Trek Wars

There are many important decisions to be made when confronted with parenthood. Nursing vs. bottle feeding; cloth diapers vs. disposables; public vs. private school. All of these will determine how your child develops and grows. But these are topics for another post. Today, I confront a much weightier decision. One that could have ramifications for years to come.

When it comes to sci-fi, how do I raise my kid? Star Trek or Star Wars? It's a Great Geek Debate.

I'll paraphrase that deleted scene from Pulp Fiction.

My theory is that when it comes to important subjects, there's only two ways a person can answer. For example, there's two kinds of people in this world, Star Trek people and Star Wars people. Now Star Trek people can like Star Wars. And Star Wars people can like Star Trek. But nobody likes them both equally. Somewhere you have to make a choice.

My apologies to Quentin Tarentino.

When I was a kid, I had a friend in Boy Scouts who loved to argue this point. Really loved to argue it. He'd quote you the tech specs of Imperial Battle Cruisers and X-wing Fighters and tell you there's no way that any of the many Enterprises could hold a candle to them in terms of firepower. He'd rage for hours about The Force, and how much more powerful The Emperor or Luke Skywalker were than anyone in Star Trek. What do Trekkies have, anyway? A dude with pointy ears who pinches people? An android with a positronic brain? Please! And don't get him started on Boba Fett. Seriously, don't ever get him started on Boba Fett.

Clearly, as I'm sure you've guessed, I'm a Star Trek guy, or I wouldn't have had to endure these arguments. As these conversations (rants) occurred around 1992, I didn't have the prequels (Good Lord, the prequels.) to throw in his face, but likewise, he couldn't lambast Star Trek Nemesis (sweet merciful God was that movie bad).

But choosing how to expose kids to my favorite sci-fi is important, as least to me, so how do I make Star Trek seem cool? There aren't even any decent female role models for my daughter. Surely she'd rather be Princess Leia or Ahsoka Tano than Captain Janeway or Counselor Troi or, heaven forbid, Seven of Nine. I love Star Trek, and even I think those ladies are lame. (Although at least the Trek wiki is way cooler looking.)

And the concepts... surely it's way easier for kids to grasp the high action and good vs. evil in Star Wars than the deeply philosophical "why are we here" message that carries through most of Trek. Like I said, I love Star Trek, and even I recognize why kids would rather swing a lightsaber on Halloween than walk around in a blue jumpsuit with a beeping tricorder.

I guess I just have to accept that everything comes in stages. Star Wars, with its many movies, cartoons, comic books, games, toys and costumes, will probably come first, followed at some point, once she can sit still, by my favorite episodes of Next Generation or Enterprise.

In truth, I suppose I've already accepted it. I mean, I did buy this last week at a craft fair.
Seriously, how could I say no to a tiny t-shirt with an AT-ST on it? Some enterprising (see what I did there?) crafter needs to create a better version of this by the time my daughter arrives. That's all I'm saying.

What do you think? Star Trek or Star Wars? Which comes first?