The American television screenwriter who is credited with creating the Star Trek franchise that we know and love today, Gene Roddenberry, has been loved by millions of fans of the franchise who thank him every day.
However, one thing that has rubbed me the wrong way is how Roddenberry bluntly compared the Star Wars franchise (his nemesis) to one of the greatest legends ever made. According to the screenwriter, the Star Wars franchise was like the legends of King Arthur!
Gene Roddenberry compared Star Wars to Arthurian legends!
Despite both franchises being completely opposite to each other, Star Wars and Star Trek fans have been at each other’s throats ever since the latter was conceived in 1977.
The Star Trek franchise has remained iconic to this day | Credits: Paramount Television
The two franchises have often been mistaken for each other by several people who aren’t fans (because of pretty similar names), which tends to rub people the wrong way.
However, what rubbed me the wrong way was how bluntly Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry compared the iconic Star Wars franchise to nothing more than the story of King Arthur-
I like ‘Star Wars.’ It was young King Arthur growing up, slaying the evil emperor finally. There’s nothing wrong with that kind of entertainment—.
He further continued,
Everything doesn’t have to create a philosophy for you, for your whole life. You can also have fun.
Well, that hurts. Star Wars isn’t just some Arthurian legend about good defeating evil, since the franchise tackles the issue of good in bad as well as bad in good. It’s not a simple depiction of black and white. It’s a reality where the characters are gray.
That is what drew people to Star Wars in the first place. The slow revelation of Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker’s father, the story of Anakin Skywalker and his eventual descent into darkness, and the prophecies, that is what Star Wars is all about.
George Lucas was more gracious about it
Roddenberry’s statements about the Star Wars franchise were definitely quite blunt, but on the other hand, George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars franchise, was actually quite grateful to his nemesis.
George Lucas was quite happy with what Gene Roddenberry created | Credits: Lucasfilm
After his father’s passing, Rod Roddenberry worked alongside George Lucas for a while in Trek Nation. In an interview withSci Fi Now, Roddenberry talked about George Lucas and his thoughts on the Star Trek franchise.
He [George Lucas] was so gracious, so respectful, so kind, and I have to say, extremely genuine, he would say a lot of flattering things about my father [Gene Roddenberry], but they didn’t come off as just buzzwords, they didn’t come off as just lines he was trying to feed me.
Roddenberry further continued,
He really opened up and said some amazing things, like ‘Star Wars’ stood on the shoulders of ‘Star Trek.’
Thus, it could be stated that Lucas was quite grateful for the Star Trek franchise, but the same cannot be said about Gene Roddenberry, as per his statements.
Although each franchise is iconic in its own way, fans are always fighting over which is better or which is worse.
Theentirety of the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises are currently available on Disney+ and Paramount+, respectively.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
