Adam Savage was the exuberant half of the primary “Mythbusters” team, showing great joy in the best part of the job, which was blowing stuff up, shooting firearms, dropping things from great heights, and wearing silly costumes. Savage has been making the rounds of conventions now that the show is behind him. At San Diego’s Comi-Con, he was part of a panel which was asked which franchise would they eliminate from existence, “Star Trek” or “Star Wars?” Despite the hyped up feud between fans of both, the question for most is like asking a mother which of her children they would kill given a choice.
Savage’s answer was, putting it mildly, off putting.
Eliminate “Star Trek” because...
Savage responded, “Star Trek lures you into a false sense of positivity that the world can be a utopia and recent events have proven it cannot. Star Wars’ dystopic vision is far more realistic and prepares our children for their future.” The answer was made more annoying because he was not explicit about what he meant by “recent events” however everyone understood it to be the election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States.
The '60s, when ‘Star Trek’ was born, were far worse than the Trump era
Savage was born in 1967 when the original “Star Trek” had been airing but a year and he likely does not have a lot of memories of that decade.
He can, therefore, be forgiven for not realizing that the sixties were far worse than even the benighted 21st Century. Between assassinations, riots on college campuses and in urban ghettos, the Vietnam War, the rise of the welfare state, and the ever present threat of nuclear war, the decade was positively awful. The only saving grace was the moon landings.
One can even make the case, based on performance, that Lyndon Johnson was a far worse president than Trump could ever hope of being.’
“Star Trek” was born of the proposition that no matter how bad the present is, the future could be beautiful. The franchise’s enduring popularity suggests that the idea has struck a chord with many people, which has endured over decades.
Who is the real ‘Star Trek’ president?
One of the problems that may be facing people like Adam Savage is the identification of former President Barack Obama with “Star Trek’s” Mr. Spock. The late Leonard Nimoy even flashed the then candidate the Vulcan salute and told him, in Spock’s voice, that it was only logical that he be president. The comparison was a false one as Obama was quite capable of displaying negative emotions. Besides, anyone who has actually watched the old series, particularly the episode “The Galileo 7” would know that Spock was incompetent as a leader.
Trump is closest to Captain Kirk as an analogous “Star Trek” character. The comparison is not exact. Kirk was an officer, and a gentleman and Trump is neither. However, Trump does propose to jump start space exploration that Obama all but killed, a proposal that would bring the future of Trek closer to reality.
