My friend Jnel and I were talking on the way back from Star Wars at 3am this morning and I decided Darth Vadr had a horrible life. His penis was burned off so no sex, he certainly couldn't imbibe alcohol through those little slits, and he was in constant pain. Celebacy, enforced soberness, and pain. Sounds like marriage. I'm just kidding. It sounds like the stereotypical marriage. I would never gets trapped in one of those. Intentionally. Must be hell. Poor Darth. Anyway, to defend my honor and prove I'm not a loser Star Wars fan, cause honestly I don't consider myself a Star Wars fan at all, I present the Top Ten reasons Star Trek is better than Star Wars. And I didn't eve mention whiny characters, Jar Jar Binks, and a black man's voice put onto a British guy's body) You just can't be equal fans of both, and honestly Star Trek is the smarter and better established franchise.
10. Screen Time (ST - 600+ episodes, 10 movies / SW - 6 movies, no more than 3 more)
9. Titles (Come on! "Revenge of the Sith"? Boring! How about "First Contact", "Badda Bing-Badda Bang", "Trials & Tribleations", "What You Leave Behind" I could go on)
8. Ships (ST - cool, sleek, polished / SW - rag tag crap that looks way too big to fly or be practical at all, all crowding the screen and rushing by faster than any human could comprehend)
7. Hairdos (Shatner's toupe at least looks real. Padme reminds me of Marie Antoinette)
6. Aliens (Klingons and Borg are way cooler than those spiny things or wookies)
5. Message (ST is about something, it's satire. SW is just shoot-em-up)
4. Characters (ST I actually care what happens. In SW I didn't tear up for a single death)
3. Weapons (Phasers are way more effective than light sabers)
2. Time Period (A long time ago and a galaxy far away? With humans. Yeah right)
1. Deep Space 9 (the worst DS9 episode is better than the best SW movie)
Qop!
"Why you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy looking nerf herder!" ~ Princess Leia to Han
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
A good franchise is something that almost 90% of the populace knows about; no matter if they love it, hate it, obcess over it, whatever. If you created a census of questions to ask to regular joe schmoe on the street and ask questions as such regarding characters, general ideas for either or... I'm intriuged to see how badly Star Trek would fare. The better established franchise being that which apparently Star Trek is, so say you, would easily upset Star Wars.
I think it's interesting that you say that Star Wars has no message. The whole thing is a huge allegory! It's got more depth than you give it credit for.
I really think that SW is less about the characters as individuals and more about them as archetypes--representing a kind of person/personality that recurrs throughout history.
Granted, ST often tackles difficult themes and relationships. However, SW is something on a grander scale--incorporating elements of mythology, military history, religion and current events into its storyline. (Cf: references to the Fisher King, the almost obvious equation that Lucas made between Palpatine and GWBush, racial issues, politics of all stripes, Jedi as Buddhists, and so on and so on.) I think it leads to a greater appreciation of the SW movies to do some research and discover the references Lucas scattered throughout them.
I have also found that the SW franchise has spawned some very interesting conversations among my friends--in fact, Episode III was the basis for an extended debate about the nature of loyalty as it relates to politics, religion and personal relationships.
I'd invite you to watch SW again with these contexts in mind. Even if you never enjoy SW as much as you seem to enjoy ST, you'll at least see that SW contains more intricacies than you realize.
Ok, I will admit that Star Wars does have some broader themes, but pretty much everything you attributed to Star Wars could be attributed to Star Trek in a much deeper way. I'm not saying Star Wars is not entertaining or doesn't have some depth, just that I find Star Trek so much more so on all accounts. But I'm sure I will buy the Star Wars movies and watch them many times over the years. I just get frustrated that all this hype goes to something that I don't think deserves it as much as say Star Trek. However, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and I don't hate Star Wars fans or anything.
Maybe that's just it--maybe SW is more readily accessible to the masses. It's big-screen sci-fi, with a lot of big-screen effects.
From what I've seen of ST, it relies on dialogue a lot more than SW. (Hell, all us SW fans know that Lucas can't write dialogue for shit.) ST may be a little harder to crack into for those looking for just entertainment, not deeper meaning. Plus, there's a LOT of ST back story. Some episodes I've seen (and I certainly haven't seen more than half of them, if that) require you to know a little about the characters and their relationships. Like, you gotta know the history of Riker and Troi before you understand why they're being weird together later.
Like I said, SW is archetypal personalities. They're complex, but their relationships are not. The story is easily followable because it mirrors things we know from our lives, like war and racism. ST's world is very different from the one we know, and while many of the episodes tackle themes that deal with today's world, in my case at least, the basic structure of the ST universe makes it less believable and therefore harder to get into.
Of course, that's just me.
There's also the whole "oh my god" aspect of SW for everyone who saw it in the theaters back in the day when it was first released. It was the first movie to use special effects like that, so it's got a lot of nostalgic memories of wonder and excitement attached to it. It was pretty groundbreaking for its time, so people really remember it fondly.
Of course, I'm not saying that ST isn't groundbreaking or exciting or anything like that. It's just that I think SW touched more people on its first release, and therefore spawned the hype we see now. Especially from people in their thirties who saw SW when they were kids--and those are the people who are running the media and certainly running the internet these days.
Of course, I could be full of crap. :)
Star Trek does have a lot more backstory, and not all of the episodes are stand alone, so it is a bit of a commitment to delve into. However, I think in terms of beliveability Star Trek is much more believable. It is a possible future for us and with technology and such progressing as it is, it looks pretty realistic. We already have a lot of the technology in development. Also, I think Star Trek has impacted more people and was around well before Star Wars, but Star War's limited released spawns bigger reactions while Star Trek fans get more to cull their hunger and so the splash for each individual thing may not be as big. And many people remember Star Trek from the '60's, '70's, '80's, '90's and beyond so it touches more generations. The old stuff does bring nostalgia and it is worked in to the new stuff while not taking over it. Also I believe the Star Trek characters are more relatable because they are more real and not so surface. But that is my opinion, and I'm going to let my case rest now.
"(the worst DS9 episode is better than the best SW movie)"
Ok dude...you know that you are the only person in history to say that right? However, it is sort of a nice X-files TSM ref. if you were going for that.
"(the worst DS9 episode is better than the best SW movie)"
Ok dude...you know that you are the only person in history to say that right? However, it is sort of a nice X-files TSM ref. if you were going for that.
"(the worst DS9 episode is better than the best SW movie)"
Ok dude...you know that you are the only person in history to say that right? However, it is sort of a nice X-files TSM ref. if you were going for that.
Jon
I am very sorry you feel that way, but I doubt I am the only person to ever say it. DS9 is the most amazing show ever to grace the air waves, and also one of the most underrated since people don't take the time to watch and understand the show as a series.
Yeah, it's good, it has fans etc., but the "worst" episode is better than the "best" Star Wars movie? Yeah, I think you might be the only one to think that, or at least, in a VERY small, and uh..let's say "unique" minority. I would say that even you have to admit that you are speaking in the subjective. That the crappiest episode of a Star Trek show bests a movie loved by millions and regarded in the industry as a classic with a multi-million dollar budget and is one of the highest grossing movies ever is highly unlikely in any terms but quirky preference.
Okay....
Star Trek does have a lot more backstory, and not all of the episodes are stand alone, so it is a bit of a commitment to delve into.
But all good shows, or good whatever, shouldn't have to always have a large commitment to draw you in. If something fails to do so right away, then chances are, you're not gonna like it. I mean, like DS9. I have tried repeatedly to watch the show. Even on Spike TV, which as replaced the endless beloved TNG repeats, and I can't get into it. The only character I really like on the show is Chief O'Brian, and that's it.
I think maybe, that is why my appeal for TNG is a bit moreso than DS9. Again, not saying it's a bad show, as everyone's comments above are all an opinion anyway, and no one will ever truly be right about what is better or what is trying to do this or that or whatever. As some part of me, the cynic in me, thinks George Lucas and Gene Roddenberry met long ago and planned years of endless debate amongst their fans and cackle with glee about it. But, that's neither here nor there.
TNG was a formularic show, that was in many ways, like the original Trek. You could wrap up a storyline in 1 episode, and keep it going. As the show progressed, they started doing a bit more daring storylines for the show, in terms of continuing storylines. (Granted, not much....) but I think that because of that, TNG really struck a chord with fans, because we've learned to love the characters before we can see them change, mature, etc. DS9 went striaght into "storyline mode" and you can't always do that in a show like that. The first season should be making you love the characters, and keeping it on the air. The second season is about whupping some ass and like, breaking down the characters, etc.
But that's my opinion and I'm not right. And sorry, I didn't get my two cents in. :-) Okay, subject closed now. :-D
Post a Comment