It really used to surprise me when I saw a reference to some fan wanting to 'decanonize' a Trek episode, series, or movie.  No longer.  I see it all the time, from the Niners who want Voyager to fall into the fourth dimension to Roddenberry fanatics who consider everything without his direct involvement to be unofficial or 'non-canon.'  There's a whole movement, particularly with fans of the original Star Trek, to decanonize the fifth series, Enterprise, for toying with their favorite alien race, the Vulcans...and even among the most diehard of Voyager fans, there are those who seem to want to wipe out all references to the Chakotay/Seven romance in the Voyager finale, "Endgame."

I guess I have a problem with this, and it's not because I can't understand where some of these people are coming from.  I for one would dearly love to decanonize vast chunks of the last 5 years of Voyager, as well as the whole plot of Star Trek V...but it's never gonna happen.  Paris/Torres (a romance that I detested from its first suggestion, and grew to loathe more and more over the course of the series) will always be there, and there's nothing I can do to get rid of it.  Since at least half of Voyager's fans disagree with me about this relationship, it's probably a good thing that I can't wipe it out.  Likewise, most fans hate Star Trek V, and probably want to shove it into the nearest temporal anomaly...but there are some who liked it, and thought that the plot added to the Trek universe. You can't please everyone all the time (though STV came the closest to displeasing all of us at the same time).  For every fan who wants to dump Enterprise, there are many others who praise it for its writing and acting, and have grown to love it.

What can I say?  I hated what they did to Weyoun at the end of DS9--not only did he not rebel (as I had obviously hoped), but they friggin killed him off!  Does that mean I decanonize "What You Leave Behind" and those episodes leading up to it?  Of course not...I just come up with creative ways to bring the little crawler back to life (spare clone in the Gamma Quadrant, anyone?).

So Uhura starts putting the moves on Scotty in STV, when there's no other indication of this anywhere.  Don't like it?  Fine, I didn't like it either--try this:  she was under the mind-altering influence of Sybok at the time.

Don't like the 22nd century as portrayed in Enterprise?  Fine...but lots of us do like it, so stop trying to write it out of history.  If you don't like it, just say to yourself that it happened in an alternate universe.

Speaking of alternate universes:  don't like Paris/Torres?  Just think of all the alternate universes out there where she's not with him!
 

These things can be explained away without having to hurl the word 'canon' around all over the place.  Someone may say that the reason to decanonize everything after TNG was that Roddenberry didn't create it...but most likely that's just because that person didn't like the next three series in question.  If that person did like those series, you can bet a bundle they wouldn't be trying to decanonize them.  What a novel concept, eh?

-Illani