Trekkies beware: if you are not a fan of NFL players bending the knee in protest during The National Anthem, you may be appalled at the behavior of the cast from Star Trek: Discovery. That’s right; the latest generation in the Star Trek franchise has beamed aboard that popularity ship. Unfortunately for them, it looks as though the ship was tossed into a black hole, as viewers and fans abandoned the U.S.S. Enterprise at warp speed.

Sonequa Martin-Green, who landed the role of Lieutenant Commander Michael Burnham, added a picture to her Instagram account featuring her and several cast members bending a knee in a show of solidarity. What was likely meant to connect to fans and boost ratings as well as showing support for the #takeaknee campaign had the opposite effect. Most of the comments following the post were blunt and pointedly negative. Below are a few of those responses:

gabrielsantiago1651: “I’m taking a STAND against your show. I will be boycotting it w/ many other patriotic Americans. Your empty gesture is meaningless and will cost you viewers & it will not make one life better.”

suki_farms: “There is a time and a place and a better way to open a conversation and this sort of garbage is not it. I hope the show fails and is canceled. Idiots. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

markgrzy: “Go take a knee. I won’t be watching any longer. Idiots!”

jmburcalow: “you people are so brainwashed that you’re blindly stupid!! You really think this is going to win fans to your show!!?? I’m a big star trek fan, but am NOT going anywhere near this crap!”

murphyman1964: “The Day Star Trek said F U to the viewers. Ive watched Trek since 1967. You are now dead to me. Good luck with your hatred and ignorace.”

Spelling and grammar errors aside, it’s obvious Trek fans are not amused. Cue in an image of Mr. Spock looking at Martin-Green’s Instagram post – illogical.

The story here isn’t so much about the bend a knee message, but rather about how their efforts to join in tanked and outraged fans. We don’t need to go over the right and wrong of it; that horse has been beaten to a pulp. It is interesting, though, to see how many celebrities come crawling out of the woodwork. Is this becoming more of a publicity campaign than a true belief in the so-called cause?

After ex-San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the protest last year, it wasn’t trendy. Then, as increasingly more NFL players picked up where Kaepernick left off, it’s become quite the popularity contest. In fact, it’s hard to turn on the television and not hear of at least one other player or celebrity kneeling for the cause.

But, as in the case with Star Trek: Discovery, the desire to stand next to the prom queen at homecoming may not be all it’s cracked up to be. Trying to get approval and fame by copying controversial actions can easily backfire. Trekkie fans have whipped out their phasers and set them to stun.