Tough choices

[captainsblog]

I am giving somebody exactly one day to do the right thing before I rain holy hell on them. And this has nothing to do with church.

On a lighter note: I was recently added to a film-and-quality-TV discussion page on LJ called cinematixyz; it's a joint effort by four anonymous fans, who review films of all vintages, comment on assorted stuffs, and do a fair number of polls.  This one was as short and sweet as they get, and asks, simply, the following:


Which is superior OVERALL. Star Wars, Doctor Who, or Star Trek?

Here's my choice and how I defended it:

I gave this one a lot of thought, but I think it has to come down to Trek. Not in terms of the work itself standing on its own; DW beats it in writing, casting, lack of really bad baggage (which is why meesa takes Star Wars out of the conversation) and, yes, even credibility.

Trek wins, for me, because of the doors it opened for so much that followed. The fan support of the original series during its run and after its cancellation, the life they breathed into it for the lost decade, and their virtual creation of the genre of fanfic, are all debts that the Rebel Alliance and the Time Lords owe back to the series. Might Lucas have renewed the interest all by his efforts? Maybe. Would the Doctor have catapulted into worldwide consciousness with something resembling the 2005 revival? I never rule the Doctor out of ANYTHING. But I do know that without Roddenberry's contribution, and the resulting fan interest that it cemented, those roads would have been a lot harder for them.


And so I present the same question here, with your comments on the reasons why, or nits to pick with mine, all welcome in comments:

[Poll #1849974]

Comments

[platypus]

I'm not sure on what scale I should measure superiority, or from what perspective. Trek had more cultural influence, I think, and I agree with many of the reasons you described. (Although I think Doctor Who's popularity and cultural pervasiveness in the UK is a phenomenon all its own, and l don't think 2005 would have gone any differently there in a world without Trek. I don't know exactly to what it owes its worldwide popularity; popularity often baffles me. Torchwood was way more popular than DW in the US for a while there (maybe it still is?) and I don't think those kids ever thought much of Trek -- but Trek did create/define a genre that's deep in our consciousness somewhere.)

But if you're asking me which one has changed my life, permeated my imagination, and kept me engaged for over 30 years, well, I've gotta vote for Doctor Who.

[tweeti.livejournal.com]

I agree with you in that I also think that Star Trek was groundbreaking. Plus, adding in the fact that there are still Trekkies today who argue passionately on which is best...It's definitely got my vote.

BTW, I like the original...But I loved the latest movie...*grin*

[eatsoylentgreen.livejournal.com]

which is better, the works of Rembrandt, the holiday Halloween, and all forms of melon?

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Willie....MAYS!

[oxymoron67.livejournal.com]

I have to go with Star Trek, for the reasons you mentioned.

If the Star Wars prequels had been better ... ESPECIALLY Phantom Menace, which flat out sucked... and if the charisma-free love story wasn't such a focus in the second movie*... this would be a different conversation.

I thought the political parts and Obi-Wan exploring the cloning facilities were good, but every time we had any momentum building there, it was back to the beaches of Naboo with Padma and Anakin.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, for exactly the same reasons. Star Wars and Dr. Who excite me more than Trek, but Trek opened doors and created a plausible utopia to aim for.

[bill_sheehan.livejournal.com]

One word defense of Trek: Stories.

Star Trek had such wonderful stories. They were stories about people, not Timelords, not aliens, not a secret elite race with midichlorians in their bloodstream - just people. Sometimes these people faced extraordinary challenges, but they responded as people, not as ubermensch.