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

It's Alive!

  

 Many people consider Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to be the first novel that can be concretely classified as science fiction. It is the story of a scientist who discovers the secret of creating life. He uses the science of his day to construct a living creature out of dead tissue. In doing so, both the author and her protagonist stumble upon a moral conundrum that has fueled sci-fi ever since. What happens when man tampers with the affairs of God?

     The question is not so much ‘can man create life?’; that is the domain of scientists. It is the job of science to answer the ‘can we?’. It is the job of science fiction to answer the ‘what if we?’. What if we had the ability to create life?

    Where did we get this kind of a question? We got it in the Garden of Eden when we learned an important but tragic lesson about human pride.

"Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate”. - Genesis 3:4-6 NKJV

     The thing that tempted Eve about the fruit was not that she thought it would taste good, but that she thought it would make her like God. God is the creator of life. Therefore, attempting to mimic this creation is attempting to control our own destiny as humans. Like Eve biting into the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it is attempting to make ourselves like God. No wonder the search for the secret of life fascinates us so much. It has always fascinated us.

    Science fiction gives us a laboratory, if I may, in which to experiment with this idea. Oftentimes in fiction, ‘playing God’ results in disaster, just as it did in reality. Here are a few familiar examples. Though these categories don’t  always show the downsides of tampering with life, or even ask the questions I’m discussing, they very frequently do:

1. Man-made Monsters-

    Frankenstein's Monster, Mr. Hyde, and similar early science fiction and horror icons often leave death in their wake and cause the destruction of their creators.

2. Robots-

    (I’m not going to get into ideas of sentience and personhood right now. That’s a post for another time. Or a lot of posts for a lot of other times.) Though not technically alive, these machines with a personality (and sometimes a temper), can spell doom for humanity. They also have a tendency to try to become the dominant ‘species’ in the cosmos. Think of V’ger or Nomad from Star Trek, the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica, and Ultron from Marvel Comics. (Also, there is a Classic Doctor Who episode called “The Robots of Death”. I thought I would just throw that one out there. )

3. Clones-

    They are pretty similar to robots in their usage, only they’re biological, and made with already existing DNA. Some clones (as well as some robots), can be harmless and even heroic characters. However, they can also be the source of all sorts of moral and practical mixups, chaos and confusion. For example, in the Star Wars prequels, they were corrupted into a huge war-machine made up of identical, expendable soldiers.

4. Genetic Engineering-

     You could say it has its pros and Khans… (alright, that was terrible, but do you know how long I've been waiting to use that one?). On the one hand, you can get someone like Captain America. On the other, you can get someone like Khan Noonien Singh- which is bad.

(Fun and geeky side note- Another member of Khan’s genetically engineered super-race appears in the Star Trek Animated Series episode, “The Infinite Vulcan”)

5. Terraforming-

    Though this creates a different sort of life than the other examples, it is still an example of humans trying to shape and control life. Usually, terraforming stories end with the destruction of pre-existing life, or just failure.  Consider Stargate SG-1 episode, “Scorched Earth”, The Genesis planet of the Star Trek films, and the xeno-terraforming in The War of the Worlds.

    Should man tamper in the domain of God? What would be the result if he did? These are questions that we have grappled with since the beginning of science fiction, and really, since the beginning of humanity. We are created in the image of God, yet we are creatures who are subject to Him. When we try through our own ingenuity to make ourselves great, or exalt ourselves to the loftiness of God, we will always fail. Still, concepts of life from non-life are fascinating to us. There is much to explore, much to learn about the human condition and our place in the universe. What are the limitations? When is it right and when is it wrong? What are the consequences? Why are they there? These are the questions that will continue to inspire science  and fiction until the end of time. And when we genuinely search for answers, we will find them in the Creator and Owner of all life.


Hello again! I'm back! Now that it's summer, I'm hoping to post more regularly. So, don't join me next week, because I'll be out of town....But! After that, I'll try to post articles like this on Wednesdays, exciting top 5 lists on Tuesdays, and random snippets of geekiness on Saturdays. The next of these Saturday shorts will be an explanation of the name of this blog.

Hope you enjoyed this post. If you have any ideas or examples of your own on this topic, please comment! I'd love to hear from you!

Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora