Visions of the Future- Top 5 Things that Wouldn't Have Happened Without Star Wars

As we approach the release of a new Star Wars movie, it’s hard to miss all the ways  George Lucas’ space fantasy has saturated our culture. Here are five of the many iconic movies, television shows, and franchises that owe their success, popularity, and sometimes their entire existence to Star Wars.

5. Battlestar Galactica (1978)-

For many young Star Wars fans in the 1970s, Battlestar Galactica was Star Wars on tv- the thing that tided them over until the next movie came out. It’s easy to see why. Do a Google search on Battlestar Galactica, and compare it aesthetically to A New Hope. The resemblance is uncanny. The legends even tell that Gene Coon of Star Trek fame recommended to Glen Larson that he put the word “star” in the title, in order to cash in on the popularity of Star Wars, (and Star Trek, to some degree).

4. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)-

This feel-good sci-fi came out while the original Star Wars trilogy was still being released. Spaceships and aliens were all the rage. As an interesting side note, there is a theory that E.T. comes from the Star Wars galaxy, as Star Wars figures and a Yoda cameo appear in E.T., and E.T.’s race appears in the senate chamber  in The Phantom Menace.

3. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)-

This movie breaks the mold, as it is not sci-fi or pure fantasy. However, this iconic adventure flick, and its sequels, may never have sold were it not for the popularity George Lucas and Harrison Ford had attained after the first two Star Wars movies.

2. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)-

When the actors who played the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise saw that Imperial Star Destroyer cruise through space in the first few moments of Star Wars, they started looking forward to the phone call from the studio. This is one of the reasons I believe the perceived feud between Star Trek and Star Wars is silly. George Lucas admits to being heavily inspired by Star Trek in creating Star Wars; and, without Star Wars, the cultural phenomena that is Star Trek would have ended at the cancellation of The Animated Series.

1. Pixar (All of it)-

Before the legendary animation company was making everyone cry with their incredible stories and beautiful CG, they were the Graphics Group, which was part of Lucasfilm back in 1979.

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

Top 5 Thursday- Best Sci-fi Duos

     Hey  everyone! Welcome back from my accidental hiatus. Here's a list for you. 

    Everybody wants to be best friends with someone the way these characters are best friends. They look out for each other, understand one another, and really, they complete each other. They are the best friendship duos of sci fi. And I actually had some serious dilemmas while putting them in the order they’re in.

     Let’s get started.

5. R2-D2 and C3PO (Star Wars)-

    Even though they are the humorous side characters, the friendship between these two droids has stood the test of time and spanned six movies. R2 is the adventurous one, who is ready to throw himself into action as soon as it becomes necessary. If it were up to him, I’m sure he would be the hero of the entire story. C3PO, on the other hand, is the worrywart who would rather stay in one place peacefully...translating stuff, I guess. Even though he says too much, and worries too much, he probably actually does keep them from getting blown up- while R2 keeps them present in the story.

4. The 4th Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith (Doctor Who)-

     Sarah Jane and the 4th Doctor are often cited as the best Doctor- companion pair of the series, and with good reason. Sarah Jane understands the Doctor in ways he doesn’t even understand himself. She knows that he is flawed and vulnerable, even when he doesn’t. He takes her to explore all of time and space, and she keeps him tethered down to earth.

3. Jack O’Neill and Daniel Jackson (Stargate SG-1)-

    Jack is all military pragmatism, and Daniel is all civilian scientist ethics. Not only does this lead to good character development for the two, it provides hours of entertaining banter. They balance each other almost perfectly. Jack will shoot the thing if the thing needs shooting, and Daniel will stop Jack from shooting the thing and figure out what to do with the thing if the thing doesn’t need shooting.

2. Kirk and Spock (Star Trek)-

    These last two entries in the list  nearly gave me a headache as I tried to decide which to put in first and which to put in second. In the end, I decided to put this memorable pair second, because the main partnership in Star Trek isn’t just between Kirk and Spock. It’s about Kirk, Spock and McCoy. And this list is about duos. Kirk and Spock do very clearly demonstrate logic and emotion, and how they must work in tandem with each other. It’s a very interesting dichotomy explored in Star Trek that I’ll have to write a post about it later.

1.Batman and Superman (DC Comics)-

    Even though it took some deliberation, these guys really do deserve the top spot on my list. They are the oldest, and probably the most iconic characters on here. You may be wondering why I chose to put Batman and Superman over Batman and Robin. Well, I think that Batman and Robin have a different sort of relationship than the rest of the friends I’ve written about. That type of relationship is more in line with the association between the World’s Finest- Batman and Superman. (I may, however, write a hero and sidekick list later on, and the Dynamic Duo will certainly top that).  Batman is the dark detective who doesn’t always feel the need to follow the rules, while Superman is the conscientious, compassionate superhuman. It seems like another weird versus to me,  like Star Wars versus Star Trek. Superman and Batman aren’t against one another- they need to exist in the same universe to balance each other out.

    Who are your favorite pairs of best friends in science fiction? Did you agree with my final decision? Let me know in the comments. As always, I’d love to hear from you!

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

Star Wars Not Versus Star Trek

 

It’s a question of galactic proportions. It’s been debated, bickered over, and bantered about for thirty-seven years. If you are a sci-fi geek, you have probably asked yourself this question at least once -(Spoilers: It’s not 'Doctor Who?' Sorry Whovians. Not this time.) Which is the superior science fiction franchise- Star Wars or Star Trek?

I can feel the fans who adamantly argue one side or the other gearing up to disagree with me. And you may, but I’m not here to argue either side. Today, I’m going to discuss the differences between the two and explain why, on a closer examination, I think that this decades old question may be irrelevant.

Let’s start with setting. This is the basis on which I think the two series are really comparable. They both have “Star” in the title. Aesthetically, they both qualify as science fiction. They both take place in space. They have cool weapons, ships, droids, planets, aliens, and space battles. If you want to debate this debate, these are your categories. However, setting isn't all there is to a story.

Next up in our survey are the ever-so-beloved characters. Both Star Wars and Star Trek are populated by characters that have shaped our modern culture. When trying to do a side-by-side comparison, however, we really can’t fit them into the same molds. At all.

When talking about character archetypes, Star Wars contains fantasy-type characters. There are: Luke- The hero; Obi Wan Kenobi- The wizard/mentor; Emperor Palpatine- The evil sorcerer; and the like.

In Star Trek on the other hand, the characters take their cues more from nautical and military literature. The captains are noble and brave, and universally admired by their crews. There are also some specifically science fictional character types. The best example of this is the alien characters such as Spock and Data. Though Data is an android, he fills the same role as Spock. Both are incredibly intellectual non-humans looking from the outside into humanity. (I personally hold that Star Trek: The Original Series introduced many of the sci-fi archetypes we use today.)

Though Star Wars has aliens and robots, their alien and robot characteristics do not play a major role in their character arcs.

As for plot, Star Wars really only has one- you may be able to argue for two- major plots. The original trilogy is the classic hero’s journey tale- a young boy finding his destiny, rescuing the damsel and saving the world. The prequel trilogy is the inverse story. It is the story of a promising young man who saves the world, then descends into villainy.

Star Trek, on the other hand is made up of multiple science fiction plot lines. They are the quintessential science fiction plot lines: robots, androids, clones, genetic engineering, super weapons, projected reality, aliens and the like.

The themes of the two franchises are inextricably linked to the plots. In Star Wars, the main theme is the fine line between heroism and villainy. An overarching theme of Trek is what it means to be human.

Star Wars is not science fiction in the way Star Trek is. It deserves it’s place in science fiction history because of the advances it made in special effects technology and the popularization of the “used” sci-fi universe. Star Trek deserves it’s place in the history of sci-fi for the revolutionary plots, themes and characters it introduced. So really, in the multiverse of our beloved genre, the occupy opposite ends of the spectrum. They’re not competing for one spot!

Honestly, the entire reason I've thought through this post is that I love both and didn't want to have to pick one or the other.

Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora