by Cameron Graf ’13

“Star Trek” and “Star Wars” are both iconic American franchises and arguably the two series which put science fiction on the map of entertainment. It therefore needs to be said that from the point of view of a long-time fan of both, any degree of mixing between the two is a horrible idea. Sadly, this is just what Disney has decided to do in its decision to hire JJ Abrams as director of the new “Star Wars” movie.

For those who don’t know, JJ Abrams is the director of the latest series of “Star Trek” movies and is most known for his role as the producer of hit show “Lost” and the overabundant usage of lens flares in his works, a camera effect in which light is flared on the surface of the lens to give an air of wonder, mystery or suspense to a scene. Allow me to clarify; I have nothing against Abrams as a director, simply his assignment in this case.

I maintain that his nearly parallel directing of the two franchises invites only disaster for both. Taking the same director, the man who imposes his personal style and flair upon a film, and asking him to make two nuanced, subtly different, and diametrically opposite stories is akin to asking a painter to paint the same landscape twice, once in the style of Van Gogh, and once in the style of Picasso, at the same time. Both products would end up blander in appearance and closer to one another than intended, delivering the base equivalent of a boring, supermarket-brand variant of the painting instead of the strong characterization and unique personalities that fans have come to love.

“Star Trek” is not “Star Wars,” nor is “Star Wars” “Star Trek.” The two are vastly different in so many ways, and so similar in so many others. But it is these differences and these parallels, in combination with one another, that draw such loyal fans to the series. It is this that has maintained the two franchises for so long into their running, spread across generations and gender lines. To remove these differences, to place upon them the same underlying style and tone, the very things a director adds to his works, tears away all that fans love about the franchises.

The mystery of “Star Trek,” the moral ambiguity and the unknown that lurks around every corner, and the heroism of “Star Wars,” the brave rebels who are willing to give everything to defeat the evils of the Empire; these very things draw people in. The sheer vastness of space and its inhabitants within “Star Trek,” the acute balance between the familiar and the alien in “Star Wars”; we relate to these things, we are enthralled by these things, we care about these things, and no one cares about another boring, clichéd sci-fi movie that could easily be translated to “Adventure, in SPACE!” Star Trek and Star Wars are the defining flagships of science fiction in America, the two shining stars on either side that guide the way down one possible direction of the story or the other. Let us not take the center, boring path. Let us not lose the magic of either, while trying to embrace the enormity of both.