko, a proud African-American, Kate Mulgrew was Voyager’s Captain Kathryn Janeway and Scott Bakula was Enterprise’s Captain Jonathan Archer. Chris Pine plays the younger version of Kirk.

Where should I start?

Most episodes from any of the series can be a jump-on point, but in terms of new fans, I’d recommend starting with either 2009’s Star Trek, or 1982’s The Wrath of Khan. Khan is widely regarded as the series’ best effort and one of the great sci-fi adventures.

What should I avoid?

The first film Star Trek: The Motion Picture is an interesting movie which is highly cerebral but not a particularly engaging film and is not one for beginners. Likewise, avoid the nonsensical 1989 film The Final Frontier and 1994’s confusing Generations unless you’re well-versed in the universe. The early seasons of The Next Generation are also not great.

Is there more to come?

Yes, a fourth film following the younger versions of Kirk and Spock has been commissioned which will see the return of Australia’s own Chris Hemsworth as the captain’s father. Meanwhile, a new television series, Discovery, begins in January