Mutants and monsters

Male prostitute turned favored White House reporter James Guckert (aka Jeff Gannon) complained to the New York Post that he wasn't invited to the White House Correspondents Dinner. "Probably many who would want to extend such an invitation already assume I will be in attendance." Yes, that's it. Meanwhile, Halfway Down the Danube has learned that HDTD friend John Krewson will be in attendance, as will the comic stylings of Cedric the Entertainer. Remember, John, if things go south, who to take out first. Meanwhile, Star Trek is rapidly sliding down the dark abyss whence no subculture returns. First there was the Trek-cannibalism connection in Germany. Now there's this horrifying story in the Los Angeles Times:

On one wall is a "Star Trek" poster with investigators' faces substituted for the Starship Enterprise crew. But even that alludes to a dark fact of their work: All but one of the offenders they have arrested in the last four years was a hard-core Trekkie. Det. Constable Warren Bulmer slips on a Klingon sash and shield they confiscated in a recent raid. "It has something to do with a fantasy world where mutants and monsters have power and where the usual rules don't apply," Bulmer reflects. "But beyond that, I can't really explain it."

A gallant researcher at BoingBoing did a bit more digging:

I have now spoken to Detective Ian Lamond of the Child Exploitation Section of the Toronto Sex Crimes Unit and he claims they were misquoted, or if that figure was given it was done so jokingly. Nevertheless, he does claim that a majority of those arrested show "at least a passing interest in Star Trek, if not a strong interest." They've arrested well over one hundred people over the past four years. Det. Lamond claims they can gauge this interest in Star Trek by the arrestees' "paraphenalia, books, videotapes and DVDs." I asked if this wasn't simply a general interest in science fiction and fantasy, such as Star Wars or Harry Potter or similar. He said, while there was sometimes other science fiction and fantasy paraphenalia, Star Trek was the most consistent and when he referred to a majority of the arrestees being Star Trek fans, it was Star Trek specific.

Still tres creepy.

Comments

[Bernard Guerrero]

Eek. I almost sent you a link on the Trek thing this morning when I saw it. I'm sure you and Doug will _not_ require three tries to guess what the very first word that went through my mind was. Though I do have to wonder if this isn't a matter of correlation to a third variable.

[Carlos]

A Biblical river, a country, a type of almond, the number 23? It's like the $64,000 Pyramid, in reverse.

I believe in the connection myself -- I've seen too much corroborating evidence elsewhere -- but I too wonder what the deeper reason is.

[Andrew Reeves]

I think that the correlation is that the Trek fandom is probably more a symptom of being very poorly socialized in general. Sometimes the poor socialization metastizes into outright pathology, which is what gets us our pederast trekkies. At least that's what it seems like to me.

[Carlos]

I think there's a different form of socialization going on. Somehow, it seems ST is feeding into certain paraphilias, and I can't figure out the mechanism.

(I mean, how poorly socialized do you have to be to do this stuff? As someone once said, "I know it's pretty damn weird to eat people.")

Will we have to pull Shatner out of his indie-rock career and have him make a Very Special Episode of Trek? "Eating. People. Is. Wrong. Having. Sex. With. Children. Is. Wrong."

[Bernard Guerrero]

"I believe in the connection myself -- I've seen too much corroborating evidence elsewhere -- but I too wonder what the deeper reason is."

I wonder what the mean and median ages of the perps are in both cases. Trek could just be a time-marker for another generational phenomenon.

[Andrew Reeves]

Do you think that the difference between the poorly socialized sci-fi fan and the pathological fan is one of kind rather than degree? I agree, eating people and having sex with kids is pretty f*****g sick, but couldn't that sickness in some cases spring from people who have willingly cut themselves off form the normal stimuli that turn people into functional members of society?

I mean, if you raised someone in a sensory deprivation chamber or without parents at all, if he lived he'd probably be a gibbering loon. I think that confining onesself to the Trek universe is simply a milder form of such deprivation.

And I say all of this as one who still rather enjoys TOS and TNG, and whose friends are more conversant with it than I.

[Carlos]

Andrew, many of these people [sic] are at first sight well-socialized (I am speaking of the non-cannibal group here). They aren't necessarily living in their stepmother's basement watching Nickelodeon with bad intent. Many have wives and children of their own.

And I certainly don't know how many are part of Star Trek fandom-as-a-community. (Although the detail about the Klingon sash seems indicative of further involvement for at least one person.) Trek might be their other secret vice.

Bernard, yeah, my guess is that Trek is a generational marker. What other markers would be for other generations, I have not a clue. The Daria cartoon, perhaps? Certain Piers Anthony books?

Okay, I'm done creeping myself out here. Back to Albanian law.

Carlos

[Carlos]

Incidentally, John reports that while Cedric was entertaining, the food good, and Laura Bush's jokes about her husband's penis problems -- which you've all seen by now -- mildly amusing, the wine was sub-par and the rest of the evening was rather dull. And for some unknown reason they sat him at the CATO Institute table.

(He did manage to startle an attractive female Secret Service agent. Note to self: do not tap the cute woman in the somber pantsuit with the earphone on the arm at your next presidential function.)

(Or what the hell, why not. It sure would be a 'meet cute'.)