by Chris Coleman
There’s no denying it, the “Star Wars” saga is extremely popular in mainstream society. The visuals, the musical scores, the characters’ names are all embedded in our culture. Almost everyone, including those who don’t really get into Sci-Fi movies, would recognizing the sound of Darth Vader breathing, the sound of a light saber activing, or the opening notes of the “Imperial Death March” theme.
On the surface, the “Star Wars” saga is pretty badass; iconic characters using futuristic weapons and vehicles to conduct massive laser battles in space!!! What’s not to like? Well, for some reason, I can never get into the “Star Wars” saga. As familiar as I am with the lore, “Star Wars” failed to draw me into it. And it’s not like I haven’t tried. I remember one of my coworkers demand that I watch the first six movies in their entirety before the seventh movie was to be released in theaters. I thought that binge watching the first six movies from start to finish would invigorate my fandom and ignite an excitement for “The Force Awakens” release date. It didn’t work. I found myself being bored with the entire series…even the Darth Maul dual light saber bo staff action scenes.
The weirdest thing about my nonchalant attitude towards the “Star Wars” saga in that I love the “Star Trek” series. But, based on my movie and television, it should be the exact opposite. I should love “Star Wars” and hate “Star Trek”. “Star Wars” has a collection of easily identifiable unique characters with their own specific background and idiosyncrasies while “Star Trek” characters all have the same uniform, body type, and have all been trained at the Starfleet Academy, making their reactions to situations predictable and by-the-book. “Star Wars” is packed with action sequences and spatial dog fights displaying the use of a variety of weapons and vehicles of war. “Star Trak” character’s all have the same standard issue Phaser, and most of their stories take place on a singular ship using diplomacy to void war at all costs. In other words, “Star Wars” is fun and “Star Trek” is boring. So why do I love “Star Trek” more than “Star Wars”?
Prior to May the Fourth, which seems to be the official holiday of “Star Wars” fans, there were a bunch of commercials ads on television showing “Star Wars” fans expressing their excitement for the day. When I woke up on May 4th, my social media timelines were filled with friends expressing their excitement with celebratory memes and posting pictures of themselves wearing “Star Wars” themes costumes (The Princess Leia captured by Jabba the Hut costume is my favorite). I decided to the day and really deep dive into why I couldn’t get into “Star Wars” as much as I had got into “Star Trek”. Here’s what I came up with…
1: I was Born After the “Star Wars” Hype
Since I was born after “Star Wars” was released in theaters, I didn’t witness the cultural impact that the movie had at the time. From all accounts, those who were familiar with standard theatrical releases at the time admit that they were blown away the first time they saw the movie in theaters. They all say that nothing like that had been done before and it was truly groundbreaking. They compared in to the first time they heard The Beattles (another revolutionary event that was before my time). Unfortunately for me, movies with the epic style presentation and special effects were standard by my time, so it was hard for me to appreciate what “Star Wars” had done for its generation. The only experience that I can compare it to is when “The Matrix” was released in my generation. I remember leaving the theaters with a completely different outlook on what movies were capable of and life itself…. Yes, “The Matrix” was the first movie I saw that made me question life as a philosophy.
2: “Star Wars” Takes Place in a Galaxy Far Far Away
When I watch movies, it’s easier to get into them if I attach myself to something I can relate to. Whether it is a familiar character type or a location. For instance, I can never get into the “Underworld” and “Twilight” series because they were about vampires and werewolves, and I’m not a vampire or werewolf. Therefore, the motives of the characters were lost on me because I felt like nothing they did had any effect on me or my lifestyle. The same can be said about “Star Wars”. The fact that the events of “Star Wars” takes place in an entirely different galaxy, I felt like I didn’t care about what happens to them because it didn’t affect my galaxy. To be honest, I don’t even know if the characters of “Star Wars” are even human.
“Star Trek”, however, takes place in the Milky Way Galaxy, in the main characters are human that come from Earth. The fact that I’m also a human from Earth makes the characters more relatable to me, and I can understand how the events in their stores can impact them. When I’m watching “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, I have in understanding of how vital it is to avoid an unnecessary war against the Romulans. I felt a genuine fear of the Borg assimilating humanity into their network, because I too am human.
3: Home Television is Much More Intimate than Motion Picture Theaters.
Since “Star Trek” began as an episodic television show, it was easier to get attached to the characters because they were in your homes each week. Each week, you got to share in one of their adventures that further explored the development of the characters. The average “Star Trek” season is about 25 episodes. That’s roughly 25 hours a year that you get to experience their story. That’s a lot of time to get attached.
A “Star Wars” movie floats somewhere between 2 to 3 hours, and you typically get the best experience at a public theater. Even if you owned the “Star Wars” movies at home, it’s the same movie over and over again. “Star Trek” rolled out a new episode each week and there were multiple seasons that carried on for years.
4: “Star Trek” Tells an Exploratory Story
The cool thing about the “Star Trek” series, is that there are no clear “good guys” and “bad guys”. The stories of “Star Trek” in an exploration of cultural difference with each culture having some valid points to justify their actions. Every strange culture that the characters encounters in the series was an opportunity to self-reflect on our own culture. There were times in which the main characters can be seen as the villains in a conflict because of their cultural misunderstandings. Humans were not perfect in “Star Trek” and the series wasn’t afraid to explore some of our flawed nature.
“Star Wars” comes across as childish and simplistic compared to “Star Trek”. It’s black and white. There’s a clear dark side and light side. The “good guys” are all good, and the “bad guys” are all bad, not giving a lot of leeway to character development. When you’re watching “Star Wars”, you’re looking at a journey of good triumphing over evil. When you’re watching “star Trek”, you’re watching an in-depth exploration of what determines good and what determines evil, and all the gray areas in between.