Despite being the juggernaut of the sci-fi genre, Star Wars and Star Trek heavily differed from one another. While one is notable for its exploration of ethics societal structure, and human nature, Star Wars was more synonymous with being fun, which appealed to the mainstream audience.
As a result, the ’70s and ’80s often saw fans engaging in vigorous debates over their respective preferences. However, unlike the fandoms, Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas embraced both sci-fi IPs, even though the former felt the latter lacked the philosophy.
Gene Roddenberry’s assessment of Star Wars is a gross oversimplification
While Star Trek, especially under Gene Roddenberry‘s leadership, prioritized utopian ideals through the lens of science fiction, relegating Star Wars to its entertainment value isn’t exactly ideal. Although the George Lucas IP did follow a good vs evil narrative and appealed to a broader demographic, including children, to say that it wasn’t philosophical is a gross oversimplification.
However, Roddenberry, who was vocal about his admiration for Star Wars, didn’t exactly tune in with the franchise for its social structure, philosophy, ideology, and morality, and in the IP’s defense, he added: “Everything doesn’t have to create a philosophy for you.” In the Trek Nation documentary (via The Bearded Trio), he is quoted saying:
I like Star Wars. It was young King Arthur growing up, slay-slaying the evil emperor finally. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of entertainment – Everything doesn’t have to create a philosophy for you – for your whole life. You can also have fun.
Although Star Wars is fun at the core, past the surface level, the franchise does have a lot more to offer, and with the prequel trilogy, George Lucas expanded upon these ideas, cementing Star Wars status as a modern mythology.
Star Wars stands on Star Trek’s shoulders, said George Lucas
Lucas has been pretty vocal about the impact of Star Trek on Star Wars and the sci-fi genre as a whole. Despite the stark differences between the two sci-fi juggernauts, Star Trek paved the way for Star Wars‘ success, as the former softened the grounds for Star Wars’ introduction in the entertainment arena.
Star Trek softened up the entertainment arena so that Star Wars could come along and stand on its shoulders.’‘There was an effective group of people in the beginning who accepted it… that it wasn’t that far out. For the studios it was way far out, [they said] ‘what is this?’ but there was a fanbase out there – primarily the Star Trek fanbase -who understood sci-fi, understood visual sci-fi, and was ready for something like [Star Wars] to be in the feature arena.’
Had Roddenberry witnessed the prequel trilogy, which dealt with the ideas of democracy and took a more nuanced approach to the discussion of good and evil, the Star Trek creator might’ve developed a different outlook on it.
Star Trek: The Original Series is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
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