Taylor - Made

This month, on May 4, so many people shared the meme ‘May the fourth be with you,’ which awakened the inner nerd in me. It caused me to remember this argument my friends and I had when we went to Sci-Fi Con a few years back. I recalled having the debate in the car ride there about whether Star Wars or Star Trek was better. I don’t believe anyone really won the argument, but I do remember that I was the only one that argued both sides. Both played an important role in my past. Star Wars was something that my friends and I enjoyed together and Star Trek was a shared passion between my father and I.

Star Wars is the typical good vs. bad, light vs. dark movie - or rather Jedi vs. Sith. Because of Star Wars, empty wrapping paper tubes turned into lightsabers, and countless minutes were wasted trying to imitate the Shyriiwook language of the Wookiees. I cannot count how many times I have made the ‘Vrummmm’ sound while waving around (and hitting family members) with those empty tubes, and how many times I would get frustrated because I couldn’t get my voice to sound like Chewbacca.

Star Trek was one of the very few things my father and I had in common. We used to binge watch episode after episode together, both of us secretly fantasizing that we were part of Starfleet Command. It was so much more than just good vs. bad. Star Trek holds a lot of ethics and philosophy. It was a universe with an infinite source of choose-your-own adventure capability and quandaries. Of course, some of the biggest arguments between Trekkies begin with which captain is better: Capt. James T. Kirk (played by Shatner) or Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart). I personally favor Captain Christopher Pike from The Original Series but I do like me some Picard also.

I never could understand why somebody had to choose one or the other. There is no reason you can’t love them both – I do. Live long and prosper.