Confessions of Sci-Fi Traitor: The Romance of Revolution

Hmm, here's a lesson that I shouldn't whine. The day after my last post was Slope Day, which despite the gorgeous weather I resolutely spent inside studying for Crim Law. The day ended well, though, when by chance El and I happened to both be lacking dinner plans, and so Rob and I went up to her place to have a BBQ w/ her and Darren. It was a lot of fun, although it was 10pm before the burgers were fully thawed, cooked, and servable. Luckily there were some munchies, otherwise I might have been unable to be in such a good mood . . . we all know how I get when I'm HUNGRY. :-D And because it wouldn't be slope day w/o alcohol (or so they say) I finally broke open that bottle of wine that's been sitting on my table untouched since my pre-Barristers Ball party. It's called the 7 Deadly Zins, and we all enjoyed it quite a lot. And one bottle between 6 people (two of El's friends came) doesn't lead to much intoxication - just gets everybody a little relaxed.

Perhaps though the wine went to my head more than I thought. Somehow at the end of the night Star Trek came up, and Darren was laughing about El's decided opinions on Star Wars v. Star Trek, and she was spouting her long-held opinion that one cannot be a true Star Trek fan and really like Star Wars all that well - you either have to like one or the other better, and Star Trek is clearly superior. After protesting that the two were completely different animals and it was possible to like them equally, I made my confession: if I had to choose, I'd say I like Star Wars better. (Discounting the prequels, obviously.)

Really it shouldn't be surprising. First of all, Star Wars has a much better assortment of short characters - R2D2, Yoda, and Wicket - than does Star Trek. Ah Wicket, my favorite ever! And Yoda, next in line . . . And then second of all, it's a story about revolution, about the underdogs fighting on the side of right against evil, battling on the basis of their convictions, brave adventurers risking everything - I mean COME ON, that's my favorite type of storyline ever! It's why I loved to populate my childhood with warrior princesses instead of Disney princess (although I liked the Disney ones well enough, too. But Jasmine was more my style - she was the most rebellious of them all.) And despite my disagreement w/ many of the morals of the 60s hippies, I've always been fascinated w/ the war protests and rebellion of that era; I was thrilled when 60s-retro came back into style. (It still influences today's trends - peasant skirts and the like - although we aren't in the full-scale throwback that lasted for like one year.) And while Tom goes for the King Arthur story, I've always been much more intrigued by the story of Robin Hood (which I think of not as much in terms of its "give to the poor" message as its "rebel against the evil Sheriff / prince").

And after all, what's my all time favorite musical? Les Miserables, the story of the French Revolution. "Do you hear the people sing, singing the songs of angry mean, it is the music of a a people who will not be slaves again" - oooh, I get excited just thinking about it. :-D And I never really cared for Cosette (the leading love interest) all that much truth be told - she was a bit of a wuss I think. Eponine was much more my style, out there being all saucy in the bars and fighting alongside the men at the barricades . . . after all, my chosen name in French class for all 4 years of highschool was "Eponine."

I mean, I wrote my freaking thesis on Chinese social uprisings.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for revolutions.
(At least the ones that really are on the side of right.)