There had to be a day when I had to throw my ring into the hat and give
my opinion. The truth is no one asked for it but the First Episode of Star
trek- Picard reminded me I needed to do it. The reality is that the debate
between Star Wars vs. Star Trek is a manufactured one by the legions of fans who
will always have their reasons.
Let us start with the obvious. Star Wars is a classic fantasy and
adventure. Imagine a Western in a completely new world. It creates a world
never seen before in a galaxy far far away. But take it away and set it in
Ancient Mesopotamia and Mesopotamia Wars would not be out of character. It is
probably one of the greatest stories ever written encompassing every story arc ever
known. In fact, the story arcs became so powerful even George Lucas had to become
a revisionist and give rise to the debate of whether Han Solo shot first! He did
by the way.
And with Disney taking over, the Star Wars universe just becomes grander
and bigger than ever. It is as close to a modern Epic that we will ever get.
Star Trek on the other hand was science fiction at its purest and at its best.
Look at the progression of their storylines. Look at the details of the technology
being discussed. What’s shown in Star Trek today might as well be technology of
the future. But there’s more to that. It’s a story of humanity’s never-ending
search for meaning till one day it will lead to our self-destruction.
Star Trek also differs from Star Wars on one critical aspect. Star Wars
is about a battle between Good and Evil. It is about empires battling each
other for what they believe is right. Imagine Star Wars is The Iliad. And that
makes Star Trek The Odyssey. It is about exploring; it is about the journey. It
is about finding home at the end.
And therefore, when held at a gunpoint facing the Wrath of Khan I would
always choose Star Trek. Unless of course Yoda appears and gives me the Force.
Who wouldn’t want to feel the Source? Unless of course you are a Man in the Wheel
of Time World and touching the source will only drive you to madness. (I deliberately
threw it in to show how cool I am)
But now let us get back to Star Trek – Picard. There probably is no other
series equaling it today on streaming that can match it in terms of
storytelling and complexity. I was always a bit put off by the reboot of the
movie franchisee from 2009 onwards but Picard takes Star Trek back to what it
always stood for. Science Fiction at its purest form. And I know there had to
be a season 2 and that’s why Picard lives at the end. And probably that is the
only place where Luke beats Picard. His bowing out of his world was
spectacular. And will always remain so.
But Watch Star Trek Picard. The world of streaming will see a cash crunch
soon (That’s my business acumen speaking) So enjoy perhaps the greatest moment
in the history of content creation. One day into the future, this will be
considered the Golden Age of Content.
