Whatever side of the political fence you may fall on when it comes to your opinion of our current POTUS Barack Obama, one thing is for sure: he was our first 100% true nerd President. Over the past eight years, he has frequently espoused his love of legendary geek properties like Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian, comics which he read voraciously while growing up. Another of Obama’s big geek loves is Star Trek. In fact, one more than one occasion, Obama has been compared to none other than Mr. Spock, which is the highest praise any nerd could ask for.
Now, in a video interview with Wired magazine titled “President Barack Obama on the True Meaning of Star Trek” (which you can view above), Obama talks about the classic series, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Obama delves into why he remains a fan of what the show represents. When describing what made the series so substantial, he says, “It wasn’t actually about technology. It was about values and human relationships. And that’s why it didn’t matter that the special effects were kind of cheesy and bad.”Obama adds about Star Trek, “It put forth the notion of a common humanity, and a confidence in our ability to solve problems.” He later says, “We’ve all got a little bit of Spock and a little bit of Kirk and a little bit of Scotty… maybe some Klingon in us, right?”
The only time when Barack lost some Trek cred is when he suggested there were only 20 episodes of the series, which they seemingly showed on a loop. Every hardcore Trekker knows there are 79 episodes of the original series. Maybe he just meant 20 great episodes… which, honestly, would be about right. This glaring omission notwithstanding, Obama’s love for Star Trek seems as pure as any true geek’s.
Do you agree with the POTUS on what makes Star Trek so special and enduring? Leave us your thoughts down in the comments below.
Images: CBS
