I finally made the decision: I’m converting to Trekism, and I won’t be looking back. For most of my life, I’ve been on the fence about Star Wars verses Star Trek, afraid to choose a favorite and somehow hurt someone’s feelings (crazy, I know). But I’m jumping off that fence now, and choosing to reside squarely in the Trek Zone. There’s why:
Star Wars is about war. Thus the name. After reading the books for quite some time (since I could read), I’ve come to see that Star Wars just can’t exist without interstellar conflict. There always has to be an evil to fight, armies to destroy, a space station to blow up, or something else like that. Throughout the books, peace is a fleeting thing, because Star Wars isn’t fun unless everyone’s killing someone else.
Star Trek, on the other hand, is about other things. The series focuses on exploration, discovery, honor, responsibility, diplomacy, and peace. Sure, there’s fighting as well, like whenever the Borg come around, for example. But the action isn’t the point; it’s just one aspect of many.
Star Trek teaching values, like being responsible, making decisions, finding peaceful solutions, and so forth. Star Trek also deals with moral and philosophical issues that I love to dedicate brain cells to, like the nature of life and death, individuality, cultural differences, and so forth. Star Trek makes you think.
Star Trek is also backed up by hundreds of hours of serial television, which I thoroughly enjoy, as well as more movies than Star Wars. I’m also very excited about the next movie, which I hear will be out next year.
So my mind is made up. I’m a Trekie (Treky? Trekey? I don’t know). Oh, I still enjoy Star Wars movies and books, but if I have to choose one, I’ll take Vulcans over Wookies any day.
