"Aliens come with Peace"The Indonesian Star Trek community brought the crew of the U.S.S Enterprise to life on Sunday (June, 14 2009), as they gathered at the Keong Mas IMAX theater in Taman Mini, East Jakarta, to watch the latest instalment of the forty-year-old franchise. Some 800 Trekkies (as they are called), including 671 members of the Indo-Startrek community, flocked to the theater to watch the much-anticipated movie, which chronicles the early years of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and their fellow crew members. Coming all the way from several big cities nationwide, the Trekkies enlivened the event in their full character costumes. Bowo Trahutomo, one of the Trekkies, said the Indo-Startrek community initiated the gathering because the community members were very eager to watch this movie. "Before today, we have also held similar events, watching the movie together, and the tickets were always sold out," said Bowo, who was dressed as Captain Kirk, complete with a replica of the weapon featured in the original 1960s Star Trek series. The community announced Sunday's screening through its website and on several online forums in May. The Rp 65,000 (US$6.5) tickets sold out in just two and a half weeks. "This is really an incredible and spectacular movie. It teaches the values of peace and unity," Bowo said. "Besides, this film is special because it tells a chronicle of the early days of how the characters meet in the Starfleet," said the 36-year-old man, adding that he liked science fiction movies because of their philosophy. First formed in 1995 but not formally established until April 15, 2006, the Indo-Startrek community has around 500 members nationwide. "Most of our members are on their 20s or 30s, but we also have some members who are between 50 and 60 years old," Bowo said. The community's youngest member is an eight-year-old boy, who is very knowledgeable about all things Star Trek as he watches the movies and series on DVD with his father, Bowo added. The Trekkies love for Star Trek sees them spending hundreds of thousands of rupiah, even millions, on costumes and paraphernalia. "First, we download the pattern from the Internet, and then we create the costumes," said Bowo, adding that each costume cost about Rp 500,000. Since it is hard to find Star Trek apparel here, the community members often order the gear from overseas. Besides organizing routine group screenings, Indo-Startrek members are involved in a number of other activities, including talk shows about science fiction; they even participated in the recent World Book Day event and the Indonesian Consumunity (costume community) Expo. On June 27, the community will launch a book titled Science Fiction 1.0, a collection of 11 science fiction short stories written by its members. Through the activities, the community aims to bring back the heyday of science fiction, as the genre has declined in popularity since TV stations regularly aired sci-fi series in the 1970s to early 1990s. "We want to encourage the public to enjoy science fiction movies and encourage TV producers to air science fiction TV series," Bowo said.
Author: Desy Nurhayati , The Jakarta Post Indonesia Today
