Set your phasers on "Geek out"
December 3, 2008 12:52 pm science fiction/fantasy, television
Geek identity, more than any dress code or profession, stems from what you like.
If you’re a “Firefly” fan, you dedicate your life to educating the world about Browncoats, Reavers and the Alliance. If you’re a “Battlestar Galactica” geek, you puzzle over plot twists, gawk at Cylon babes and wait, oh so patiently, for the end of Season Four. The same goes for the faithful who follow “Babylon Five,” “Farscape,” “The 4400,” “Heroes” and “Lost.”
A geek’s true loyalty, however, falls into two camps: “Star Wars” and “Star Trek.”
As far as science fiction classics are concerned, “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” have a lot in common.
Both started out as awesome shows with impressive, if slightly cheesy, special effects, fun plots and compelling characters. Both launched multi-title series that started out strong (“The Empire Strikes Back and “Return of the Jedi,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine) and finished weak (“The Phantom Menace,” “Enterprise”).
One’s a space opera with foundations in myth, magic and Akira Kurosawa. The other’s an egghead approach to science and space exploration revolving around Star Fleet and the U.S.S. Enterprise.
So which is better?
YouTube poster D.M. Phoenix puts that question to the test with “Star Wars vs. Star Trek,” which pits the crew of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” against Darth Vader and the Empire.
How does Jean-Luc Picard’s impenetrable cool and rich British accent stack up to Darth Vader’s masked menace? Do phaser beams trump the Force?
You’ll have to watch to find out.
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In related news, Jon Stewart may very well be the biggest geek in the talk news universe.
On a recent episode of “The Daily Show,” he bragged about his Black Friday purchases: a C3-PO Bobblehead and the Lego Millinium Falcon. Way to geek out, Jon!
Thanks to Gizmodo Australia for the heads-up.
Pat :
Date: December 4, 2008 @ 1:47 pm
No competition here. One has a wookie, one doesn’t.
When I was a kid, I had an R2D2 action figure, plus C3P0 and a Storm Trooper or two.
No Spocks.
Spockless.
Sans Spock.
Robot Deniro :
Date: December 5, 2008 @ 10:45 am
Thank you child. I haven’t geeked out like that since I wore my Star Wars Tee to a showing of Sweeney Todd. I remember that day so well. It was snowy and…. the Queen’s birthday. It never snows on the queen’s birthday.