This was originally a comment on Cole Haddon’s excellent 5AM StroyTalk. He does excellent interviews with working artists and has interesting insight, as. working writer, into the artistic process. So in addition to repurposing my responses to him and trying to pass it off as new work, I recommend reading his newsletter if you have any interest in how art is made in this time of late capitalism.
Though I enjoy both, Star Trek is clearly better.
When I was a young man, there was a fad of 'past life recovery'. People would get hypnotized or sit under a pyramid or wear some crystals or what not and declare that they had recovered a memory of one or more past lives. The people who recovered these lives were always someone famous or powerful. Everyone was Cleopatra or an African prince or part of Arthur's court, etc. No one, and I mean no one, was ever the guy shoveling shit in the stables. The problem, of course, is that for the vast majority of human history, most of us have been shoveling shit. Star Trek recognized that in a way that Star Wars did not.
Now, it is hard to generalize about a property that has been around for so long and in so many different guises. But to me, Star trek and its focus on a crew has always been more representative of real life, and more of a blueprint for how to lead a good life, how to make things better, than Star Wars. Luke is some universe blessed hero, a person who good fortune has smiled upon and put upon the Hero's Journey (and man, do I hate the Hero's Journey. Campbell has a lot to answer for) and destined to win. If he shoveled shit, it was merely to emphasize his humble upbringing and humanize his for the lessor people mean to follow in his wake. It is a lazy tale, pretending that if you just have the right genes and ONLY the right genes, then you can save the universe.
Star Trek is a crew of normal people who happen to be good at their jobs. I could never win the genetic lottery, and the hand of fate will never reach down and bless me. My past life, if such a thing exists, was undoubtedly shoveling shit. But I could get good at a job. I could be a science officer or an engineering office or a doctor or even a captain if I worked hard and got some luck. I could be a part of something meaningful without having to win the genetic lottery or have a watery tart toss a sword at me to grant me supreme executive powers, to quote a better writer than me.
I suspect this is part of the reason a subset of fans lost their minds over the Last Jedi movie. By making Rey a nobody, by showing that anyone could be force powerful (whatever did happen to that boy in the stable?), it turned the fantasy of being all powerful hero blessed by hate into something less special, more focused on individual and community responsibility, more like Star Trek. I also suspect that is why Andor was the best Star Wars project -- it was more Star Trek in that it took the problems of the world seriously, and showed how normal people can either deal with those problems or be corrupted by them. No hand of fate, no winning the genetic lottery. Just people trying to do their best.
Now, again, I enjoy both. There is fun to be had in watching the hero righteously kick some bad guy ass, destined to win. But it is not as satisfying as watching a group of otherwise normal people come together and make something happen. I always try to write stories that are more Star Trek than Star Wars for that reason -- I want people to have that sense of satisfaction, of hard work done well by people who are just trying their best. Now, what do I know, of course. No one has ever paid me a dime for my fiction. I could be wildly off here -- but I do think that the good Star Trek speaks to something in people that Star Wars just generally does not understand.
Weekly Word Count
Only 3100 this week and a couple of pages of editing the script. I had a couple days where I couldn’t write, but I am still making some progress on the Encyclopedia Brick book.
Hope you all have a great weekend.
"The people who recovered these lives were always someone famous or powerful. Everyone was Cleopatra or an African prince or part of Arthur's court, etc."
I realize this is a side point, but you may not have talked to the right people.
(And maybe crystal-gazing and hypnotism aren't the way, actually. People WILL pay for being told what appeals to their ego, this is true. Hence there ARE frauds. The existence of frauds, however, does not DISprove other possibilities.) :-)
"No one, and I mean no one, was ever the guy shoveling shit in the stables."
Yet note: even in THIS one life, our memories are selective, not a complete readout nor a random sample.
When and if at some point your own life "flashes before your eyes" (I hope not soon!) do you think it will mostly feature making coffee, cleaning the cat box, riding the subway, unloading the dishwasher, watching Netflix, or equivalents?
Even in a very humble llfe, I think it is more likely that what powerful experiences there were (and most people have some) would be most likely to leave a mark in later lives if there are such things. And truly boring lives, or ones that are greatly foreshortened, might not leave lasting traces at all.
I write this not to change any minds, but only to point out that these particular arguments are chestnuts of minimal weight in themselves.
Though if course anyone is entitled to their own estimation. :-)
Interesting post. A very honorable and defensible position.
In my (self-published) novel, I did try to square that circle. The conceit was—as a high-functioning early-onset schizophrenic, the MC managed to develop an extraordinary ability to 'deal w/ voices'. And since the magic-system was contingent upon dealing w/ extra-dimensional being that present that way, it ended up elevating him to 'chosen one' status. Sort of The Good Doctor meets Doctor Fate.
But, I'm very interesting in exploring your hatred of The Hero's Journey. I think much of what's wrong w/ 21st Century art is that it's abandoned it. You know I love an involved discussion/debate. Maybe we can cross-post?
I'll reach out, K... < thumbs up >