It's true my primary reason for erecting a web site in the first place is to provide information about myself and the BDSM issues I'm passionate about. I try to present my material in a uniquely entertaining fashion, and judging by the letters I get, I am successful. But most of the people who visit my site are not big Star Trek fans, and they have little interest in caricatures of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. I imagine some people might feel that having the pointy-eared Trekkie stuff on my otherwise serious site dilutes the overall message of my site, and might even cause a few people to question the solidity of my sanity.
What is UP with that? Why am I still fantasizing about characters from a show that was taken off the air after a short run over thirty years ago? There are so many wonderful shows that are more recent that I could be writing about. What's so special about dear, shagadelic old Star Trek?
I'm not going to rhapsodize at this time about what's so special about the show's gallant hero and beloved cast of characters. That Star Trek continues to inspire fanatical love and devotion in millions of people worldwide needs no apology, and continues to defy logical explanation. There are plenty of reasons why it's a cornball show that should have been forgotten by now. I'm also not going to explain here how I see Captain Kirk as a kinky character. That is very convincingly and hilariously argued at the Silly Star Trek Obsession site.
Captain Kirk should matter to Leatherfolk. Allow me to explain why.
I assume you have visited Silly Star Trek Obsession and have been persuaded to agree with me that there was a lot of kinky stuff in that old TV program. So what? There's a lot of kinky stuff on TV, in movies, and in popular novels and songs, and this has pretty much always been true as long as anyone of us can remember. Star Trek did nothing new in that regard. I'm sure any one of you can point to a number of examples. From Cole Porter's "I get a kick out of you" to Devo's "Whip It", and beyond, the kinky bone has been tickled again and again, often quite deliberately. Popular media panders to us even as our culture oppresses us.
What Star Trek did that was different, what makes that show very special, is that, for whatever reason, it's a show that still moves and matters. Star Trek was fantastically influential, and the influence is world-wide, eternally renewed, and still growing. The Star Trek juggernaut spawned a movement with a philosophy, and continuously births a seemingly unending stream of fresh fantasy material. Series after series, movie after movie, who knows how many novels, magazines, comic books, and a rushing river of unauthorized but unstoppable fan fiction and art which completely outshines the authorized stuff in creativity and audacity, not to mention VOLUME. Literally millions of fans worldwide, hundreds of millions, are avid consumers of anything imaginable that is TREK related.
All of this was founded on the broad shoulders of the irrepressible, inimitable Captain James T. Kirk. Kirk and his intrepid crew were the light in the darkness that set fire to the world. It's even more significant that although later Treks were offered to the public, a huge diehard fanbase still clings with most uncommon, ferocious dedication to the original Enterprise, and her most unusual Captain.
Nobody much cares anymore whether characters from I Spy or Man From U.N.C.L.E. were tying each other up when they weren't being captured and tied up by the villain du jour, but CAPTAIN KIRK STILL MATTERS.
He's ~not dead~ Jim.
Any other fad phenomenon that enjoyed such astonishing longevity and vigor would be a subject of intense and very serious study, and indeed, Star Trek is studied with utmost seriousness by deeply sober social scientists worldwide. It would be interesting for them to compare it to other TV programs that generated similar excitement, but they can't do that, because no other TV show comes close to doing what Star Trek has done.
The ORIGINAL Star Trek, that is. If not for the first, there wouldn't have been a second, nor any of the rest of it.
Star Trek fans have some interesting things in common with Leatherfolk. Each of these groups is an international nation without boundaries. The internet has been very good for both Trekkers and Leatherfolk, because it facilitates communication between people who live at opposite ends of the world, and everywhere in between, making the growth of these subcultures explode.
Star Trek fans also like dressing up and playing let's pretend, and they very often like imagining that the Star Trek characters enjoy dominance relationships. A healthy number of Star Trek fans are themselves into leathersex.
Leatherfolk also often love scifi and fantasy fiction, and as a matter of fact, a large percentage of Leatherfolk are also Star Trek fans.
These two gigantic, powerful international populations share much, including a healthy number of people like myself who have a booted foot firmly placed in each camp.
Why Captain Kirk? I detail my reasons at the SSTO site, and I hope you will read my commentaries and fiction there. Briefly, Captain Kirk is not only one of the kinkiest heroes you will find, but he is without question one of the most thoroughly positive fictional heroes ever. Leatherfolk have very few perfectly positive fantasy figures: most of the protagonists in BDSM novels are strange, sad people who often come to a bad end, but not James Tiberius Kirk! Captain Kirk is not only a positive role model for us, he is the Chief of them all for everybody.
This guy, who is in fact the iconic hero figure of the twentieth century; this guy, who will represent our age the way Beowulf and King Arthur represent theirs... bent and flat out broke all the rules as he swashbuckled in his dashing way all over the galaxy. Then, instead of being punished, he got rewarded for it. After 5 years of merrily fucking with every planet full of people that cross his path, in a ship which, under his leadership, came to resemble a flying Gomorrah, he gets promoted to Admiral! Nice going!
Hey, James T. Kirk...what are you gonna do next!?
All site contents Copyright L. Goodwin 1990 - 2002