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I saw Mandalorian and Grogu last night. I liked it. I thought it was fun in general, but I tend to like subversions of my expectations even if not particularly surprising, such as with Rotta the Hut. I won’t say anymore about that because, I don’t know, spoilers maybe?

Anyway, I have a fake war with my cousin, Kessel Junkie (kessel junkie?) over which is better, Star Trek or Star Wars. Of course, Star Trek is better, but watching the movie last night, I think Star Wars does something that, if not “better,” is “neater,” than Star Trek. I think they do a much cooler job of providing a wider variety of life forms. It’s still a human-dominated, and certainly humanoid-dominated, universe, but not nearly as much as Star Trek is. Even where Star Trek dealt with a crazy difference in environment (e.g., Excalbians) or fundamental chemical structure (e.g., Hortas), Star Trek was limited by budgets, but they’re willingly bound by pseudo-science as well.

If planets are roughly Class M (i.e., Earthlike), then even with independent evolution, it’s not unreasonable to assume most life will take on certain common characteristics as a matter of logic. This idea is called physical or biological convergent evolution, so while I haven’t done any deep dives into the subject matter, I’m not just pulling it out of my ass. For example, the best elements on which life should be based are carbon, silicon, or germanium. On a very fundamental level, we would be similar to most life forms because it would be far too difficult for a planet to be expected to have more silicon or (especially) germanium than carbon. Evolution would simply favor carbon based life. But, for example, basic eye structure exist for a reason, so there’s a possible practical limitation to just how different other life can be. Of course, it’s a big universe, so there have got to be exceptions, but the point is that aliens may be more like us than we think.

But that’s the difference between science fiction and science fantasy. (Fun) Star Trek fans thrive on pointing out then resolving inconsistencies, and even with nu-Trek, the writers have traditionally tried to remain consistent and logical across series with not only science but also with stories and history, including real world history. Sometimes, that very idea is what the episode’s story is about (e.g., Return to Tomorrow, The Chase, or Distant Origin). This doesn’t mean that Star Trek fans don’t like some occasional weirdness, but limits on that weirdness are sort of baked into the Star Trek community, and I like that. Star Wars has no such limits. As science fantasy, they can simply do what’s cool, and no one will even question it. Parsecs, smarsecs. I want a space slug, so I’m getting a space slug. I also like that.

Will Star Wars ever dethrone Star Trek for me? Of course not, but fortunately none of us need to choose between the two.

But Star Trek >> Star Wars.

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