At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, John Hodgman hosted Syfy’s Great Debate where Orlando Jones, Aisha Tyler, Adam Savage, John Barrowman, and io9 co-founder Charlie Jane Anders, debated a variety of classic nerd conundrums. And, somehow, Savage’s answer to the eternal Star Wars or Star Trek question brought down the whole room.
There were many shining and quotable moments from the panel, from Tyler saying that Ben Affleck’s Batman would defeat King Kong by staring deep into his eyes to Anders’ answer to Marvel comics versus DC’s comics with “Batman only wishes he was as cool as Squirrel Girl.”
The problem began when the question “Which franchise you would eliminate from existence: Star Wars or Star Trek?” was asked. Barrowman’s suggestion that they eliminate only certain movies from both was rejected.
Savage took the position that Star Trek should be eliminated, to the boos of the entire crowd. His explanation:
Star Trek lures you into a false sense of positivity that the world can be a utopia and recent events have proven it cannot. Star Wars’ dystopic vision is far more realistic and prepares our children for their future.
I’m not sure anyone has ever argued Star Wars is more realistic than Star Trek before, but man, what a profoundly depressing way to do it. I’ll certainly never look at the rise of the Empire quite the same way again.