(no subject)
I guess I haven't really written in this journal in a while. Hopefully someone will still read it. I did a really dorky thing yesterday and watched Star Wars: The Empire Strikes back and Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country back to back. And then I did an even dorkier thing and searched for stuff on the philosophy of Star Trek and Star Wars. And I came across a really interesting article called Star Wars Despots vs. Star Trek Populists. Now, I don't entirely agree with the central tenet of the article, which says that Star Wars supports of a type of despotic thinking because it supports the concept of a true leader. I think that the Star Wars mythology is much more about an internal struggle than an external one. But I do think that they have an interesting analysis of what draws people to Star Trek, namely that it's more about analyzing and critiquing social and political systems (and Spock!).
And the entire thing makes me curious about what draws people to Star Trek and what draws them to Star Wars. I know that I enjoy Star Wars, but I've always been more of a Star Trek fan. I think that part of the reason, especially as I've gotten older, is that I've enjoyed the whole morality tale aspect of it. I think that in the Original Series, The Next Generation and Deep Space (Voyager and Enterprise pretty much suck) they do have episodes where they ask some interesting philosophical questions. True, these episodes can be kind of preachy, but they're still interesting. I don't really see the same thing in Star Wars. It seems more like a Greek tragedy in a way, with these character archetypes on a fairly fixed path. I like watching it, and I really enjoy it, but it doesn't appeal to me as much as Star Trek. Also, the characters don't seem to have as much of an internal life. In a lot of ways, there isn't really the time to develop this in Star Wars, but Luke has always seemed like more of a generic hero to me. Even Darth Vader doesn't seem like that complex of a character, especially if you compare him against someone like T.E Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia. That's not to say that I don't like the characters, and that I don't find them interesting, but I do think they're more archetypes than personalities.
Anyway, if there's anyone left reading this, what do you think? Do you prefer Star Trek or Stars Wars, or both? And pray tell, why?
And the entire thing makes me curious about what draws people to Star Trek and what draws them to Star Wars. I know that I enjoy Star Wars, but I've always been more of a Star Trek fan. I think that part of the reason, especially as I've gotten older, is that I've enjoyed the whole morality tale aspect of it. I think that in the Original Series, The Next Generation and Deep Space (Voyager and Enterprise pretty much suck) they do have episodes where they ask some interesting philosophical questions. True, these episodes can be kind of preachy, but they're still interesting. I don't really see the same thing in Star Wars. It seems more like a Greek tragedy in a way, with these character archetypes on a fairly fixed path. I like watching it, and I really enjoy it, but it doesn't appeal to me as much as Star Trek. Also, the characters don't seem to have as much of an internal life. In a lot of ways, there isn't really the time to develop this in Star Wars, but Luke has always seemed like more of a generic hero to me. Even Darth Vader doesn't seem like that complex of a character, especially if you compare him against someone like T.E Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia. That's not to say that I don't like the characters, and that I don't find them interesting, but I do think they're more archetypes than personalities.
Anyway, if there's anyone left reading this, what do you think? Do you prefer Star Trek or Stars Wars, or both? And pray tell, why?