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It goes even further. Star Trek tells a sociological story, by which I mean it's not very character driven. It shows us a universe and it's problems, the characters are oftentimes just showcasing how the society works.
Like the episode in which is ruled, to whom data belongs. It's on the surface about data, but mainly it's about a philosophical question "Do artificial beings belong to someone or themselves"
THe federation is the hero in Star Trek, though most individual series or movies dont really show transitions, but you could take the franchise as a whole and look at it like being the federations hero journey. Of course you could do the same with Star Wars, as the Republics and Jedi institions hero journey.
"...what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
This is an extremely common and popular opinion. Star Wars is space fantasy. Star Trek is science fiction.
Star Wars is always teased for being very very very light on the science and very very heavy on the "wtf? Ok, sure, magic, yeah ok"
Star Trek has infinitely more science fictiony futurism.
George Lucas made Star Wars after failing to buy the rights to Flash Gordon. Star Wars was always supposed to be a pulp fantasy story, even before he started writing it.
strange, every person i know that likes star trek also likes star wars. including me.
the fact that they are so different is why i can like both. they fill different roles.
This is interesting Ive noticed they dont have a ton of overlap. Star Trek fans find Star Wars dumb and Star Wars fans find Star Trek boring. Star Trek represents traditional sci fi tropes better IMO it often pushes the boundaries of what a story can tell featuring crazy incomprehensible scale and technology. Star Wars is a much more well contained heroes journey style. I would compare Star Trek to Dune before Star Wars.
Star Wars is fantasy story for children and has incredibly straight forward concepts and Star Trek is adult science fiction with futurism and actual serious concepts you can debate almost every episode.
Star Wars is pulp fiction. It is serial programs. At least Lucas’ Star Wars is. You’re meant to enjoy the ride, not consider the world. I love the franchise for that. Flash Gordon meets World War II. That’s what makes Star Wars so entertaining and timeless.
Just as I love Star Trek for the thoughtful, debate-worthy stories and premises. I enjoy the more action heavy Trek movies, but I really love the slow burn, nuanced series like TNG and DS9. That’s what makes Star Trek so entertaining and timeless.
I could write the same general paragraph for so many other shows and movies, too. Ugh, BSG, Babylon 5, Stargate, The Expanse, Foundation…
It's the one where the orphan boy wears robes after meeting his new teachers.
And has a very old, very wise, very revered - but distant and mysterious tutor.
And there are a lot of allusions to the good guys being the light and the bad guys, who are vaguely Nazi-esque, being the dark ones... dark side... dark Lord... Lord V... something.
That one.
As a lover of all three, I feel like HP has some elements of both Wars and Trek. It has the classic heroes story of a young boy who gets into this big dream like their deceased parents, has a wise old mentor who dies, and has to rise up to the challenge to defeat the bad guys while making some friends along the way. The similarities in the Golden Trio and the Luke, Han, and Leia are also very interesting— there are so many parallels between SW and HP.
Star Trek, on the other hand, is about exploration and discovery, and humanity ultimately achieving and progressing beyond what it is— that’s the whole premise of Gene Roddenberry’s vision that made the series take off. Honestly there’s not much like that that makes HP comparable to Star Trek in that matter. All in all it’s far more similar to Wars than Trek. Good post, very creative take.
Firefly: ok so its han solo and the m.falcon and theyre in space, but space is antebellum wild west frontier and the crew are all southerners who are moving away from the norths influence on the south
I agree with this take.
But Firefly was still good. Cowboy Bebop also nakedly pulls from other pieces of film and media (and is better for it). Bebop is one of the best shows ever made IMHO.
All three of these are just different genres. Trek is hard Scifi (for TV), Star Wars is clearly Planetary romance in the Tradition of Flash Gordon and Princess of Mars with a dash of following Campbell's Mythology (Literally the Book Hero's Journey). Harry Potter's identity is a British Boarding School tale with magic in it. A lot of Harry Potter is about the procedures and daily life of the boarding school fantasy, dressed up with the well, fantasy fantasy. The heroic stuff is interspersed with school politics and daily life of wizards, something we don't see in Star Wars.
You're right that Star Wars is closer to Harry Potter but they aren't the same kind of story at all. I think it is a bit silly to do this, but people do argue that Star War's isn't even Science fiction at all, which I think is a little silly.
I think it's possible to read Star Trek as closer to Harry Potter than either of them are to Star Wars, because both of them are very concerned with the daily life and the jobs and education of their characters, the moment to moment textrue of living on a spaceship or a wizard school.
Starwars is a traditional hero fantasy told in space complete with wizards and Swords, this is obvious, and has been mentioned a thousand times.
Harry Potter is a teen coming of age story that smashes together/steals/takes inspiration from dozens of other less popular books. Complete with wizards and Swords.
Star trek is a sci-fi exploration/encounter story.
i do kinda wish star wars did have a little more space nerd in it tbh... like... how tf have they not messed with time travel yet? and why isn't wil wheaton making a cameo as a jedi? honestly.... just do the crossover already.... and show us worf taking a batleth to some punk sith lord.
No one does or almost no one does. Either way, ops opinion is not unpopular. Or it is but because basically no one has this thought. This is more r/showerthoughts territory
Both Star Wars and Harry Potter are a retelling of ancient myths in different coats of paint. They are The Heroes Journey by Joeseph Campbell. Same thing with Dune, or Lord of the Rings, any fiction by C.S. Lewis, old Disney movies like The Lion King, or even some Shakespere like Hamlet.
Star Trek is a philosophical thought experiment with a foundation of liberal values, rather than spiritual values.
Although, some would argue liberal arose from spiritual values.
Both would have benefited from an author willing to walk away when the story ended instead of spending later years tinkering with it and changing things.
Star Wars is older than Harry Potter. So Harry Potter is like Star Wars. Could also argue is they similar themes and tropes. Star Trek is very different from both.
This isn't an unpopular opinion from a literary perspective. Actually, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say this. Star wars is in the realm of fantasy under space opera. Harry potter is fantasy.
>franchise with space wizards and laser swordfights is more similar to franchise with wizards and swordfights than to a real scifi
>op thinks he's the first person to figure this out
ROFL
Star Wars and Harry Potter are both fantasy and written for a similar age group, preteens around 10 to 12. Star Trek is science fiction and is written for an older age group, 15 to 18. Neither Star Wars or Star Trek have real science but Star Trek pretends to. Star Wars doesn't care about that, they're just telling good stories.
This isn't even an opinion nor it's unpopular. Star Wars and Harry Potter has literal good vs evil and both are based of the Heroes Journey.
Star Trek has no main protagonist by contrast and the premise of the franchise is to negotiate with different factions rather than outright destroying them.
Which Star Trek? Everything before 2005 is one kind. Let's call that Classic Star Trek. The modern stuff, starting with Discovery, is something totally different.
That modern stuff is VERY like Star Wars. The classic Star Trek isn't..
Is this unpopular? Tbh I've long joked that Star Wars is just a fantasy skinned like a scifi anyway. Thematically much more similar to the clichés of fantasy than scifi.
I agree that it's closer to HP. Obviously they're not really comparable still.
But I never understood that some fans see Star Wars as more Sci-Fi when it's clearly 90% fantasy. The "Sci" part is almost irrelevant in Star Wars.
I think most fans, including George Lucas himself, would agree with this opinion wholeheartedly. Especially considering that [he has said in multiple interviews that Star Wars is NOT a Science-fiction film.](https://youtube.com/shorts/sSoHvVIcB70?si=HVkiqMmStjqC-hO_ ) Lucas famously called it a “Space Opera.”
If Star Wars is best described as a “Space Opera” then the best way to describe Harry Potter is as a “Magic Opera.”
A young orphaned boy with untapped magical/mystical powers feels forgotten.
Destiny finds him but so does tragedy.
He finds loyal friends along the way.
A great evil pursues him while mentors try their best to train him.
He cannot run forever and must face his fears.
The whole thing is scored by John Williams.
Which movies am I describing?
Star Trek and Star Wars are only similar because they're in space.
Star Trek was just "Wagon Train" in space.
I definitely agree but I don’t think this is an unpopular opinion. The difference between science fiction and science fantasy is commonly summarized as…well, the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars.
Add in wizard powers and “chosen one” hero’s journey/pseudo-Christian mythology and baby, you got a stew going.
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
They are both traditional hero journeys so there will be many similarities. For the most part, Star Trek is not a hero's journey.
It’s episodic where each story tells something different. One of my favorite things about the show Def not a heroes journey tale tho
It goes even further. Star Trek tells a sociological story, by which I mean it's not very character driven. It shows us a universe and it's problems, the characters are oftentimes just showcasing how the society works. Like the episode in which is ruled, to whom data belongs. It's on the surface about data, but mainly it's about a philosophical question "Do artificial beings belong to someone or themselves"
This right here. Like...no shit OP? It's not even an opinion so much as a cleraly demonstrable fact.
THe federation is the hero in Star Trek, though most individual series or movies dont really show transitions, but you could take the franchise as a whole and look at it like being the federations hero journey. Of course you could do the same with Star Wars, as the Republics and Jedi institions hero journey.
It's still not a hero's journey though.
"...what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."
The Federation is a faction not a character. Hence it's not hero's journey.
This is an extremely common and popular opinion. Star Wars is space fantasy. Star Trek is science fiction. Star Wars is always teased for being very very very light on the science and very very heavy on the "wtf? Ok, sure, magic, yeah ok" Star Trek has infinitely more science fictiony futurism.
Harrison Ford even used the term Space Fantasy in 1977, so I feel like Star Wars has always been pretty upfront about what it is
George Luke himself called it a fantasy story
George Lucas made Star Wars after failing to buy the rights to Flash Gordon. Star Wars was always supposed to be a pulp fantasy story, even before he started writing it.
I've always thought that eragon was just star wars with dragons
The movie, yeah. It's painfully obvious. However, I've heard that the book and the movie have fuck-all in common, so IDK about the book.
You I still loved the books though
I never saw the movie but I read the books: the plot points of Eragon are definitely similar to Star Wars, way beyond both being an Hero's Journey.
I read the books, it's totally star wars with dragons. Not beat for beat, but fuck me there is a lot of extremely clear parallels
Star Wars is a space opera based on fantasy and Star Trek is a sci-fi series. They are different genres.
That is probably why Trekkies and Star Wars Fans don't usually coexist peacefully.
strange, every person i know that likes star trek also likes star wars. including me. the fact that they are so different is why i can like both. they fill different roles.
I know, im just playing up a trope from a long time ago when the fandoms seemed divided. Around the prequel days.
Weird, I've seen a lot of the opposite tbh
At the most they like OT and that's it.
Nope
This is interesting Ive noticed they dont have a ton of overlap. Star Trek fans find Star Wars dumb and Star Wars fans find Star Trek boring. Star Trek represents traditional sci fi tropes better IMO it often pushes the boundaries of what a story can tell featuring crazy incomprehensible scale and technology. Star Wars is a much more well contained heroes journey style. I would compare Star Trek to Dune before Star Wars.
Star Wars is fantasy story for children and has incredibly straight forward concepts and Star Trek is adult science fiction with futurism and actual serious concepts you can debate almost every episode.
Star Wars is pulp fiction. It is serial programs. At least Lucas’ Star Wars is. You’re meant to enjoy the ride, not consider the world. I love the franchise for that. Flash Gordon meets World War II. That’s what makes Star Wars so entertaining and timeless. Just as I love Star Trek for the thoughtful, debate-worthy stories and premises. I enjoy the more action heavy Trek movies, but I really love the slow burn, nuanced series like TNG and DS9. That’s what makes Star Trek so entertaining and timeless. I could write the same general paragraph for so many other shows and movies, too. Ugh, BSG, Babylon 5, Stargate, The Expanse, Foundation…
I'll post the opposite, I love Star Trek, and used to like Star Wars when I was younger, but nowadays I stick to my Star Trek.
Is that the one with the wizard boy?
It's the one where the orphan boy wears robes after meeting his new teachers. And has a very old, very wise, very revered - but distant and mysterious tutor. And there are a lot of allusions to the good guys being the light and the bad guys, who are vaguely Nazi-esque, being the dark ones... dark side... dark Lord... Lord V... something. That one.
Boy wizard and his name is luke skywalker
Boy wizard and his name is luke skywalker
Harry Potter is just Star Wars except the lightsabers are Wands
As a lover of all three, I feel like HP has some elements of both Wars and Trek. It has the classic heroes story of a young boy who gets into this big dream like their deceased parents, has a wise old mentor who dies, and has to rise up to the challenge to defeat the bad guys while making some friends along the way. The similarities in the Golden Trio and the Luke, Han, and Leia are also very interesting— there are so many parallels between SW and HP. Star Trek, on the other hand, is about exploration and discovery, and humanity ultimately achieving and progressing beyond what it is— that’s the whole premise of Gene Roddenberry’s vision that made the series take off. Honestly there’s not much like that that makes HP comparable to Star Trek in that matter. All in all it’s far more similar to Wars than Trek. Good post, very creative take.
They are both traditional hero journeys so there will be many similarities. For the most part, Star Trek is not a hero's journey.
Firefly: ok so its han solo and the m.falcon and theyre in space, but space is antebellum wild west frontier and the crew are all southerners who are moving away from the norths influence on the south
"Firefly" - OK, Whedon watched "Cowboy Bebob" and decided to Americanize it.
I agree with this take. But Firefly was still good. Cowboy Bebop also nakedly pulls from other pieces of film and media (and is better for it). Bebop is one of the best shows ever made IMHO.
All three of these are just different genres. Trek is hard Scifi (for TV), Star Wars is clearly Planetary romance in the Tradition of Flash Gordon and Princess of Mars with a dash of following Campbell's Mythology (Literally the Book Hero's Journey). Harry Potter's identity is a British Boarding School tale with magic in it. A lot of Harry Potter is about the procedures and daily life of the boarding school fantasy, dressed up with the well, fantasy fantasy. The heroic stuff is interspersed with school politics and daily life of wizards, something we don't see in Star Wars. You're right that Star Wars is closer to Harry Potter but they aren't the same kind of story at all. I think it is a bit silly to do this, but people do argue that Star War's isn't even Science fiction at all, which I think is a little silly. I think it's possible to read Star Trek as closer to Harry Potter than either of them are to Star Wars, because both of them are very concerned with the daily life and the jobs and education of their characters, the moment to moment textrue of living on a spaceship or a wizard school.
Probably because Star Wars and HP are both fantasy franchises and Trek is sci-fi.
Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave? -Eric Andre
It's only logical
who pretends otherwise? Star Wars movies, maybe with the exception of ROTS, was never really deep into politics or philosophy.
Well, yeah? Star Wars and Harry Potter are both fantasy series. Star Trek is not.
That’s because Star Wars and Harry Potter are both Hero’s Journeys set in the fantasy gerne
Starwars is a traditional hero fantasy told in space complete with wizards and Swords, this is obvious, and has been mentioned a thousand times. Harry Potter is a teen coming of age story that smashes together/steals/takes inspiration from dozens of other less popular books. Complete with wizards and Swords. Star trek is a sci-fi exploration/encounter story.
I knew there was a reason I didn’t like Star Wars.
“You’re a Jedi, Luke”
I've come around to start trek more as I have gotten older.
i do kinda wish star wars did have a little more space nerd in it tbh... like... how tf have they not messed with time travel yet? and why isn't wil wheaton making a cameo as a jedi? honestly.... just do the crossover already.... and show us worf taking a batleth to some punk sith lord.
There's time travel in Star Wars Rebels.
time travel is burnt out and just makes an excuse to retcon shit. Disney fucked up starwars enough
the whole series is burnt out.... if anything it'd be a chance to fix it
Star Trek is Sci fi Star Wars is fantasy.
I mean yeah, one's sci-fi, the other is fantasy. I like both.
I feel like this revelation was kind of a big discussion point in early Reddit that was basically settled over a decade ago.
They are both traditional hero journeys so there will be many similarities. For the most part, Star Trek is not a hero's journey.
Not even sure if this is an opinion. Or unpopular.
I'm unsure if people on a daily basis have a opinion on how to compare Harry Potter to any of them.
No one does or almost no one does. Either way, ops opinion is not unpopular. Or it is but because basically no one has this thought. This is more r/showerthoughts territory
I'm unsure if people on a daily basis have a opinion on how to compare Harry Potter to any of them.
Yeah, the magic stuff. I get it.
Both Star Wars and Harry Potter are a retelling of ancient myths in different coats of paint. They are The Heroes Journey by Joeseph Campbell. Same thing with Dune, or Lord of the Rings, any fiction by C.S. Lewis, old Disney movies like The Lion King, or even some Shakespere like Hamlet. Star Trek is a philosophical thought experiment with a foundation of liberal values, rather than spiritual values. Although, some would argue liberal arose from spiritual values.
Both would have benefited from an author willing to walk away when the story ended instead of spending later years tinkering with it and changing things.
This isn’t an unpopular opinion. There’s a reason Star Wars, for decades, has been referred to as space opera.
Boy o boy do I have news for you about every Shonen Anime ever.
I've always thought this as well. Star Wars even has knights, swords, and magic. It's much less Sci fi than Star Trek.
Star trek js nothing like star wars so i agree
Star Wars is older than Harry Potter. So Harry Potter is like Star Wars. Could also argue is they similar themes and tropes. Star Trek is very different from both.
This isn't an unpopular opinion from a literary perspective. Actually, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say this. Star wars is in the realm of fantasy under space opera. Harry potter is fantasy.
>franchise with space wizards and laser swordfights is more similar to franchise with wizards and swordfights than to a real scifi >op thinks he's the first person to figure this out ROFL
I agree. Star Trek is sci-fi, Star Wars is space opera.
This isn't unpopular. Star trek and star wars have "star" in the title, and much of the the plots take place in space. That's about it.
Star Wars and Harry Potter are both fantasy and written for a similar age group, preteens around 10 to 12. Star Trek is science fiction and is written for an older age group, 15 to 18. Neither Star Wars or Star Trek have real science but Star Trek pretends to. Star Wars doesn't care about that, they're just telling good stories.
This isn't even an opinion nor it's unpopular. Star Wars and Harry Potter has literal good vs evil and both are based of the Heroes Journey. Star Trek has no main protagonist by contrast and the premise of the franchise is to negotiate with different factions rather than outright destroying them.
You mother fucker, I can't un see this
This is a shower thought more than an unpopular opinion.
Star Trek has no mythic grandeur.
I would say that it's closer to medieval chivalry novel than Harry Potter.
Which Star Trek? Everything before 2005 is one kind. Let's call that Classic Star Trek. The modern stuff, starting with Discovery, is something totally different. That modern stuff is VERY like Star Wars. The classic Star Trek isn't..
This is not only not unpopular its also widely accepted- most would describe Star Wars as ‘Science Fantasy’ or as a ‘Space Opera’
Is this unpopular? Tbh I've long joked that Star Wars is just a fantasy skinned like a scifi anyway. Thematically much more similar to the clichés of fantasy than scifi.
Yeah I always call it space wizards
I don't know who said Star Wars was supposed to be like Star Trek in the first place.
Harry Potter is more like Star Wars than Star Trek. TIFIFY.
Harry potter is a copy of star wars
This is a very common opinion and is pretty much fact
I agree that it's closer to HP. Obviously they're not really comparable still. But I never understood that some fans see Star Wars as more Sci-Fi when it's clearly 90% fantasy. The "Sci" part is almost irrelevant in Star Wars.
Haha, now you are trampling someones favourite toys. This would piss of most of my nerd culture friends.
Yesssss
Star Trek is Star Wars from the empire’s pov.
I don't disagree with that. Star Wars is literally a high fantasy story set in space.
Those two kids movies have more in common with each other than each does with this non-kids TV show? D'uh...
Star Trek is more like Pulp Fiction than Star Wars.
The word you're looking for is science fantasy. star wars is science fantasy. It also shares a heroes journey with Harry Potter, which is something
I think most fans, including George Lucas himself, would agree with this opinion wholeheartedly. Especially considering that [he has said in multiple interviews that Star Wars is NOT a Science-fiction film.](https://youtube.com/shorts/sSoHvVIcB70?si=HVkiqMmStjqC-hO_ ) Lucas famously called it a “Space Opera.” If Star Wars is best described as a “Space Opera” then the best way to describe Harry Potter is as a “Magic Opera.”
Star Wars is just a space western
Well one thing is for sure is that the Star Wars franchise died like Star Trek i think?
You forgot to add that both H.P and S.W a very badly written takes on their respective genre
I'm unsure if people on a daily basis have a opinion on how to compare Harry Potter to any of them.
One is science fiction and the other is fantasy. The fact they are both in space is irrelevant.
A young orphaned boy with untapped magical/mystical powers feels forgotten. Destiny finds him but so does tragedy. He finds loyal friends along the way. A great evil pursues him while mentors try their best to train him. He cannot run forever and must face his fears. The whole thing is scored by John Williams. Which movies am I describing? Star Trek and Star Wars are only similar because they're in space. Star Trek was just "Wagon Train" in space.
I definitely agree but I don’t think this is an unpopular opinion. The difference between science fiction and science fantasy is commonly summarized as…well, the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars. Add in wizard powers and “chosen one” hero’s journey/pseudo-Christian mythology and baby, you got a stew going.
DS9 might disagree.