Astrophysicist, all around cool guy and author Neil deGrasse Tyson just called out one of the biggest fandoms around: Star Wars. But he does have a point…
If knowledge is power, Neil deGrasse Tyson is like the Emperor Palpatine of the original trilogy. But since a lot of people don’t like even the smartest people to point out flaws in some of their beloved classics, our illustrious astrophysicist often finds himself stepping back from discussions about the scientific inaccuracies of some of your favorite pop culture films. It’s The Internet and The Internet doesn’t like to be wrong.
Even my favorite factoid about Star Wars: The Force Awakens drew a lot of criticism.
In @StarWars #TheForceAwakens, BB-8, a smooth rolling metal spherical ball, would have skidded uncontrollably on sand.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 21, 2015
I love that one just because I like picturing BB-8 trying to get some traction. I don’t see it as offensive or anything, but some people in the comments sound like he just shot their dog or something. So I can see why he’d hesitate to take on the Star Wars fandom. Except he also thinks that Star Wars would be even better if it just paid a little more attention to the science.
Neil deGrasse Tyson visited AMC’s Talking with Chris Hardwick and explained:
"“If you take all the energy out of a star, so the star completely disappears, do you realize that is enough energy to destroy a thousand planets? They didn’t do this math! Had they done the math, it could have been even more of a badass planet killer. So don’t tell me that real science is holding you back. No. Real science is grander than even the limits of your own imagination.”"
Maybe it would have been more entertaining to watch BB-8 awkwardly roll behind Rey in The Force Awakens, but here’s the thing about the sun and Starkiller base. It would be so unentertaining to see the First Order wipe out a thousand planets at once. While I agree that a little more imagination could help the Star Wars universe here and there, George Lucas’ imagination created something so fantastical and huge, we must give credit where credit is due.
Especially when one considers that J.J. Abrams (and everybody at Lucasfilm) sought to create something enjoyable for everyone and didn’t see The Force Awakens as the opportune moment to be adventurous.
Related Story: Here are 3 reasons why we need an Obi-Wan movie next
As I sit here and defend Star Wars, I can feel my inner Internet goblin getting testy (for no reason). So if you want to watch Neil deGrasse Tyson’s thoughts on the matter and get into it, CBR has an exclusive clip of the episode ahead of its premiere on Aug. 20 at 11 p.m. ET.
And for more Neil deGrasse Tyson, I recommend his Nerdist podcast from last year, too.