I was just expressing an opinion... so, please don't get stuck on my "folksy jargon"... I'm pretty sure you get what I'm saying... and no... Trek is not a charity... but that wasn't what I was suggesting... many fans right here on this board, and otherwise, connect to the Trek franchise in ways that are very meaningful to them... and when large changes are made many fans take it very personal.
Forgive me for being an old-school, nitpicking Trekkie.
Believe me, I understand the investment fans have in whatever they enjoy. However, the fandom is divided enough. I'd rather focus on what we have in common than what separates us or how some fans are more genuine than others. I'd rather use more descriptive terms like "long-time" than "real."
The past couple years have shown me that there are folks who enjoy Star Trek merely on the surface. They don't dig deep. Good for them (even though they seem to freak out more than others).
There are also those who treat it like a college course, studying every single aspect of the franchise, from concept through production and beyond, as an entertainment property and a business.
Plenty fall somewhere in between. We have our favorite incarnations, our favorite settings and casts. We argue over canon but it's just friendly banter.
We all get different things out of it and when that overlaps, we've got a community like this one dedicated to collecting toys based on Trek.
I guess what bugs me are assumptions that "most real fans" don't like [fill in the blank] based on what we read in this bubble, dismissing all the fans who made [fill in the blank] successful because they're not like us.