1. Checking Out My Popularity On The Internet
One day I was surfing around on the Internet to find out if anyone had posted any articles in response to my articles here on my PEAKD channel. I was curious to know if anyone had even called me out on anything inasmuch as I am not mindless of the controversial nature of the content that I post here on this writing platform.
I'm well aware that there are bound to be people who disapprove of what I post. But, hey! Isn't that what free speech is supposed to be all about? I have recently encountered a few Hivers, Hiveans, Hivians, or Hivereans who want to turn this writing platform into a convent or a monastery. (*Note - I can never pinpoint the correct term for someone who posts on the Hive writing platform.)
I did stumble across this one article on the Conservapedia website that included a link to my article titled "Ephebophilia Isn't Pedophilia! It's Not Even A Psychiatric Disorder," which could explain why I've been getting an unusually high amount of traffic on that one article. The Conservapedia article was actually about pedophilia, but the reason that it had provided a link to my above-described article was because the author of it wanted to specify that ephebophilia had no relationship to pedophilia.
Nevertheless, I decided to go ahead and read this same Conservapedia article to learn what it had to say. In doing so, I came across this one interesting piece of information regarding an article that Ellen Ladowsky had published in the Huffington Post. Therein she reported that most pedophiles were hardcore Star Trek fans.
In her article, Ms. Ladowsky had stated:
The LA Times recently ran a story about the Child Exploitation Section of the Toronto Sex Crimes Unit, which contained a mind-boggling statistic: of the more than 100 offenders the unit has arrested over the last four years, "all but one" has been "a hard-core Trekkie." Blogger Ernest Miller thought this claim was improbable. "I could go to a science fiction convention," he explained "and be less likely to find that 99+ percent of the attendees were hard-core Trekkies." While there may be quibbling about the exact numbers, the Toronto detectives claim that the connection is undeniable.
In fact, Star Trek paraphernalia has so routinely been found at the homes of the pedophiles they've arrested that it has become a gruesome joke in the squad room. (On the wall, there is a Star Trek poster with the detectives' faces replacing those of the crew members). This does not mean that watching Star Trek makes you a pedophile. It does mean that if you're a pedophile, odds are you've watched a lot of Star Trek.
After I had read that information, I could not stop laughing. Not that I had any problem with Ms. Ladowsky reporting these same facts or the Conservapedia quoting her. I just so absolutely happen to hate Star Trek. Therefore, despite that I disagree with self-proclaimed child advocates on a number of juvenile-justice-related issues, I can now be rest assured that I am definitely not a pedophile and that I have never been one regardless of what any of these self-proclaimed child advocates may think about me for contradicting them on a number of occasions.
There was this one Star Trek movie that I did like. It was titled Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. However, I only liked it inasmuch as the late Ricardo Montalbán was in it. If he had not been in that same movie, I probably would not have watched it.
Also, that particular Star Trek movie was done on a higher intellectual level than the other ones were. For example, the movie delved into the process of terra-forming. Then again, George Lucas could have easily incorporated that same vehicle in one of his Star Wars sequels. It wasn't a vehicle that would have been restricted exclusively to the Star Trek universe.
Anyhow, I wonder what Ms. Ladowsky would have to say about Battlestar Galactica fans. Of course, as noted above in her article, it appears that the same rule of thumb that applies to Muslims on whether they are terrorists also applies to Star Trek fans on whether they are pedophiles. That is, most terrorists are Muslims, but most Muslims are not terrorists; whereas most pedophiles are hardcore Star Trek fans, but most Star Trek fans are not pedophiles.
If you wish to read Ms. Ladowsky's article in its entirety, it is titled "Pedophilia and Star Trek." Go ahead and click on it, because it'll give you some very interesting information as for what attracts pedophiles to Star Trek episodes, Star Trek movies, and the likes. The article may be a little dated, but Ms. Ladowsky wrote nothing in it in bad taste. She merely stated the facts therein as she should have done so.
2. The Brunt Of My Humorous Reaction
I mean no disrespect to any of you out there who may be Star Trek fans, but I was tickled after I read this same article that Ellen Ladowsky had published in the Huffington Post. You see? There have been certain aspects about Star Trek that have revolted me insofar as I have found them greatly offensive to me.
So many years ago when I was eating dinner over at my sister's residence, my brother-in-law pulled me into an argument about whether or not I would ever be a published science-fiction author. I mainly write science-fiction novels in my aspirations to break into the traditional publishing industry.
My brother-in-law is a passionate Star Trek fan, and he and I do not get along very well. Therefore, I could not stop laughing about the fact that most pedophiles are hardcore Star Trek fans. Then again, when I think about the fact that he is a father of two daughters, I probably shouldn't find it funny at all.
That one time that I was eating at my sister's house and my brother-in-law zeroed in on me with his non-stop narrative on why he didn't believe that there was much hope of my science-fiction work ever getting published, he compared my writings with those of the late Gene Roddenberry in the form of his Star Trek shows and movies. I was unaware that the late Gene Roddenberry was an atheist, but, of course, that one minor detail is unimportant to me.
I never had much use for the late Gene Roddenberry. I heard that he gave William Shatner a load of difficulty insofar as he was verbally abusive with him when Mr. Shatner was acting in any of his Star Trek creations. I never found anything impressive about the late Gene Roddenberry. His series Earth: Final Conflict was somewhat cheesy.
During my above-described argument with my brother-in-law, my brother-in-law kept running his mouth about how my science-fiction work could never measure up to that of Star Trek. From what I heard, Star Trek did not have the greatest of Nielsen ratings from 1966 to 1969 when it originally aired. It wasn't until the 1970s after its reruns were showing that it did pick up in popularity.
My brother-in-law continued to be derisive about my first science-fiction novel. He got his daughters laughing at me. I think that it was from that point on that I really started to hate Star Trek. I felt insulted that my brother-in-law would compare my first science-fiction novel with something that I chalked off as a cliché at best.
The reason that I had wanted to become a science-fiction novelist was because I wanted to pull the science-fiction genre away from the clichés that Star Trek showcased. Science-fiction fans went to see E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial because they were sick and tired of the same old science-fiction movies with ray guns and egg-headed aliens. They wanted an actual storyline with real people in a science-fiction movie.
Nevertheless, here my brother-in-law was comparing my science-fiction prose with a television series that could not have lacked any more originality than it did. I always thought that the sets on the Star Trek series were cheap-looking and some of their plots were goofy.
At the time that my brother-in-law had this same argument with me, I was working at a semiconductor Fab to process computer chips. I had a conversation with a co-worker of mine named David who was also an aspiring science-fiction author, and I told him about my argument with my brother-in-law.
David asked me if my brother-in-law had ever written anything. I responded to him, "Not to my knowledge." David then explained to me that my brother-in-law had to have been jealous of me. I told David that I had wondered about that possibility.
Another co-worker of mine back then whose name I can't remember also brought up the subject of Star Trek with me at lunch. She told me that she hated Star Trek and complained, "Those Vulcan ears do nothing for me." I smiled and responded to her that my brother-in-law was actually a Trekkie.
I stopped taking my brother-in-law's nonsense seriously. He is a man who has everything to be happy about, and yet he is envious of little ole' me. Wow! Some people aren't happy if they have the whole world in their hands. My brother-in-law wouldn't be happy if he were a king. Luckily, he no longer lives near where I live.
I still feel tempted to e-mail him a link to Ms. Ladowsky's above-aforementioned article about pedophilia's bizarre connection with Star Trek. On the other hand, I guess I should be happy that I don't have to put up with him anymore. At least not as often as when he lived within 30 minutes driving distance to my residence.
3. Final Thoughts
Once upon a time back when I was 15 years old, I read a science-fiction novel titled Clone by Richard Cowper for a book report for my tenth grade English class. I made the mistake of waiting until the last minute to read it and write up a book report about it. It was the most awful science-fiction novel I had ever read. Its plot was intellectually bankrupt. Even my English teacher could tell that I wasn't much into it.
On the other hand, reading this same science-fiction novel was what convinced me that I wanted to become a science-fiction author. I figured that if Richard Cowper could publish a science-fiction novel like this one successfully with a traditional publishing house (Avon), then anyone could do so. Therefore, I began writing my first science-fiction novel when I was 17 years old.
So many years later upon finding myself in an aimless argument with my brother-in-law on whether or not my science-fiction literary work was marketable, I developed this really odious feeling about Star Trek inasmuch as I don't really want anything I try to publish to be associated with it.
The joke is now on my brother-in-law, because he's a diehard Trekkie and it has been reported that most pedophiles are hardcore Trekkies. My brother-in-law lives far away from me. Therefore, I'm probably not going to bring it up in conversation the next time I see him. However, if he does decide to give me a hard time about anything, I will be bringing Ellen Ladowsky's above-described article to his undivided attention. LOL!
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