Solo Pulls A Spock

WARNING: The first few paragraphs of this entry trace my love of science fiction from kindergarten to the present day; if all you want is the meat, skip to paragraph #4 (and just to make thing perfectly clear, this warning is not a paragraph)

I was raised on classic science-fiction films.  True, you can make a great case for Star Wars being a "space fantasy" as opposed to a "science fiction" and you would be correct.  But let's be honest here, for the intent of any conversation on science fiction, Star Wars really is the first of the modern sci-fis.  When I was in kindergarten, my parents let both me and my younger brother invite our best friends over for a "movie night."  We pulled out the hide-a-bed, made some pizzas, bought chips and popped popcorn.  Tina and Brandon came over and everyone put on their pajamas and curled up on the hide-a-bed, eating.  The prologue rolled up and Mom and Dad read it to us: A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away Star Wars.  I was transported to this galaxy filled with droids and lightsabers and the force.  I loved it.  And I loved it the following weekend when my family watched The Empire Strikes Back and the weekend after when my parents gave us the edited version of Return of the Jedi (without the part where Leia strangles Jabba the Hutt or what we fondly called "the slime monster" a.k.a the Rancor).  When the special editions were released in '97, I vividly remember going to the theater with my younger brothers and parents.  I loved it all and trace my current love of science fiction all the way back to these three movies.

When I was in 6th grade, my family moved to South Korea.  This was the age before online streaming, so we were limited to a very small video rental place on the military base.  The selection was poor and it wasn't long before my dad came home one Friday night with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (the store didn't have the original Star Trek movie).  My family worked our way through all the star Trek movies that had even cameos of Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the gang.  My dad must have been at least a mild Trekkie at one point, because he would tell us background stories after the movies sometimes.  "Leonard Nimoy didn't want to do any Star Trek movies; he finally promised to do two.  So that's why they killed Spock, but they left it open in case they could convince him to change his mind."

I've maintained my enjoyment of Star Trek over the years, although I admit it comes no where near my love of Star Wars (look at my Trek/Wars search ratio... they both do have movies coming out in the next few years).  Every now and then I'll watch an episode of Next Generation and on the very rare occasion I would see the original show on the TV Guide, I would watch it.  I've seen most of the original Trek movies at least twice (including the first one) and have seen Wrath of Khan probably half a dozen times (it's my brother's favorite villain and one of his favorite movie lines "KHAAAAAAAAN!").  When the new Star Trek came out, I was in the theater with the rest of my family and then went back for seconds and even thirds.  The new movie is proudly placed right next to my six Star Wars movies on my DVD shelf and the original movies are somewhere midway down my "to buy" list.  And so when I saw the latest rumors about the upcoming Star Wars movie, I thought almost immediately of Star Trek.

I've seen very little evidence of this supposed war between fanboys and fangirls (let's give females like me our due) of the two sci-fi giants (Sidenote: I did very much enjoy the back and forth between Carrie Fisher and William Shatner a few years ago, as well as the concluding plea from George Takei).  Maybe it's because I've never been to a convention (yet) or maybe it's because I'm not much of a Trekkie (does the hostility come from their side) or maybe it doesn't really exist.  Either way, comparing the two series at all is supposed to be taboo, but I couldn't help it when I read the rumors this morning.  According to a widely quoted article from Entertainment Weekly, Harrison Ford might be open to reprising his role of Han Solo after all, "but don’t be surprised if his contract includes a mandatory death scene for the sly old space smuggler."  I couldn't help but laugh out loud.  When I saw that one of the deciding factors in Ford taking on the role of Solo again was a death scene for his character, I couldn't help but think of Spock's untimely end in Wrath of Khan (especially untimely because in less than half of a movie, Spock was alive and kicking again).  And so, if rumors are to be trusted, Solo just pulled a Spock.  I realize speculation is running rampant and most of the information coming out is going to prove to be 100% false, but if I could chose just one rumor to be true, it would be this one, if only because I find the entire concept so amusing.

Onward to a short geek side-note: Total fan moments in this week's Castle!  Castle and Beckett are at a science fiction convention trying to solve a murder.   Let me just list a few of the quotes and situations that made me think of Firefly:
"Shiny!"
Nebula 9 was "canceled over decade ago after 12 episodes"
Castle is a fan of "good sci-fi: Star Trek, Battlestar, that Joss Whedon show"
"Kreavers" are "the evil alien race from Nebula 9.  Nasty creatures; they'll eat your face off when you're still alive and then serve your organs to their young"
And finally there is talk about the return of Nebula 9: "maybe even doing a movie"
Ah, I miss Firefly.  Castle is a poor way to get Nathan Fillion in comparison, but at least I'm still getting him in some form... Ah, Joss Whedon, when will you create another world as wonderful as that of Firefly?